- Internet Dating guide
- General purpose dating agencies
- Local Dating Agencies
- Speciality dating agencies
- Dating agencies for professionals only
- Social events and Dinner parties organisations
- Association of British Introduction Agencies (The Trade Association)
- Questions to ask any dating agency before joining
- Info to help women understand men
- Info to help men understand women
- Date safely - the rules
- Tips for Successful dating
- Tips for professionals to find partners
- A Professional Introduction Agency
- How to complain
about poor service & refunds - Lonely Hearts Advertisements
Introduction Agencies The Trade Association
Anyone can set up a dating / introduction agency and many do, however most introduction agencies go out of business within a few years or even months. It is easy to prey on vulnerable people making wild verbal promises then providing a poor service. Due to the many problems being reported about poor /dishonest dating agencies, such as failing to provide reasonable number of dates or dates outside of the specification set by the client (and then refusing to refund any money), At the request of the Government the Office of Fair Trading invited all the reputable U.K. based dating agencies i to form an association to set minimum standards for introduction agencies to protect the public from malpractice . Practically all the most reputable dating agencies in the United Kingdom are members of the ABIA. Members are duty bound to provide minimum rules for their members to protect the public, including in the unlikely event that if an ABIA introduction agency went out of business your service would be transferred (at no cost to you) to another ABIA introduction agency to complete your service. Other benefits include having an ABIA complaints investigation procedure, a requirement to tell you the prices before you attend an interview (this prevents you being pressure sold high membership fees and then being charged "cancellation fees for changing your mind the next day). One of Britain's largest dating agencies (Avenues - a rehash of Club Sirius UK - who had previously gone bust once ) has gone into liquidation, they were not accepted as ABIA members so their members did not have the safeguards afforded to ABIA introduction agencies.If you click on the ABIA web site below you can see the full code of practice required of all member introduction agencies. along with a list of approved agencies. Not all U.K. dating agencies can, or are prepared to meet the standards required to become a member of the ABIA. You can also see the prices charged by the agencies ( this is also a condition of membership to the ABIA) by clicking the official ABIA website below selecting "find an agency" select the dating agency and click "more information" and this will show you how much they charge.Two tips to help you.1. Always contact two or three introduction agencies to see which one is best suited to you. 2. Ask for a copy of their contract BEFORE attending an interview and read it. Once you sign the contract most agencies make a charge if you change your mind the next day and these charges can be well over £1000. Some contracts make a guarantee of 7 introductions and are then worded so that even if you only get two dates ( and some people get that) they keep extending your membership until you get 7 and that could take several years. One agency makes you sign a contract where if you make any negative comments to your friends about them you lose your membership and they keep all your fees AND they may attempt to claim damages even for telling the truth on how poor the service was read the contract well. If the first time you see the contract is at your interview TAKE IT HOME and read it properly there is no logical reason why you should have to join without thinking it over overnight. especially so if the membership is very expensive. one non ABIA agency gurantees just ONE introducrtion with SIX months of joining for £12 K, and another agency costing over £3K guarantees just TWO introductions for your total membership WARNING if you join a non ABIA approved dating agency you will not be protected by these safeguards
This web page has been sponsored by The Executive Club of St James's (the ONLY dating agency for professionals in the U.K. to give money back guarantees. see www.execclub.net ) to assist the public to choose the correct introduction agency to suit their needs and help them steer clear of the dubious businesses that unfortunately plague most industries. For the record - Executive Club members have many guarantees, including the right cancel a contract for 3 days at no cost , every member is guaranteed at least 10 introductions in twelve months and have a right to a refund of fees should we fail, any member may join any other agency in the world within 4 weeks of joining and have ALL their fee refunded towards their new agency. To see copy of our contracts see www.execclub2.co.uk
To see details of an ABIA approved introduction agency: www.abia.org.uk/agency_executive_club.html
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: MEN FALL IN LOVE THROUGH THEIR EYES AND WOMEN FALL IN LOVE THROUGH THEIR EARS!
The Executive Club of St James's the UK's top introductionservice for professionals see: www.thematchmaker.co.uk
SOCIAL EVENTS held in London see: www.executiveparties.co.uk
coaching/advice www.meet4coffee.me.uk
NEW LOW COST DATING www.dateus.me.uk
THE FULL OFFICIAL ABIA WEB SITE www.abia.org.uk
Links To have a free link to your site or add a full description of your agency, or to be included on these imformation sites , or sponsor a page Email links@bestdatingagencies.co.uk
Update 20th May2009