It’s Just Lunch

IJL is a business whose business it is to make money from people hoping to find a relationship. If you think there is more in it than that, good luck! After 3 lunches rather than the promised 6, my contract was cancelled by email because as explained «I had let it go just one day over the hold period». As none of my dates had anything in particular in common with me, it’s actually somewhat of a relief to know I don’t have to go through the painful process of anticipating a blind date with a stranger again only to find out I had to spend an hour pretending I am having fun.
In my Skype interview with Sarah I was lead to believe that IJL was looking for people just like me, however of my dates actually informed me that he was doing me a favor since there were so few men and so many women. I was also called by a sales person who tried to pressure me into joining a different type of dating group, for an additional charge. I’m surprised they are still in business.
I wasted my money — don’t waste yours!
Update: IJL called the next day and offered to make sure I was able to have the 6 dates as originally offered.

Thought maybe I’ll give it a try and scheduled an interview. After reading the Unilocal and Google reviews, I decided to cancel my appointment. I called and asked the receptionist to cancel my appointment. She refused and kept wanting to put me on hold so that one of the senior matchmakers can talk to me. She boldly refused to cancel my appointment. These people are rude and only want your money.

Very professional staff of matchmakers who charge on par with attorneys. Matchmakers are also the salespersons who end up pushing additional overpriced services they make you feel you need to get to improve your chances. My experience thus far is that they match me with anyone that fits my basic profile. As a result, Ive experienced many poor matches that have been a waste of time. Of those matches that Ive been able to speak candidly and the opportunity arises to talk about IJL, not one has given a positive, satisfied response. I expected to have better leads with IJL but unfortunately, Ive fared a lot better with online dating sites.

You will end up in a relationship if you contact IJL, no question about it. It will be a relationship with IJL, and it will feel a lot like stalking.
I made the mistake of filling out an online form with contact information, on a whim, more than two years ago. I received a phone call from a very enthusiastic woman and I proceeded to ask a series of questions, and a received a series of answers that seemed too good to be true. I wasn’t divorced yet — oh, not a problem (really? who will you be introducing me to, then?). I’m highly educated and seeking the same — oh, we have so many potential matches for you, that’s our primary clientele.
In fact, it all sounds great, until you get to the price tag, which is significant (I forget the exact number but it was on the order of $ 2k). I politely declined, because it was far too much money to spend on the off chance that it wasn’t, in fact, too good to be true.
They called back the next week. And the next. And again and again and again until I finally demanded they remove my number from their files and NEVER EVER call it again.
And then I forgot all about it, until I got an email from them yesterday. Just checking their files, and wondering if I’m still interested in meeting men in my age group, which is «a really strong one» for them.
No. Please stop contacting me.

I am a member of elite pool (non paying) for their candidates and let me tell you all, these women are sharks!!! And to think of meeting someone for love and life through them? How would that happen!
Their prime motto is to recruit you into their paying elite members which is a handsome sum of $ 5000. In addition they are more keen to force you to meet their clients which in my case was not even a match as far his age goes. This actually works against their paying members because if I am not interested in a man above my age limit, they should not be introducing me to him (hence wasting his money). But they don’t care. It’s their policy they don’t the picture of their elite member to the elite pool (non paying) members. This works against their paid members because what if there is no attraction?! When mentioned this fact they don’t care about this notion that the paying member may be wasting his money like this. Actually they coerce you to meet them by mentioning that they will not introduce you to anyone else if you don’t agree to meet their client. How lovely to go on a date being coerced like this!!!
The benefit to me is that I get introduced to guys without paying but in all honesty
a. I don’t want to be set up with a guy above the age limit I am looking for.
b. I would not like to be coerced to go meet someone like this as I mentioned above
c. I think it’s not ethical to be forcing people to meet someone like this for the sake of a paying member who has paid 5K for these services.
Thank god I didn’t pay to subscribe to their services and I shall not be going again to meet someone from IJL from here on. Paying elite members beware they are forcing other people to meet you!

Run the other way! I made the mistake of filling out their request for info form on their website and supplying my phone number. After reading reviews here on Unilocal I decided not to bother with them. But then they started calling every day multiple times and sending emails. Finally I emailed back and politely asked them to stop calling. And they sent a passive aggressive email back saying that they were only doing their job and I had requested information. They also asked me to never contact them again in the future. Really?!? How the heck are they still in business?

I am glad I’ve come across these comments about IJL. It has helped me make the decision not to sign up with them again.
I did IJL about seven years ago and even though I’ve told them nunerous times to stop calling me I still hear from them time to time. Today I did hear from Marci and while it was tempting, I can’t justify shelling out $ 2400 for twelve dates. For that kind of money it should be a date every weekend for a year! Marci couldn’t understand why I wasn’t willing to shell out that kind of money. I told her that I was trying to pay down my credit card bills and she suggest that I spread out the cost betweeen more than one credit card. I don’t like the hard sell to sign up.
When I was doing IJL, the first couple of dates I would get excited because these men sounded to good to be true and disappointment would set in when it turned out they were nothing like the description. By the third date, instead of looking forward to my upcoming dates, I started counting down how many dates I had left on my contract with them. I even got stood up once.
I agree with Helen who said this is expensive for no return on your investment.

Expensive for no return on investment.
Let me start by saying the people who run the service are energetic and highly professional sales people.
Yes dating is a numbers game, but if I want numbers of wild-​card dates I’ll do
. I expect for shelling out $ 2,200 a selection of carefully matched dates. Instead I received only 6 dates during my contract, and only one of those was even marginally a good match. The others were no where close to being a good match — even on paper.
They are very good at spinning everything in the best positive light. But in the end I felt like they cared more for their bottom line than my gettng a date. I imagine if you are 25, then the surface details of «loving to travel» or «likes music» will be a good starting point. But to match a born again Christian with an Atheist shows complete lack of depth in their screening process.
When I signed up they told me they had tons of eligible men. But in fact, it took well over a year for them to find dates to fulfill their minimum contract of 6 dates.
This is a very expensive service when you consider the cost of the restaurant is not considered in the service.
You will also receive several other up-​sell offers for even more money (always$ 1,000+). The new dinner party option looks like a better deal than the 1:1 dates, but I wouldn’t try it because the cost is still extremely high.
I wouldn’t call this a scam. But I think they way over represent what they can deliver.
You WILL go on dates with real men. And you will work with very nice people. But you won’t get your money’s worth.
Bottom line: if you are bored, feel desperate and have several thousand dollars to throw away, do it.

I called them once a year ago (November 2011) to inquire what they do, how it works, how much it costs, etc. They couldn’t give me a straight answer and I decided I was no longer interested. They have called me EVERY single day since, every business day for one year. I have blocked their number, I have ignored them, it never stops. I am hoping my number times out of their call list somehow. I am a healthcare provider and cannot answer my phone or personal phone calls during weekdays so have not been able to tell them «leave me alone» since that first month. Stay FAR FAR FAR away from this company. And do not even call them to inquire or they will NEVER leave you alone. It takes a lot to push me to review a company. This is the first bad review I have posted of anything in a long time. Save yourself. Don’t even contact them!

I am in complete agreement with those who found these people to be a bit nuts. I, too, called to see what the whole concept was about — and after playing a bit of phone tag, finally got one of the «consultants» on the phone. She basically proceeded to tell me that it would be up to them whether they accepted me (who is the customer here shelling out $ 2100?) which I found both incredibly ridiculous and insulting. Really — are they going to turn away someone who wants to give them that kind of dough? I highly doubt it. Then, though she was SO busy with all her client interviews and only had that day to see me all week, she somehow magically had an open time at one of the only times my calendar was open (again — ya — right). When the time actually came to go to the interview, I thought better of it as I felt like I was being played — so called in plenty of time to cancel. Now suddenly Marci (my «consultant») had all sorts of time to call me back. She definitely made it clear that she was quite irritated that I was canceling given that she had made time in her day for me (backwards again) and had the nerve to tell me that if I didn’t call her back as soon as I got her message, it would mean we wouldn’t be able to work together. So full of attitude it was crazy. Again — who the heck is the client here? How completely off-​putting and obnoxious. No thanks. Thanks to all of you who submitted reviews too — it confirmed for me what my intuition was already telling me.

Don’t waste your time. I’m fairly certain that they read MY list of interests to me when they «matched» me with women, because very few of them had any interests in common with me.
I filed a complaint with the BBB, and to defend itself IJL fabricated positive responses about the women I dated, claiming that I actually found them attractive and that I found some I’d like to date. That was entirely false; I did not tell them even once that I was attracted to any of the women that they set me up with.
They’re scammers, nothing more. And they apparently have enough practice at dealing with BBB complaints to know exactly what to tell the BBB in order to appease them, even if it’s entirely false.

Oh, let me tell you!!! It’s Just Lunch is flat-​out the worst customer service experience I have ever had in my entire life. I am not exaggerating! I truly mean that. I had the misfortune of dealing with the Seattle office and their rep. Molly «whats her face»… i see they have taken down the names of their reps on their web site.
Its a long story… but essentially, I went in with some genuine interest. I did an orientation interview with Molly and it was ok, what I expected. When I got up and left, I thanked her for her time, told her I was interested and I would get back to her within the week… thats when the nightmare started.
Molly immediately got upset! I’m serious… I was standing there trying to walk out the door and she was hot boxing me in the entry way with a big frown on her face and anger in her tone saying, «uh… why? why dont you want to get started now?!»… I repeated myself as above and remained cool and polite… and she continued to «huff & puff» and go on about how I owed her something for giving me her sales pitch?!! I walked out and basically said, «forget it» under my breath and laughed as I walked out the door trying to fathom what I just witnessed?
Oh, but it gets even better…
About a week later I got three Voice mails from Molly asking me to come back and get started… I was on tour and could not get my voicemails… when I returned from my over sea travels… I got all these voice mails. the 3^rd and last voice mail from Molly was a scolding with tone that went something like this, «…I gave you my time in the orientation and then I left you two voicemails and you never called me back. We dont want to work with you now because your not the kind of client that has enough class for us»… it was an unbelievablye presumptuous, boundary breaking, rude voice mail!
At this point, I had had it! I started making calls to get in touch with a manager or someone in that company that would understand that this is not going to help their company. It seemed their «corporate» numbers were all just shells… but eventually I was contacted by their manager of the Seattle office and after explaining my story again, fully expecting the manager to sympathize with me and understand… I was told, «…well, did you call her back… Its rude to not call Molly back… how dare you for not calling Molly back»?
LOL! I mean at this point you can only laugh… the experience was so bad, I have to post it here to protect people.
They seem to be paid commissions on closing deals with people and pretend to be these experts in sensitive issues such as romantic match making, but they reveal themselves to just be a bunch of greedy, spoiled brats that throw tantrums when you don’t help them make their quotas.
DON’T DO IT, RUN LIKE HELL!

UPDATE: 6÷1÷2012. Two years after I first met with IJL, I just heard yet again from another employee there who «was just going through old files» and wanted to see if I was still single and maybe could use their «service.» If you give this company your telephone number, please prepare for years of calls, even if you explain in no uncertain terms that you no longer want to work with them, whether you are single or not.
I’m a little surprised that there aren’t any reviews of this scam here on Unilocal-​Seattle. Unilocal in other cities (eg: San Francisco) are rife with complaints about IJL.
The short version: This is a dating service that was disappointed that I actually found a boyfriend. It is a dating service that is not afraid to use the contact information you give them to harass you for for weeks and months for money. They will be indignant and rude if you fail to give them the $ 1800-​$ 2000 they demand. Check them out online. Lots of people say they are a total scam, one that fails to introduce them to people who are even remotely a «match.»
The long version: My experience, mercifully, was limited and entirely unpleasant. Seven months ago, I met with one of their salespeople posing as an interviewer. They made clear on the telephone that they were interviewing me to see if I would fit with their clients. (Online reviews suggest that this line is just part of a script and that no one is ever *not* a good fit for their matchmaking service.) I made clear that I, too, would be seeing if it felt like a good fit for me.
I «interviewed» and was promptly hit up for the $ 1800 joining fee. I said I would think about it and let them know. That is when the problems began. My interviewer gave me a devastated look and began a process of pressuring me, badgering me, getting angry with me etc — anything to get me to give her money. I told her that I don’t usually spend $ 1800 on the spot and that I would have to think about it. Countless phone calls in the following weeks. The calls have literally lasted to this day. Seven, almost eight, months later. Does that sound like a legitimate service or a racket?
During the phone I got just today, I requested that they not call me anymore. Once again, when denied money, the formerly chirpy IJL worker changed her tone dramatically. «Do you mind telling me why not?» I told her I didn’t need the service anymore because I am in a relationship. «Well,» she said bitterly, «We did spend over an hour getting to know you.» I said, «I’m sorry to disappoint you, but don’t call me again.» And I hung up. And yes – they *did* spend over an hour talking to me. Which I resented. I had been told the «interview» would take an hour, max, and it went way over, which made me late for my next appointment. There were no clocks in the room. Also, once I did manage to begin to pry myself out of the interview, I was still made to wait while more and more pressure tactics were applied to get my credit card out of my wallet. Only by practically running away from them was I able to leave.
PS: I found my amazing boyfriend on Match.