Back in April we had the case of a Californian woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on the popular online dating site Match.com, and planned on suing the site, saying they need to do more to prevent similar attacks.
Maybe Match.com should have listened to her.
Gary Giordano then met Robyn Gardner on Match.com and they went on a getaway to Aruba.
Now Robyn Gardner is missing.
It has been founded out that Giordano has a criminal record and has had at least two orders of protection taken out against him from women who claim he was violent toward them.
The relationship between with Gardner, who is from Frederick, and Giordano appears to have blossomed as Giordano was being accused by other women he dated of stalking, secret video taping and assault.
This is just one of the reasons why I don’t trust dating websites. Period.
When all these dating websites seem to care about is money. (The free sites make money by having ads placed on their sites) Here’s the disclaimer that is on Match.com right now. You tell me that because Match.com “cannot,” verify the information on this website, that they aren’t liable for the two cases against it in four months of time?
Your Interactions with Other Members.YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER MEMBERS. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MATCH.COM CURRENTLY DOES NOT CONDUCT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS ON ITS MEMBERS. MATCH.COM ALSO DOES NOT INQUIRE INTO THE BACKGROUNDS OF ALL OF ITS MEMBERS OR ATTEMPT TO VERIFY THE STATEMENTS OF ITS MEMBERS. MATCH.COM MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE CONDUCT OF MEMBERS OR THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH ANY CURRENT OR FUTURE MEMBERS. MATCH.COM RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CONDUCT ANY CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK OR OTHER SCREENINGS (SUCH AS SEX OFFENDER REGISTER SEARCHES), AT ANY TIME AND USING AVAILABLE PUBLIC RECORDS. IN NO EVENT SHALL MATCH.COM BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, GENERAL, SPECIAL, COMPENSATORY, CONSEQUENTIAL, AND/OR INCIDENTAL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE CONDUCT OF YOU OR ANYONE ELSE IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE SERVICE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, BODILY INJURY, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, AND/OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM COMMUNICATIONS OR MEETINGS WITH OTHER REGISTERED USERS OF THIS SERVICE OR PERSONS YOU MEET THROUGH THIS SERVICE. YOU AGREE TO TAKE REASONABLE PRECAUTIONS IN ALL INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SERVICE, PARTICULARLY IF YOU DECIDE TO MEET OFFLINE OR IN PERSON. IN ADDITION, YOU AGREE TO REVIEW MATCH.COM’S DATING SAFETY TIPS PRIOR TO USING THE SERVICE. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MATCH.COM MAKES NO GUARANTEES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING YOUR ULTIMATE COMPATIBILITY WITH INDIVIDUALS YOU MEET THROUGH THE SERVICE. YOU SHOULD NOT PROVIDE YOUR FINANCIAL INFORMATION (FOR EXAMPLE, YOUR CREDIT CARD OR BANK ACCOUNT INFORMATION) TO OTHER MEMBERS.
This disclaimer is a JOKE!
Here’s the bottom line: The Internet has become so big over the past ten years that when this first came out, I highly doubt they thought they would be having these issues, but they had to plan for some big time disasters. With so many fake profiles on Twitter and Facebook even trying to fight Cyber bullying, all these dating websites are out of date.
Here’s what someone said about Match.com on a blog: The guy’s name is TJ:
“I am starting to hate companies that auto bill you on a subscription basis. The dating website Match (Match.com) is a big perpetrator of this and they have a strict no-refund policy. In my opinion it should be illegal for someone to auto bill your credit card without honoring refunds. These companies are making money by purposely making their billing terms deceptive to consumers. The terms of the auto-bill are often hidden beneath a large terms of agreement that barely anyone reads and the companies that use this tactic know this.
I recently paid for a Match.com subscription for six months on sale for $30 bucks. I didn’t use it much and pretty much forgot about it until my card was charged after the subscription ended for a full year subscription for $113. Absolutely no warning email was given and support was very rude and unapologetic. I ended up having to issue a charge back through my credit card, which had a special handling procedure for Match since so many people end up having to issue charge backs.
Match.com change your unethical business model and earn your revenue fair!”
Another person said, “WHY DO THEY FEEL THE NEED TO
>RIP PEOPLE OFF
because their service sucks. Plain and simple. I was a match.com subscriber and I can tell you first-hand it is bull. Fake profiles, fake responses, all for a ridiculous amount of money. Just like FreeCreditReport.com automatically signs you up for crap you didn’t expect or want, Match.com auto-bills you to look at phony profiles. Screw the internet.”
Another post:
“Match is crooked and scandalous. They have hundreds of fake profiles and in the end they will have a few fake profiles contact you to try and keep you there. Someday they will go to hell.”
Not the profile Hollywood paints us about online dating, huh? Who could forget “You’ve got Mail,” Must Love Dogs,” and even Keeping Up with the Kardashians where Kim And Kourtney set up Kloe on an Internet Dating Service.
All these websites that promote helping you find your better half make me want to just throw up! Tugging at your heartstrings telling you that “you can’t make it on your own,” and lately Eharmony.com has been advertising to no end.
The best way to meet people in my opinion is not to “force” it by going on these sites. You just end up meeting a lot of people who bring drama, and frankly who has time for that these days?
There are down falls to the Internet just as there are down falls to meeting new people at a bar, but the best advice on everything is to always listen to your gut. If you gut is telling you this is not good or run, take cover, all I would say is listen to it. Double check before you go out with anyone you meet on ANY dating site or social site. Its okay if you aren’t so trustworthy right away, we are possibly talking about your life here.
A fun and innocent first date with a potential love interest can eventually lead to a second date that’s not so pleasant. And to think they these sites post “common sense dating tips” when in fact all these dating sites prove that they are just too lazy to take this background check on themselves and that all they care about isn’t their customers well being, but making money.
Those who keep saying romance is dead weren’t kidding. Go on these dating websites, and chances are, you will be.
Sources:
http://www.wusa9.com
http://today.msnbc.msn.com
http://tjshome.com/sucks/7/Match.com
http://newsfeed.time.com