Great Expectations, Thirtyplussingles.com, Etc. Etc. From sorority sister to "Fatal Attraction" in under 30 seconds-- merely say "no"! Sacramento California

I should've listened to my gut once I took a few steps into the initially-very-reliable-looking site. With the supposed caveat "We only look for quality singles", I answered a battery of questions before really knowing who was going to be seeing my information. The questions seemed both repetitive and rather probing, but you learn to suck up a lot when you're a single thirtysomething, right? They asked for my phone number and I got a screen saying I would be contacted.

After several days, I started getting anonymous-number calls, which of course I wouldn't answer. When I finally did answer one, there was a lot of "Is this [my name]?" without answering who they were. A coy "GE" was the best I could get for a turn or two.

I also could not get a dollar amount on what was expected from me... "can't give that over the phone," was the reply. Once the medium-hard sales banter was over and I agreed to at least show up for an appointment (it turned out to be 100 miles away), Rachel (the rep who called me) asked whether I had any questions and to have a list of them for our appointment. That part was rather reassuring, especially after listening to the clanging in my gut in the time leading up to that moment.

So I Googled them. When the first several results came up on consumer-alert type sites, the writing was on the wall. I did a little research and found out the coyness game is not unusual. They fly under way too many flags for a decent business, i.e. thirtyplussingles.com and myriad other domain names I didn't bother to remember. The "reasonable rate" they charge for their services can range into the four figures, with hard sales pitches all along the way.

The kicker for me was when I contacted them to cancel my appointment. The call to Rachel, on her end, started with a bubbly "Oh hi, hon"-- but once I made it clear that I "wasn't even willing to talk about the possibilites", her final words to me before banging down the phone were a rage-filled "Well, good luck to you." I was far, FAR more professional over the phone than she-- and I wasn't the one on the job!

Interesting followup: Ever since refusing the offer I couldn't supposedly refuse, there has been a spike in anonymous calls to my phone with no message. This was about a week ago. Hell, I almost wish they'd go ahead and try to leave a horse's head on my bed-- then I could claim self-defense. >:) (...although I'd feel very sorry for the poor horse...)

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Chico, California
U.S.A.