It's Just Lunch - Angry Women

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Jennifer of Cary, NC June 11, 2009

I wish all of these reviews had been up a few years ago when I joined IJL. The good reviews are probably just from people that work there and are trying their best to stay in business. I am based in NC, and when I first joined the service, I really liked it. Since then, it is a common theme that many of the locations are closed and everything is now through their corporate office. There, the people who answer the phones (sounds like a call center in the background IF you get a call back), are very rude, do not call you back, and if you try to complain, they try to railroad you!

I had a so called unprofessional "director" with no communication skills tell me that "no wonder you are single; you are uncooperative". This was after calling and trying to explain to her that I was reaching out to them due to the fact that the Raleigh number no longer had the IJL message on there and that when leaving a message, no one was calling me back. I have been on 3 dates since last December and have been on hold most of that time due to my work schedule. The 3 dates were really bad. Since asking to be off hold, that is when I realized that this is a big scam b/c there really is no local office and the people (wherever they are) from corporate don't even have the files for the Raleigh branch. They claim that they don't have the information in front of them.

There may be a local person that will meet you at a Starbucks or somewhere if you want to sign up but even she will take your initial call and money and you won't hear from her anymore. These people truly are thieves. They will not return my 695 though b/c they claim that they are still operational. The people from corporate keep interrupting you when you call, they are abrasive, and when I started to stand up for myself (since I am not going to take any junk from a dating service wanna be professional sales person), she called me a bitch and hung up on me.

They claim that they have doubled their number of clients in the Raleigh-Durham area, but if they were so booming, they would return phone calls and want to get people dating. They are just running themselves in the ground, and it's not me b/c all of the sites have similar stories.

Elizabeth of Dallas, TX June 9, 2009

I was a member at It's Just Lunch and they are horrible! You fill out an application and tell them what you are looking for in a mate. They tell you that you will only be matched with people that meet your criteria and they guarantee you 13 dates. You go on your dates then give them "Feedback" on your date, what you liked and disliked and they say they will keep that in consideration for your next date. Well that is just a flat out lie!

I would say that 90% of my dates did not meet my criteria. Even after repeatedly telling them that. I got talked into renewing by them saying that they had a lot of new members that met my criteria, still 90% of my dates did not meet my criteria. So I am not only out the 1500 for the initial membership but another 1700 for the renewal. And when I tried to get them to cancel my membership, they would not; they put my membership on hold instead of canceling it. They even sent me a letter confirming that my membership was on hold. I believe they set you up on these dates so that they can keep their guarantee, not to match you up with someone. I am out about 3200 from this so called "dating service"

Cara of Brooklyn, NY June 3, 2009

I signed up for the service-- went one one date and decided to put my account on hold (5/12) after I met someone on my own. A week later (5/18), i decided to reinstate my account. I left a message on the general mailbox. I called to verify that they received my message again and finally i received an email back (5/22) that my account has been reactivated. It has now been almost 2 weeks and i made one more call (6/3) to see what my status is (afterall, they do their "matching" every 3 weeks) and they tell me that my account is still on HOLD!!! i spent 1000.00 on this garbage. This company clearly has no clue what they are doing, especially this celese moss. She is the one who emailed me to say my account was taken off hold and the one that i spoke to on the phone who said that my account was still on hold!

Nicola of Tecumseh, ON May 21, 2009

I joined IJL over a year ago and paid a promotional fee of 1300. At the interview I was given the impression that there would be numerous suitable matches for me and that the ratio of men and women was equal. After 7 "dates" and a 4 month hiatus it has become very apparent to me that I was sorely mislead. Several of the matches were painfully and obviously unsuitable.

Now I have been informed that the Detroit based franchise has been taken over by the corporation but there is no recourse for me to gain any sort of refund. They say that there will be no change in the operation of IJl but I fear that there I am caught now amidst company problems and have no recourse to exit this contract. I feel sure I am not the only client dissatisfied and certainly would be unwilling to recommend this service to others.

Anastasia of Fairport, NY May 22, 2009

They completely mislead me and took my money. I paid 1000.00 to meet Men in the Rochester area (where i had just moved and knew nobody)and expected to meet Men with similar interests or even Men with interests at all. I had told them that I was looking to date someone between the ages of 30 and 39 but would go as high as 40 as I was only 32 at the time. They insisted on setting me up with men well into their 40's because my last long term relationship was with an older Man. I told them i did NOT want to date older men.

the first one i went out with, Samantha accidentally switched his profile with someone else's so i was trying to talk to him about things that he had no clue about. It was extremely uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as when i told him i didn't want another date and he tried to force himself on me in a parking lot. The last one I had (they say they guarantee 8 dates in 6 months which they did not, my contract ended February 26th and my last date was yesterday)he said he was 43 but acted and looked like he was 48. He also had been married, divorced and had a child which Maria neglected to tell me.

I feel as though I was taken advantage of and my money was taken without a thought to what I was looking for. Why did they even bother to interview me if they weren't going to look at my profile again? I had told them in my interview that my Sister was a professional Ballerina in Europe and they actually told one of my dates that I used to be a professional ballerina in Europe!!! Maria slao tried to set me up with a man who lives in Binghamton...3 hours away!!!

This company is a rip off and they should be closed down. I have also heard from men that i have met on these dates that they have been charged anywhere from 1000.00 to 1600.00. What is their scam here? to take your money and still leave you lonely in a new town where you know nobody. It is a disservice to those of us who are simply looking for a companion. Again I say, they should be closed down immediately!!!! All i wanted was to meet someone nice with interests like mine who i could talk to easily and eventually have a relationship with. this has cost me 1000.00 plus the money I spent on the actual dates which would be around 200.00. Not to mention the gas money to travel to the dates.

Trisha of Raleigh, NC May 7, 2009

I signed up. Had my first match. Called them as instructed to give fee back. I also requested to have another match. I have called 4 times. Cheri never answers her phone, and never returns your call. I paid 600.00 for one date. I have yet to be set up on another date. I feel as though it was all a set up. I paid a lot of money for a phoney date. Each time you call the main number off the web site you are also only instructed to leave a message and of course no one returns your call. I spent 600.00 for nothing.

Jill of Dallas, TX May 15, 2009

As many other women have stated, this was without question the biggest waste of 1500, or any amount, I've ever spent. They have you fill out a detailed questionnaire - and then proceed to completely ignore it. EVERY "date" I was ever sent on completely failed my specified needs. Everything from age to geographical location was ignored. The last "date" they tried to set me up on disregarded three of my requirements, and when I refused it they tried to make me the guilty party saying he was supposedly looking forward to meeting me. If I ignored my clients needs half as much as they did mine, I would have been bankrupt years ago.

Suzanne of Raleigh, NC May 8, 2009

The Raleigh office closed and I am sure it was due to poor management and customer service. For most it is a cost of more than 1000 for one year. I have not heard from them in over three months with 8 phone calls to several different people. The first response you get is "YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK" even though they have not fulfilled their contract. How does this happen?

After researching the internet I have found that Raleigh is not special, this is happening everywhere. Obviously they hire young people that are conditioned to repeat things and take their paychecks and go home without guilt of knowing people are getting swindled out of their money. Disappointment is one thing, losing your money and not receiving a service specified on a contract is another.

Anonymous of Chicago, IL April 26, 2009

It's just lunch is horrible! You will pay a minimum of 1,500 and receive close to no service from them and negative value for yourself. They do not match you up with people that meet your requirements--they don't have the inventory but will never admit that to you. They just send you out with anyone wasting your time and your money. For months on end, I complained my matches were too old; despite my numerous requests they never set me up with someone younger and never admitted they didn't have any younger matches. I thought by hiring their service I would not have to do all the administrative work. However, I constantly had to keep them organized. They will forget you are a client and I had to call and ask for a date. I would call with feedback within 24 hours as required and the message would never get processed and someone would call me (at the office) for my feedback. On the off chance someone was proactively arranging a date for me, she would call three times in one day as if my job is to do nothing but wait for their call and return it immediately. I would get calls from someone who thought they were calling someone else. The first time I voiced my complaints, I left two messages with a director and never received a call back. When I finally reached her on my third attempt a week later, she said she was busy. You will pay 1,500 and be required to call them within 24 hours. However, if you request a call from them to discuss your disappointing experience they are not concerned enough to call you back at all. I tried to arrange a meeting to talk about how the service could be improved but they weren't really interested and said I could come to their office during office hours. Do me a favor. They will feed you one sales lie after another. Don't fall for it. Once they get your money, they are done and you can't get your money back.

Suzanne of Mill Creek, WA May 6, 2009

I joined It's Just Lunch years ago and had a great experience. I went on about 15 dates and enjoyed most, and never turned down a single date. However, they recently talked me into a month-to-month membership. Big mistake. Times have changed and now they are desperate. I went on three dates the first month, and none of the men really stood out.

They called me with the fourth date and I (for the VERY first time) went with my gut and said no. They were shocked and upset with me. It has now been one month later and the only call I have received from IJL is to gather my next month's payment (which I paid,then promptly canceled). Apparently, if you turn down a date with IJL (which is allowed, according to the contract) then you will be punished. Don't expect to ever hear from them again. I was a loyal client, referred three full paying clients to them (1600 each), sang their praises, then they thank me like this? 150 for one month, and NO dates. Nice. Thanks, IJL, for showing me who's boss.

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