SpeedDater

Deceptively offer free membership when you sign for one of their events, this then renews deceptively to a monthly charge (not DD or standing order, all done from the original visa payment). I only spotted this after four months and after explaining that this was deceptive and illegal, received a partial refund but this was protracted, difficult and made more so by this company, who hide away the cancellation option on their website, requiring confirmation codes, emails etc.

That's without mentioning the scam emails, fake profiles and low turnout at the event, essentially paying £20 for a host and spot in a bar which they surely get free

Avoid avoid avoid these illegitmate scamming liars

In just a few days I got like 50 emails and as many chat messages, obviously from scammers (unless 22 years old models are suddenly finding me attractive). The event was less than average - 3 min 30 sec to get to know someone is not enough and we just exchanged boring information like job or such. For all I know half of the girls there were scammers too anyway.

Also think carefully about what their "80% get at least one match" mean. It's fair to assume that 100% of women at these events get at least one match (unless there's some really big problem with them), so that's only 60% of men that get at least a match. And that still seems quite high, most likely speeddater is twisting the numbers further and really less than half of men get a match.

I went to a speed dating event recently in central London and left after an hour. Really disappointed with it. Half the women didn't even live in London (one was actually on holiday from America), most were overweight, and very few were professionals (one woman talked non stop about nandos). The rounds to chat to people are only 3 minutes which is far too short.

The bar itself is dire (its changed its name to Forge but used to be Apt). It was an utter waste of time.

Absolutely awful! The people were boring and so was the event. Went to one of their "sosial parties". Speed dating was at 8pm, the only reason I went to the party. I came to the speed dating area at 7.59pm and was told it was full and it had started. How ridiculous. Was told to book a later speed dating session. No way I was gonna sit alone in a corner for 2 hours waiting for the next speed dating session, so I left. I contacted customer service and they were rude and just had ridiculous excuses not to refund me. I was there 1 hour and was bored as hell! Waste of time and money! Very poor organisation. And rude staff. And boring people. No point going.

The actual speeddating night was ok and to be expected, but when you get a match and you submit your ticks, you have to carry on messaging your matches through the website? Why cant you just get a mobile number of your matches, i know, so they can grab more money off you!

Its a con because if your 1 month subscription runs out before you get to the point of asking for a phone number, you cant carry on messaging your match unless you pay for another month? I also don't like the fact that you have to sign up to internet dating when you've signed up for speed dating?

It just feels very messy, i wont use them again.

The whole experience was really bad! Just to pay for the event I had to call 3 times the customer service. They changed room and instead of being in a nice one we were in a ugly and small room without air con. Few of them apparently cancelled the profile before having the chance to rate them. Few of the girls thought some of them were actor, and in fact they had no profile! I am arguing to have a refund! Terrible! Definitely to avoid!

Went to an event in Reading last month, and...

Positives:
1. Some really nice people there, had a fun evening and several of us found a date
2. The host was a lovely chap and made a clear effort to ensure we all had a good time
3. Had a customer service issue with Speed Dater (for another event), got in touch via email and social media, and was impressed by how quickly and satisfactorily it was resolved

Negatives:
1. £20 feels quite pricy for what it is, considering all that happens is that you're sat at a table for three minutes with your date and rotate round. That's it - no ice breakers or anything to make the mood more romantic etc.
2. The follow up process was a bit confusing - you need to log in the following day to tick who you want to see again from the event. This was mentioned during the event but with all the people you meet gets a little lost. Several of us who went together didn't receive the follow up prompt email for some reason.
3. The website is fairly basic (and you need to use this for the post-event follow up)

Verdict: Worth giving it a go, just remember to log in the day after your event and post your ticks...!

Paid for a singles party with Speeddater in London and a speed dating event. There were very few people and the guys were really dodgy and desperate.
I logged in on their website and they charged me the following months for a subscription I never intended to sign up for. I tried to get my money back and they claimed that I had accepted their "terms and conditions"
I ended up calling my bank and canceling my card to stop the monthly billing.

I visited a few events organised by Speeddater, but the results are poor due to badly organised system,:
First Complaint: You have only 3 minutes, this time is not enough for normal chat:
Second Complaint: Some events a too noisy and overcrouded
Third Complaint: After the event you have to go back online to tick the girl you like, and many girls dont even go online and do not tick anyone, as they forget or change mind next day.
Forth complaint: Events organised as friendly chat, there is nothing romantic in there, co the events are not fit for purpose
Fifth complaint: Useless friend match column, as much better if just "yes" or "no" field

PS. I think this event would be much better if the manager collected the sympathy cards after the event, and if the "yes" ticks coincide, just sent phone number to the persons with mutual sympathy, so they could directly contact each other without middleman websites and memberships. Thanks

I went speed dating with a friend and then signed up for the minimum membership so I could chat to the 'girls' apparently trying to contact me. It ended up signing me up for six months with a platinum membership for 59.95 pounds. I emailed them with them promise which they said I was supposed to get a response back witin 24 hours. No reply. So I called them and the rudest girl who could barely speak English handled my call. Even the phone line was very scratchy. I asked where she was based and she said Edinburgh. But the phone line was terrible and accent was eastern European. I called back and same style robot to speak to, only this time male. No chance to get my money back here. Total crims.

This website is a total scam! Sadly I have got to agree with the other reviews. I paid 24 pounds for a speeddating event where there was twice more women than men. The event went on anyway and they refused to give me a refund. To add insult to injury, they charged my debit card on the following month. After reading internet reviews I called Visa to cancel my card to prevent further debit card charges. My advice would be that if you want to be part of an event, you should pay at the door after you have checked how many people turned up and pay cash to avoid Cupid ripping you off.

(1) There are thousands of complaints posted on the internet against the websites owned by Cupid plc (which owns in particular speeddater.co.uk), not just on sitejabber but on all complaints websites, just showing how hated the company is.
Customers from all over the world complain about the same recurring issues: recurrent billing, fake profiles, deceptive emails and chats from Cupid's staff, rude or inexistent customer service, lack of refunds, abuse of personal data for commercial purposes, deception…

(2) The BBC and the Information Commissioner Officer (ICO) have received numerous complaints against Cupid from deceived customers.
BBC Panorama aired a documentary (Tainted Love: Secrets of the Dating Game) on 29 July 2013 largely targeting the commercial practices of the company and the ICO has launched a formal investigation against the company. The documentary is available on YouTube and stats show that hundreds of thousands of people have watched the video so far.
A reporter for the Kiev post under cover and applying for a job for Cupid in Kiev denounced as well how employees are hired to deceive customers.

(3) Cupid plc's share price (LSE Ticker: 4NJ498 / ISIN: GB00B4NJ4984) is currently at its lowest ever at 56.6p per share (26/11/2013). This is to be compared to its highest of 250p per share in September 2011.
This shows that investors have no confidence whatsoever in the company and are shorting the stock.
If you consider the proceeds that are coming in from the sale of the casual dating business in July 2013, it means that the company is valued at less than cash or cash equivalents. This effectively means that the continuing business has less than no value.

(4) Looking on a website such as Alexa providing free information about websites and showing internet traffic stats and metrics shows that cupid was ranked 5000 in the top visited websites early 2013. It is now ranked as low are 70 000 proving how customers have learnt to avoid the company's products.

THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON. It is hard to believe that this is all a pure coincidence or bad luck. The information provided above is all in the public domain and can easily be checked online.
If a business model is not sustainable, its commercial practices questionable and client consideration extremely poor, then the business is bound to die. This is rule number one and this is just fair.

The two single positive reviews on sitejabber from Samantha C. And Helen W. Obviously originate from Speeddater's staff and aim at regaining customers. This is another pathetic deceptive scheme. This company is a joke.