"I have had excellent service from…"

I have had excellent service from Dating Options. In a world where results online, particularly for men, don’t seem to produce dates any longer, this has been an oasis in a desert for me. I have enjoyed working with a personal matchmaker and we have had a great rapport, she has been incredibly encouraging to me. I have been really pleased with the service from day 1.

"Very good experience."

I can only say that this has been a very good experience for me. Far higher quality in terms of the database and who you are meeting. Safer too. Thanks Matchmakers!

"Dating Options -a 1st class service, that works. "

Dating Options have been excellent and I am grateful for all they have done. Dating apps just weren’t working for me any longer and even getting replies was difficult. Working with my own matchmaker has been a revelation however. A first class service that works.

"Money grabbers "

If I could give 0 stars, I would. I am writing this review to prevent other minority men and women from falling prey to this callous, money-grabbing company. They have no concern for their clients’ well-being and employ “membership advisers” who act like snake oil salesmen.

My name is Kafaya and I am a black woman who joined them in May this year because the membership adviser Sonia Mattu told me their database was diverse and that my preference of black men (though I was open minded) was something that they could cater to. I asked repeatedly for numbers but I now realise that she was deliberately vague. I was in conversation with Sonia for many days and I can say that she swayed my decision to actually go ahead with Attractive Partners under dating options. I put down a large amount of money because I believed that Sonia was a decent human being and would not tell lies or withhold the truth just to make a sale.

After her reassurance of the diversity of their database, I paid my fee. Within the first 14 days I had one meeting with my matchmaker Natalie from which a profile was built, all pictures provided by myself.

The second conversation that I had with my matchmaker was after the 14 day cooling off period where she told me she had reserved 17 men to my profile, 5 of whom were black. Again these numbers made me feel comfortable and that I had put my faith in the right company. To my shock my first recommendation was a white man and I was majorly confused so I rejected him and went back to Natalie reiterating my preference for a black man, at least initially. It was during this conversation that I learned that Sonia had done an initial search while she had been ‘advising’ me and found that there was only 1 black man in their database of almost 20,000! My stomach dropped and I immediately asked to cancel my membership and be refunded. Who in their right mind would put down thousands of pounds for only one man that meets only one of their requirements! The dishonesty and blatant sales tactics when it comes to matters as sensitive as finding a life partner disgusted me.

I was then referred to Paula Gotch who is the Client Experience Director and told her my entire story in tears over the phone. Her response was cold and calculated. She cited the contract I signed which gave Sonia license to say what she wanted knowing that once I had paid and signed that contract she would likely get her commission payment and face no repercussions for being dishonest. The misrepresentation was only discovered after 26 days, so I offered take a pro rata payment back for the work they had already put in but even this was rejected which made me realise that this company really only cares about taking your money and not your emotional wellbeing.

Paula insisted that I keep working with my matchmaker, holding me to ransom by offering no refund at all. My trust and faith on has been shattered by the dishonesty and the cold hearted nature with which my complaint has been dealt with so it would be impossible to proceed for me.

After these revelations I noticed that they have all white staff on their website and are probably tone deaf when it comes to dealing with black clients (if they even have any). Sonia claimed to be Asian but I have no idea as she isn’t on the site and I suspect she doesn’t care about black issues either.

It has taken me so long to do this because I was honestly heartbroken for a while that my genuine desire for a life partner has been capitalised on and exploited this way. I will be taking them to small claims court because at the very least they need to change the wording of the contract to prevent their advisers from saying what they want to secure a sale without any repercussions.

Avoid this company if you are black with any preference with regard to race. Avoid this company if you expect any empathy or care once you have paid your fee. Avoid this company if you wish to be handled with any integrity at all. PS. My character limit has been exceeded so some parts of the experience are missing.

"do not waste your time and money,"

do not waste your time and money,
completely useless

"Do NOT bother!!!"

I agree with all recent poor reviews which basically all say the same thing - don't waste your money on this company (which is also affiliated with other dating companies, which you're not told about).

The experience was a total waste of time and money. Their database is clearly very limited and therefore do not match the criteria you are looking for.

They are aggressive if challenged, but of course nice when they want to rope you in a spend money to join.
They did promise 8 matches, which they delivered but they didn't match my important criteria "after all you're only saying yes to an initial phone call"!

If you read Gill's review, you can feel the angry and disappointment in this - I can totally relate to how she feels.

The date of this review is when my contract finally ended with them.

I would be happy to provide anyone with further information about my experience!

"I joined Dating Options through The…"

I joined Dating Options and have been incredibly impressed. The service has been exceptional.

"I agree with Lee and Layla below"

I agree with Lee and Layla below. Total waste of time and money. They clearly do not have the people in the database they claim. It cost me c£1000 to join the brand of Country Partners but they tried to persuade me to spend more, thank goodness I didn’t! They promise you 6 recommendations but none of the ones they gave me matched my criteria nor were they suitable. Moreover they still count as a recommendation even if the guy isn’t interested. The first guy (too old) apparently in the agency’s words “didn’t find me attractive enough” (well the “professional” photos were taken on an iPhone in the car park by one of the managers!), but not what you want to hear when you’re vulnerable. The second guy had registered 18 years ago who I knew and the third far too old and not what I’d asked for. These profiles were all drip fed every 6 weeks or so. You weren’t given a choice of several as I thought you would. Obvious they didn’t have anyone matching my criteria but unlike a decent company would not admit it. They will not give you your money back and if you read the words carefully they will not necessarily match with your criteria so what’s the point?! I found them unscrupulous and unpleasant to deal with when I complained to them. They wasted my time and money and would advise anybody in a similar situation to steer well clear and spend your money on making yourself happy! At least with online you get to chose somebody at least seeming to match your criteria.

"Complete and total waste of time and…"

Complete and total waste of time and money. I agree 100 percent with all of the other negative comments. If you are determined to use this type of service, don’t pick this agency!

"Confidential and private service"

Confidential and private service. Would highly recommend.