Complain about a product or service

It's Just Lunch Responds

February 13, 2006

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ConsumerAffairs.com's Lisa Wade McCormick received the following faxed response from It's Just Lunch CEO Daniel G. Dolan after leaving several telephone messages requesting a telephone or in-person interview with Dolan:

You left me a message asking for our response to the consumer complaints on your company's WebSite. Thank you for the opportunity.

At It's Just Lunch, we are very proud of our customer service and our reputation:

• we have been in business over 14 years and we are the fastest growing dating service in the world with over 85 locations (we are a franchise system. and each location is independently owned and operated);

• we have had almost 200,000 clients;

• we have had thousands and thousands of marriages; and

• we have the highest client referral and renewal rates in the dating service industry.

Accordingly, we do not feel your WebSite accurately reflects the views of the vast majority of our clients: Specifically:

1. It's Just Lunch has had almost 200,000 clients, and your WebSite lists a very small percentage of complaints (less than 1/10th of 1 percent), and only a couple complaints from all of 2005 out of our almost 50,000 current clients. In short, It's Just Lunch has had 250 times more marriages than complaints listed on your WebSite.

2. We believe some (if not more) of the "client complaints" listed on your WebSite are not actually from clients at all, but rather from other people (perhaps competitors) pretending to be clients. It is our understanding ConsumcrAffairs takes no steps to confirm that complaints they receive are from actual clients. You've also posted complaints from "employees" who never actually worked in an It's Just Lunch office. In short, your WebSite contains false and inaccurate information. In contrast, the Better Business Bureau take steps to confirm the accuracy of complaints it receives.

3. Your WebSite does not permit companies to respond to complaints. In contrast, the Better Business Bureau provides companies with that opportunity.

4. Your WebSite does not update clients' views and opinions. In contrast, the Better Business Bureau does update all information to provide a current and accurate view. For example, in the case where a client's issue is resolved to the satisfaction of the client, your WebSite refuses to remove the complaint or note that the client is now happy. We've been told by a number of clients (as recently as last week) who have posted complaints to your WebSite that they have subsequently requested that their complaints be removed because they are now happy clients and your WebSite has refused to update their views about It's Just Lunch (these clients have provided us with written evidence of their request and your refusal to do so). In several cases, the clients who wrote complaints subsequently met "the right one" through our sezvice, but you still refused to remove their complaint or note their obvious satisfaction with our service.

Both I and other people at It's Just Lunch (both employees and clients) have called and written your company many times in an attempt to correct the inaccurate and outdated complaints, but thus far your company has refused to return our phone calls or correct the inaccurate information.

It's Just Lunch has been in business over 14 years. We have a satisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau and we feel the Better Business Bureau's record is a more accurate view of our service and our clients' views.

Daniel G. Dolan
Chairman & CEO

"It is unfortunate that Mr. Dolan would not agree to speak personally with our reporter," said ConsumerAffairs.com Editor In Chief James R. Hood. "The reason we went to the trouble and expense of assigning Lisa McCormick to the story was to be certain our information was accurate and to be fair to the company and its customers."

"The reason Ms. McCormick telephoned Mr. Dolan was to give him the opportunity to respond in detail to his customer's complaints. We would be happy to hear from some of his company's happy customers, as opposed to complainants who have been paid to retract their complaints," Hood said.

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