Complaints About Dating Service - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Two women were hoping for mister right, but they say they got mister wrong. Fox 5's Joel Waldman investigated a dating service that some people say is leaving clients still looking for love.

"I didn't think that it was going to be a total waste of time and money," says Carol Warkman. "I just feel like a fool," Jean Leddy says. "I can't believe that I got myself into this."

Leddy and Warkman both paid $1,000 to join the dating service It's Just Lunch in New York City.

Leddy and Warkman say It's Just Lunch set them up with men who were nothing like what they were looking for.

Warkman asked for a well-traveled, New York City professional. She says she got a 38-year-old man who was not a professional and lived in Westchester with his parents. "He had not worked in over a year and he didn't travel to 13 different countries, he traveled to 13 different states," Warkman says.

Jean Leddy says she was looking for a single parent living in the suburbs or in Manhattan. Instead Leddy says got matched with a guy with no kids who was upset she had a son. "I felt like for the fee they were charging I would be getting a class service," Leddy says.

Both Carol and Jean say they were not getting what they paid for.

In 2007, the company settled a case with then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The Attorney General said the company was charging more than they were allowed under state law. It's Just Lunch paid $47,000 in fines.

The Better Business Bureau gives It's Just Lunch an "F" rating with 162 complaints filed against the company nationwide.

New York City attorney John Balestriere represents over 100 people in a class-action lawsuit against It's Just Lunch; the suit is awaiting certification. The lawyer says one of the biggest complaints is there are way more women than men in the dating pool.

Here are the two statements we received from the company:

IJL takes a client complaint very seriously and we appreciate the opportunity to make a statement. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

It's Just Lunch has been a leader in the matchmaking industry for over 20 years. The Company offers dating services in over 150 cities in the US and around the world and has matched tens of thousands of single professionals and arranged over 2 million first dates. We take pride in the many successful relationships our service has facilitated, and we continuously strive to ensure the best client experience possible.

The dating business is a unique and challenging industry due to the subjective nature of sending singles out on "good dates". All of the men presented to CW met the general criteria she provided to us such as age, education, children, religion, as well as specific parameters such as relationship goals, familial goals, hobbies and interests. In addition, their files all list they are college-educated, holding either a four years degree or an advanced degree. Although, CWs matches found their dates enjoyable, unfortunately, we cannot predict chemistry. We regret that she is not satisfied with her experience and felt the need to speak to the media before her next consultation with us, but we remain very committed to continuing to match her with successful dates. At this time, we have come to an amicable resolution with the client.

It's Just Lunch takes client complaints very seriously and has responded to all Better Business Bureau complaints of which it has knowledge… The ratio of men to women in our database varies from day to day as clients go on hold to date someone exclusively and new members join. In reality this ratio is not relevant. What is relevant is the number of potential matches we have for each particular client. In CW's case, we had many potential matches for her.

Thank you,

Melissa Brown
President
It's Just Lucn [sic]

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Again, thank you for the opportunity to make a statement in regards to the client complaint.

All of the men presented to JL met the general criteria she provided to us such as age, education, children, religion, as well as specific parameters such as relationship goals, familial goals, hobbies and interests. In addition, their files all list they are college-educated, holding either a four year degrees or an advanced degree.

We regret that she is not satisfied with her experience and felt the need to speak to the media before her next consultation with us, but we remain very committed to continuing to match her with successful dates. At this time, we are in communication with the client and are working towards reaching an amicable resolution.

As a general matter, we do not comment on litigation. There are no certified class action lawsuits against It's Just Lunch…

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Melissa Brown