Dollars Drained Through Deceptive Dating Service

Phoenix, AZIt didn't take long for Daryl, who signed up for "It's Just Lunch" matchmaking service, to realize it's just a way to drain him of several hundred dollars. He felt totally mislead and deceived by what was promised to him, and what was actually delivered. Deceptive business practices are governed by both Federal and State laws and can vary from one state to another.

In general, deceptive business practice statutes contain provisions addressing false or misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices in promoting the supply or use of a product or any business interest.

In Daryl's case, the divorced 35-year-old medical practitioner found his hectic lifestyle and constant travel schedule prevented him from meeting the kind of women he hoped to date. In fact, it was while on a plane that he first saw an ad for " It's Just Lunch" and decided to give them a call.

"I am obviously busy," said Daryl. "I'd like to find a nice girl to date. That was the goal."

Since he lived in Houston, Texas at the time, he called the local "It's Just Lunch" location and made an appointment for an interview. The woman who interviewed him took the time to get to know Daryl a bit and made him a promise—that she would be the person he dealt with.

"That's the way it should be," said Daryl, rationalizing that only someone who had spent time with him would be in the position to find a compatible date for him. But the next time he heard from It's Just Lunch, it was someone new.

"The first woman flat out lied to me," he said. "That was the first time I thought it was a scam."

He only got two lunch dates in exchange for his $1,500 fee. That comes out to $750 a date, a hefty price for anyone to consider.

"I wanted the standard stuff;" he said, "a woman the same age, a career professional, someone attractive. There are millions of people in the city so I thought there was a pretty good shot at finding someone."

For his first date, the woman who called sounded like a robot, he said, telling him where to go and what to do. It was not the personable service he had expected, based on his face-to-face interview.

The second date was eye-opening. Daryl said his date told him she was the only attractive woman they had on their list and she was sent out on many dates in order to keep the guys interested.

"They're supposed to set you up with a certain number of dates. I got two and gave up," he said. "It was a total scam."

When the folks at "It's Just Lunch" called him again, he said forget it.

"The fact that they didn't find me someone, I don't care. It's the money and the way they went about it. It's a total scam. It's the biggest scam on earth," Daryl said. "They made it sound like a personal thing at the beginning. I worked with a girl who was interested in me and who said she was a good judge of who gets matched with whom and that she personally would do the matching."

For Daryl, it's partly a pride issue but he saw It's Just Lunch as something new and was game to try it. "I don't have time to meet girls. I travel."

"It's not done the way they advertise it," he said. "It's not done on a personal level. It's garbage."

He said more than being embarrassed, he feels like he was taken.

"I'm more mad than embarrassed. They lied to me from the beginning," he said. "I will never, absolutely never, do this again. It's the biggest scam—it's the only time in my life I have been scammed."