Paul
Falzone, CEO

Carol
(T refused to provide your last name)

80
Washington St

Bldg
E 11-12

Norwell,
MA 02061

Dear
Mr. Paul Falzone and Ms. Carol,

I respectfully request you promptly process
my elove membership cancellation/release and refund, and consider waiving the
Initiation Fee I paid on Veteran's Day (Together Dating-SA, TX / 613 NW Loop
410 Ste 195, San Antonio, TX 78216). I experienced business practices of the
poorest quality and value I've ever encountered or it was manipulation and
deception. I'm disappointed in the elove counselor/authorized signature who said she had 7
years of experience yet did not clearly explain or present the full
contract/services or professionally process my release/refund. I'm frustrated by the central
Membership Services number answered by a representative who has no direct ability to resolve
membership issues and who perpetuates an ineffective message loop. It seems
like stonewalling when the rep refers me back to the SA office and takes
messages, and the SA office refers me back to Member Services, when ultimately
they all tell me corporate is the only decision authority. It's extremely unusual that no managers
are ever identified or available.
Only corporate can make decisions yet is not clearly identified or
readily accessible.

I discovered elove when I responded to an
online solicitation. A representative quickly contacted me by phone to schedule
an immediate personal interview (follow-up email showed V, Relationship Specialist, ,
210-348-5736). I joined elove
after an interview with your counselor and based on her description of an ethical & caring business with
history since 1974, whose priority was service personalized to meet members'
needs. She briefed that the
level included a personal matchmaker who would get to know me and fine-tune
the referrals to my preferences over time (she expressed hope she would be the
one assigned to work with me as such).
I did feel rushed and her demeanor markedly changed when I said I wanted
time to see and assess the contract and service levels (she had no pamphlet of
services/fees for me and retained her presentation chart); and when I asked her
to verify the transferability and identify other locations because of my
military commitments (she confirmed essentially global and quickly listed a
handful of U.S. offices as examples).
The contract was signed for a level
and I departed at approx. 3:00. In the lobby, she asked if the man waiting
there would be
acceptable to me. She said he'd
been scheduled for an interview but had to reschedule because he'd been in an
auto accident earlier and the policeman had kept his driver's license. This man was not fully screened, if at
all, and totally unmatched yet she seemed to be offering him to me as a
referral.

Veteran's Day was a rare free day for me.
Driving home I recognized I couldn't dedicate the time that is essential to the
other members in this process due to my demanding work schedule in the USAF. I
unfolded the contract to get office information and discovered a full back side
of the contract; which was not revealed to me in our discussion nor
acknowledged by either of us in our review together of the contract during the
signing process. I believed the text referencing (over) applied to the
Special Notes section Cindy had
filled in and emphasized. No continuation of that section from the front was
written or indicated by C so
there was no need to turn the document over. Cindy did not
present the back to me or indicate the contract actually continued there. During the contract review she held the
document down on the table and summarized each paragraph on the front with a
pen before giving me the pen and pointing to the signature line for me to
sign. My copy was already folded
up when she returned to the room and handed it to me. She kept my personal
information including social security number, bank accounts/balances, credit
card, employer/salary, military ID, driver's license, address, email, phone
numbers and results of a simple magazine-style personality assessment and a
basic interests/compatibility questionnaire.

At 4:35 I called the SA office (210-979-2550
written on the contract) to cancel my membership and got a message nobody was
available. At 4:40 I called the Membership Services number (1-800-317-3283
written on the contract and office phone message) and asked the representative
(Toccara) to cancel my
membership. She couldn't cancel
the membership and referred me back to the counselor (C) Cindy) to cancel it. She said she'd
have Cindy call me. I tried Cindy's cell (941-201-9939 written on the contract) and got
voicemail. At 4:45 I called the office again and told the representative that I
intended to cancel the contract.
She said C indy was in an
interview. I left a message and
then returned to the SA office at 5:00.
Cindy met with me after a
short wait. She referred me to Membership Services to cancel. She was surprised when I told her
Membership Services couldn't cancel the membership and had referred me back to
her. She indicated I might be charged the full rate of $$$$ (a substantial sum
equivalent to my monthly paycheck) because she'd already dropped the
papers. As a credentialed
investigator I know traditional background checks should not be conducted with
a single source or concluded so quickly.
She'd previously highlighted that a thorough background check was
conducted on all members to ensure they were all of highest character, not
criminal predators like online, so I could be confident in meeting their
compatible referrals. She said it would take 1-4 weeks. She then clarified nothing was started
yet (e.g., background checks, assigned matchmaker, referrals, etc.) and I was
only obligated the Initiation Fee of $$ (a high amount). Despite my reason for cancellation, she
told me I was just nervous. She asked me to think about it for one day with no
further obligation. I declined
yet she continued to push me to retain membership, counseling me on my
vulnerabilitieslack of personal time and social investment. She suggested a
reduced service package even when I repeatedly told her why I intended to
cancel. I asked several times to
cancel the membership and complete the release paperwork. SHE TOLD ME TWICE THERE WAS NO PAPERWORK OR FURTHER PROCESS TO FINALIZE RELEASE. This was all highly suspicious to me. She eventually handed me a scrap of
paper and agreed to sign it receiving my cancellation. When asked, she also
signed, cancelled on my copy of the contract to release me. She did not provide
a refund of any payments but indicated it would be immediate. I asked about also waiving the
Initiation Fee. My membership
lasted 2-4 hours (from 2:25 credit transaction/3:00 departed elove office until 4:40 advised elove Membership Services of cancellation/4:45 advised SA office
rep of cancellation/5:00 returned to elove office to cancel/6:00 contract
released in writing). C acknowledged no workload/costs (e.g.,
background checks, matchmaking, referrals, etc.) were incurred given the short
time span but I was still obligated to pay the Initiation Fee. She didn't have the authority to waive
the fee and said it would be a corporate decision; however, no manager was
available and no contact information for one was provided. Since then, no elove
authority has contacted me.

On 12 Nov 10, my USAA account showed the original credit transaction
pending. I called C at 10:00 and
asked her to verify the refund was accomplished. She doubted the transaction
had gone through but said she'd check when she got to the office and verify it
was refunded that day. I still had
no reply or refund by 5:00. I
tried C 's cell and then the office line gave its message to call Membership
Services. I asked the rep (T
again) to verify my refund. She tried to refer me back to my counselor to cancel my membership. I advised I met with C in person and she'd already cancelled the contract. T indicated it was too late because she'd
fully processed the contract and my background check. I did not believe her because C confirmed on 11 Nov 10, that nothing was
started. T repeated she had the contract and
background check in her hand. If true, I told her she must have done it after
I'd cancelled the contract with C the previous day. She told me background checks were run by
the office (C ) and faxed to her so she didn't run it after the release. I disputed this because I was with C to cancel on 11 Nov 10, and she
specifically told me nothing was started on my membership. T said C must not
have realized she'd already faxed it to them. I found that hard to believe and certainly sloppy
management/handling of my personal information. I asked for a copy of the
background check but she refused because such info
wasn't shared with the member. I
asked her to identify the organization that conducted it. She named (deleted), LLC; and said it
was part of the company. T then affirmed I was only obligated for
the $$ fee as agreed with C , and
not the full payment. She couldn't
do anything about the refund and the release had to go to corporate to be processed,
which would take up to 21 days. Meanwhile, the full charge of $$$$ would remain on
my credit. I asked for the
corporation's contact informationname, address, a principal point of contact,
phone number and fax, email. She told me to send any letter to her and she
would forward a fax to corporate. I asked for the corporation's fax but she
didn't know it; she said that it was just a button on the machine that she
pushed and it went. Again, I
found that hard to believe. It is
certainly poor performance and service when representatives don't know basic
company information or procedures; when they do not ensure protection of my
personal information by faxing it to an unknown/unconfirmed number; and when
they interfere with my ability to communicate directly or confidentially with
corporate leadership. After I
persisted, she provided: elove, 80
Washington Street, Building E 11-12, Norwell, MA 02061. She identified Carol as
the principal corporate contact but refused to provide Carol's last name or
anything else except an email .

My short experience with your company &
services has left me feeling helpless and violated in a way I imagine date rape
victims must feel. While the reps were courteous, the business performance has
been nothing like what was represented to me. I ask that your highest corporate authority evaluate my
complaint and resolve my consumer concerns. I know an ethical business of high
quality and reputation would immediately and openly do so. Yet again, I respectfully request you
promptly process my membership cancellation/release and refund all
payments. I also ask you to
consider waiving the Initiation Fee or at least adjusting the fee to reflect a
reasonable hourly rate for a max of 4 hours service. For example, a salesperson with 10 years experience may
average up to $15.00 p/hr and the national median for a degreed psychiatrist is
$72.00 p/hr (ref ). Finally, I encourage you to assess and
improve your business practices at all locations and affiliates to ensure open,
clear, and ethical transactions with consumers (e.g., reports elove (ID 98805 and ID 90081421) ARE NOT BBB Accredited Business as
advertised on your webpage ); offer a
24-hour cancellation policy and someone immediately available with
cancellation/refund authority plus release forms (ref TX 80 (R) HB 2623
relating to the cancellation of a dating service contract within a certain
period after execution of the contract; "Cooling Off" laws that mandate a period of time for contract cancellation in many states); and establish an online public access
post which allows members/consumers to rate and comment on your services &
success

Thank you
for your consideration,

Attachments

Credit Payment

Membership
Cancellation

Contract
and Release

Elove
Email

Elove
Webpage with BBB Symbol

*Note:
Together Dating-SA, TX is one of many addresses identified under elove Personal
Matchmaking, 7000 N Mopac Expy 2 Fl, Austin, TX 78731, (210) 280-0368 (BBB ID
90081421; is not a BBB Accredited Business).

**
Note: This is a copy (some original text deleted or slightly altered to prevent some disclosures) of the letter I mailed to elove at the Norwell, MA address on 15 Nov 10. On 15 Nov 10 at
1211, I received a cell voicemail from my counselor, C at elove AKA Together Dating-San Antonio, TX), indicating the "corporation" had a resolution for me. I called her cell
and she said the corporation agreed to the refund, less the initiation fee, and
also wanted to offer me continued membership at half price. I thanked her for
the offer but noted that the business practices with elove left me disillusioned. I no longer trusted them and did not
want to continue any membership (I'd listed honesty and integrity as my top requirement during my interview with her). I advised her I'd filed a complaint with corporate
(the letter mailed to Norwell, MA). Despite their approval of the refund there
has been no actual refund posted to the account.

Consumer
Complaint Links (many receive complaints online and may be able to either
assist you directly in resolution or use your experience to build consumer
protection programs and laws to stop it from happening to others):

1. Your Credit
Card Bank (for transaction dispute)

2. Better
Business Bureau

3. Federal
Trade Commission

4. Licensing
and Regulation Department in your state

5. Office of
the Attorney General in your state

6. Your state's
legislative committees for business and commerce (State Senate and House of
Representatives)

7. Your
political representatives (e.g., local, state, national congressional
representatives)

8. Consumer
Advocacy Groups (e.g., elderly, military, low income, handicapped, etc.)

9. Media (local
affiliates to major TV news and magazines; newspaper, radio, etc.)