FROM
THE EDITOR
It's interesting to note that very few online dating services put customer
service over the almighty dollar. When online dating services first started
out, the
general rule of thumb was that when you became a paying member, you could communicate
with anyone on the service, whether they were a paying member or not. Then
one day some suits in a board meeting got the bright idea that they could "double" their
profits by forcing a person to have to pay in order to read a message from
someone else. Greed was born.
Today the majority of online dating services won't let
you read a message from a paid member unless you also become
a paid member. Not only is this system highly unfair to
the paid member sending the message, but it potentially
cheats thousands of people from ever having that first
communication or meeting.
In future issues of this column, it will be my goal to
mention some of the services that still cater to the original
philosophy that when a person pays to send a message, the
recipient of that message shouldn't have to pay to read
it.
One of the largest online dating services still putting
the customer first in this regard is LavaLife. LavaLife is
one of the most unique online dating services out there
in that instead of a monthly fee, you buy "credits" which
are used to send an email or instant message to someone
else. But when you do send an email, the person you sent
it to can read it for free and communicate with you ongoing
for free even if they are not a paying member. While LavaLife is
far from perfect, the service has at least maintained a
sense of knowing how to treat a paying customer. And for
that, we give them kudos.
In the future I'll highlight more online dating services
that allow paying members to communicate with anyone, regardless
of their status. And if there's a particular one you think
should be mentioned, let me know by emailing me via jtracy@onlinedatingmagazine.com.
Best Wishes,
Joe Tracy, editor
Online Dating Newsletter
http://www.onlinedatingnewsletter.com
P.S. I hope you enjoy this new edition of the Online Dating
Newsletter, which includes one of my favorite ideas/concepts
that you'll read about under Romance
Ideas and that's creating your own Monopoly
game - a priceless addition to your board game collection
(and easy to do with the Make Your Own Opoly kit).
