This Week on DAYTIME : Dater Beware! Dating Scams

July 7, 2009

Be sure to tune in to Daytime on Tuesday, July 7 when I’ll be talking about Dating Scams

Dating Scams

This Tuesday on Daytime, I’ll talk about dating scams that won’t just steal your heart.

I am angry.

Please excuse the rushed post, but I wanted to warn you about a dating service, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, that is under investigation or been sued in several states, including Arizona, Pennsylvania and California. GREAT EXPECTATIONS has just settled the suit with the state of Arizona for $500,000 in restitution and fines.

According to the Office of Attorney General Terry Goddard, “GREAT EXPECTATIONS used coercive sales tactics, misrepresentations, and other deceptive practices to sell expensive dating service memberships to Arizona consumers, typically costing thousands of dollars”

Published accounts report the membership cost ranges between $2,000 – $7,495. A Google search for “GREAT EXPECTATIONS COMPLAINT” returns 650,000 results, “GREAT EXPECTATIONS COMPLAINTS” returned 646,000 results.

According to the office of the AZ Attorney General, GREAT EXPECTATIONS alleged illegal practices include:

** “Misrepresenting to consumers the overall number of Great Expectations’ participating members, the number of participating members in certain age groups and the number of new members joining the service each month. Great Expectations also told consumers that two to three marriages occurred between members every month when it had no credible basis for such statements.

**”Misrepresenting to consumers that it had conducted a criminal background check on all of its members.”

**”Using membership agreements that illegally extended initial memberships beyond one year and were designed to mislead consumers to believe they had no right to cancel or rescind the agreements.”

**”Unlawfully obtaining consumers’ credit information as soon as they arrived at the Great Expectations office to meet with a representative, before they received a sales presentation or agreed to purchase a membership.”

**”Using high-pressure sales tactics during one-on-one, hours-long presentations to consumers, during which sales representatives urged consumers to contact their credit card companies to get an increased credit limit sufficient to pay for a membership.”

Roberta, one of my readers in Sarasota, FL alerted me to this issue when she contacted me to tell me that she is “GREAT EXPECTATIONS’ latest victim.”

Please be very careful before entering into any contract with GREAT EXPECTATIONS. And feel free to call me if you have any questions about the pending, current or resolved lawsuits. You can reach me at 941-894-6837.

There’s nothing that upsets me more than someone (or some company) who would take advantage of a person who is simply hoping to find someone to love. It goes against everything I believe in.

I’m investigating the GREAT EXPECTATIONS news story in Florida right now. If you’ve had any experience with GREAT EXPECTATIONS that you’d like to share, especially in Florida, please let me know. (You can leave a comment on this blog — click the link above)

I normally do not broadcast information about articles and segments in progress, but after Roberta’s experience, I would be devastated if you were taken advantage of — especially if a little early warning might help you avoid some heartache. (And keep you from losing $4-5,000 — especially in this economy.)

I will continue to keep you updated.

Please be careful out there.

Best,

Lisa

View the press release from AZ Attorney general here

Lisa appears every week on Daytime, check your local TV listings for times and stations.

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Dating Coach and Relationships Expert Lisa Daily is the bestselling author of two dating books, Stop Getting Dumped!, How to Date Like a Grownup and the totally funny novel Fifteen Minutes of Shame. You???ve seen her everywhere from Entertainment Tonight to the HITCH movie DVD.