It's Just Lunch

I appreciate the time and attention that the folks at IJL devote toward seeking to introduce people to one anotherThey examine people's inclinations, interests, and activities and look for areas in common, while taking great care to make all the arrangements and ensure that the outing is fun and enjoyable

I am writing in response to the complaint made by *** ***. Mr*** became an It’s Just Lunch (IJL) client and signed a contract on 10/26/(attached.) He purchased a 6-month membership, which included months of active dating time. When Mr*** became a
client, he was told about his initial matches immediately. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to control our client’s schedules, therefore, these matches were not available to schedule at times that fit with Mr***’s schedule. One of his matches was injured and in a cast, so the match was postponed; ultimately, she ended up placing her membership on holdOn 12/1, Mr*** met his first date and provided feedback that she was not what he was looking for, however, his date provided feedback that it was a good date and that they had been texting each other since the date. Mr*** went on his next dates on 4/6, 2/5, 3/and 3/3. All feedback that he provided was listened to, documented and used moving forward. After several members of the team spoke with Mr*** regarding his feedback and what he wanted to focus on, I spoke with him personally on 3/4/and offered to extend his membership until September of (an additional months of active time on top of the that his contract provided for), in order to provide the opportunity for him to continue to meet more people. He accepted this extension of his membershipSince that time, there have been some unfortunate circumstances as it relates to the calendar availability of the matches that we have attempted to coordinate. Specifically, two of them were not available and one of them was relocating to New York. These are all circumstances that are out of our control and we immediately moved forward to the next match option each time. Mr***’s last date was on 4/27. His next date, which was scheduled for 5/27, needed to be rescheduled due to family schedule complications. We do not provide refunds, which our contract clearly states. We want each of our Clients to have success during their dating process; while we can’t guarantee chemistry, we do select matches based on what the Client indicates they are looking for during their interview process, which is what we did for Mr***(The class action lawsuit that Mr*** is referencing has nothing to do with the actions of the Washington, DC, franchise location. No one on our team ‘asked him not to join it.’)

Nicole has been working with me for a number of months nowShe is truly wonderful! She is always available to talk with me, and if I leave a message she responds quicklyAlways enthusiastic, she is really interested in setting up dates for me and learning about how they wentShe then uses that information to help her select the next dates for meI haven't met the right man yet, but I've had some interesting datesI am sincerely hoping that, with Nicole's help, I will find the right man for me

I've been with It's Just Lunch for just over a monthI was not sure what to expect from the service at the startThey offer a few packages with varying levels of service, and dating coachingThe staff are friendly and professionalThe dates in general have been goodI'm still looking, but having funI look forward to my next round of dates

March 10,
class="MsoNoSpacing">Revdex.com of Wisconsin
*** *** ***
ID: ***
Dear Ms***,
This letter is in regard to Ms.***’ membership with It’s Just Lunch (IJL)She purchased a membership with a company called eLove DBA Windy Lakes Introductions on 06/23/This membership entitled her to eight referrals for a cost of $2,000.00. On 07/01/eLove went out business; the owners of eLove made an agreement with IJL that IJL would provide the opportunity for the existing eLove clients to continue to meet people, despite the business they had a contract with (eLove) went out of businessOn 07/01/13, IJL sent out letters to the eLove client who has remaining obligations on their contractThe letter discussed the IJL way of matching since there were some differences in the matching methodIn this mailing a release form was included At IJL our memberships are intended to introduce single people to other single people using the qualities discussed in each client’s interview as a guidelineAt IJL we arrange the date for our clientsWe start by calling the client and describing the potential date to themWe ask for the dates and times they would be available to meetAfter we continue this process with the other party, we find a date that works for both clients and schedule a dateThen we contact the restaurant to make a reservationAt that point we contact both clients to give them the details about when and where they will be meetingeLove would send clients information to each other and it was the clients responsibility to find a time they could meet face to faceIt was the responsibility of the eLove client to contact their matchmaker with feedbackAt IJL once the date has happened, we contact the client, or the client can contact us, with their specific feedbackThe feedback is used to guide the matchmakers in the matching process
On 07/23/Ms***’ signed release form was received and processed in our MN office(Please see the attached release form.) The release form states:
“Since all fees under my membership agreement with eLove were paid to another company and not to IJL, it is agreed I would have no claim against IJL or Heartland Introductions, Incincluding, but not limited to a claim for any type of refund or demand for additional services, or a claim of breach of contract
I specifically authorize IJL or its affiliated IJL locations to refer me to any other IJL client for the sole purpose of social referral, and hereby waive any and all claims, damages, losses, or causes of actions arising out of any such referral and indemnify and agree to hold them harmless from any and all claims, damages, losses or causes of action whatsoever resulting from any referral provided to me. I understand that IJL screens members, but does not conduct criminal background checks”
As of 03/07/she had been scheduled on dates and was able to meet with different gentlemen Ms*** was scheduled to meet with a third gentleman, SteveSteve called the restaurant minutes after the date to state he was going to arriveWhile we understand this was a frustrating situation, it does not happen frequentlyWe are happy to either work on rescheduling a date with Steve or we can start working on finding a new gentleman for her to meet
On 03/07/I, ***, WI and MN office manager, called Ms*** to discuss her membership and this complaintI reminded Ms*** that unfortunately a refund from IJL of the membership fee she paid to eLove was not an option
During my conversation with Ms*** on 03/07/I stated IJL would like to continue working on finding more dates for herAt that time, Ms*** was not 100% sure she was interested in meeting more people through the IJL methodAt this point if she is not interested in continuing meeting people with us we will expire her membershipUntil we hear back about this response we will place her membership on holdShe has months of hold time and three remaining introductions
We are looking forward to working with Ms*** in the futureUnless we hear from Ms*** that she would like to reactivate her membership she will naturally expire on 09/10/
If I can be of further assistance please contact me at ###-###-####
Sincerely,
*** ***
Office Manager
IJL Milwaukee and Minnesota

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2016/08/03) */
It's Just Lunch regrets to learn of any dissatisfaction the consumer has experienced with her membership as this is not the norm with IJLIJL has contacted the consumer to discuss her concernsWe have recently assigned her a new Dating
Director to work with and we are currently in the search and select process for her next matchWe are looking forward to helping the consumer achieve her dating goalsThank you
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 12, 2016/08/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
They informed me that the Revdex.com could not make them refund my moneyTherefore I had no choice but to move forward hoping that they would do an acceptable job

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/29) */
Revdex.com
Broadway Suite
Oakland, CA XXXXX
7/29/
RE:Case # *** *** ***
To Whom It May Concern:
No Credit is Due
The card member, Ms***, joined It's Just Lunch on April 22, under a membership that provides for
twelve (12) months of serviceWhile the card holder claims that she is due a full or partial refund, no refund is due per the terms of our agreementIn the State of California the card member had three business days from the date of the agreement to cancel her contractThe card member did not cancel her agreement within the statutory periodMs*** also signed the contract on April 22, at that time she entered her California State Drivers License Number which is DXXXXXXX
Ms*** was contacted the very next day after joining and was told about her first match ***Their date was originally set for 5/7/at 5:30pm at Cilia's in San Francisco, CA*** then had to reschedule the date for 5/14/This date was again cancelled by *** as he found out his company was relocating him and he would be moving
In response to this, we selected a new match for Ms***, ***Ms*** was told about *** on 5/19/and their date was set on 6/1/at 12:30pm at Café de la Presse in San Francisco, CAAfter the date Ms*** called with feedbackShe indicated that the date went ok and he was nice but seemed a little reservedShe did not feel chemistry and so we made note and told her we would move forward with the next match
During the sof Ms***'s first date, we also met with her in our San Francisco office for her in-person meeting on 5/26/During this meeting we informed Ms*** that we would be adding on one (1) extra month of active time to her membership in an effort to preserve goodwillAlthough the initial cancellations from her first match, ***, were out of our hands, that is certainly not how we would like our client's membership to start out
On 6/10/15, I also attempted to reach out to Ms*** to ensure that she was having a good experienceI continued to reach out with no response until 6/29/When we finally connected, we reviewed her membership and I let her know that we have many wonderful men to match her with and that her membership was for months so we have plenty of time remainingI also reminded her that we added and additional month of active time onto her account
On 7/8/15, we called Ms*** to tell her about her next match ***We called *** days in a row and did not receive a response, and as protocol, and to not keep Ms*** waiting, we placed his account on a courtesy hold and continued to match Ms***
On 7/13/15, we received a letter from Ms*** requesting a refund and stating that we breached her agreement because of the pace in which she was receiving dates and that the matches were not to her exact specificationsIn our immediate response back to Ms***, we communicated that again, even though her membership was slow to start, we had added an extra month of active time onto her account to compensate for thatWe also reiterated the terms of our agreement which state, "IJL introduces members based on the judgment of IJL's employees who may take into account the general criteria and guidelines specified by its members." In this conversation it was also emphasized that we understand that not every match will be a fit, and based on each client's parameters and availability the pace in which they go out may varyThis is why we allow a full year to work with our clients and why we cannot guarantee the exact pace in which they will have dates
Ms*** is not eligible for a refund per the terms of her agreement which state, "You, the Client, may cancel this agreement, without any penalty or obligation, at any time prior to midnight of the third business day following the date of this agreement, excluding Sundays and holidaysTo cancel this agreement, mail or deliver a signed and dated notice, or send a telegram which states that you, the Client, are canceling this agreement, or words to similar effectThis notice shall be sent to It's Just Lunch!, San Francisco *** XXXXX" In addition to signing the contract, Ms.*** specifically signed and acknowledged our cancellation policyI have included a signed copy of her agreement for your reference
As we have repeatedly told Ms***, we have lots of time remaining on her membership and many wonderful gentlemen to introduce her toWe are excited to move forward and get her out on her next dateOur hope is that we are able to help Ms*** find a loving an lasting relationshipHer membership is currently on hold per her request, and we are happy to resume as soon as she is ready
Please feel free to contact me with any additional questions
Best Regards,
*** ***
Operations Manager
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I have read *** ***'s response to my complaint and she has refused to refund the rest of my membership moniesMs*** only focuses on the part of the contract that states "the client is entitled to a full refund if the client cancels this agreement by the third business day"I am reading the first part of the contract that states, "If, despite It's Just Lunch's (IJL) efforts, IJL is unable to provide Client with introductions as agreed to under client's membership, then all remaining monies will be refunded on a pro-rated basis, less a Two Hundred Dollars ($200) interview processing charge."
I am completely dissatisfied with the level of service provided by It's Just LunchNot only was I matched with one date within months, the person I was matched with did not meet my criteria
How can IJL justify charging an obscene amount of money for one date in months? This is NOT what we agreed upon during the interview on 4/22/
I disagree with the events that unfolded in the months that I have been a client with IJLMs*** states that *** canceled the date after weeks of phone calls because his company was relocating himThis is not what *** ***, my previous matchmaker and Senior Director of IJL, informed me*** decided to put his contract on hold because he found someone he liked and did not want to continue dating
Ms*** is not completely honest with her statement that she attempted to reach out to me from 6/10/to 6/29/It was I who called IJL to find out about my next dateI was the one who had difficulty trying to speak with Ms***, who did not return my phone callsWhen we did speak, she told me she would have a match by the end of the week and promised to call me with the details, but failed to follow upI then had to call her again and try to connect with herI was told that she was on holidays and no-one else in the company would be able to help me until she got backOther times, the receptionist would tell me after placing me on hold for minutes that *** was "in a meeting"Only when I sound upset that miraculously, *** would call me back within minutes that same evening
Ms*** failed to add that she matched me with a person who was completely not what I wantedHe was not of the right ethnicity, not the right height and not what I had requested despite my telling Ms*** and the date coordinator twice what my specifications wereI then had to call Ms*** the next day to reiterate what my specifications were
The next match was a man named ***This was set up on 7/8/but only because I was very upset about how slowly things were progressing especially since I had invested $in this companyI told Ms*** in clear simple language that I wanted a refund of the remainder of my contract if I did not have a match by 7/10/That is how I was finally set up with ***Apparently, the date coordinator couldn't reach ***I had to call IJL again the following Monday, 7/13/15, to follow up on my potential dateIt was at that point that, like ***, *** had decided to put his contract on hold and was off the marketI believe that these scenarios were no coincidenceIJL does not have enough men that fit my criteria and is trying to pull a "bait and switch" scam on meIJL will entice you into believing that there are "many wonderful gentlemen" (***'s words, not mine) that fit all my criteria, then after 2-weeks of trying to reach this "wonderful gentleman", will find out that he has found someone and decided to place his contract on holdThus, another weeks have gone by and they have more weeks of the client's money in their pocket
Ms*** then states in her reply that "not every match will be a fit, and based on each client's parameters and availability the pace in which they go out may varyThis is why we allow a full year to work with our clients and why we cannot guarantee the exact pace in which they will have dates"I believe and I think many other people who have of sound mind and reason, would determine that one date every months is completely unreasonable, especially if IJL is charging $per yearThat amounts to $for one dateI could have joined over online dating sites for that much money!
I therefore, decided to put my contract on hold so as not to let the clock continue ticking and find out I am entitled to less and less money, in the event, I am able to secure a refund
It is also completely unreasonable to stipulate in the contract that "client guarantees at this time that he/she does not work or consult for another matchmaking/dating/introduction company"How does a reasonable person expect to put his/her life on hold while IJL takes its sweet time to come up with a match for a client? I believe IJL is holding clients hostage by forbidding them to enroll in other online dating services, making them completely dependent on IJL and emotionally very vulnerable
I am not the exception with regards to how I have been mistreated by IJLI decided to look at Yelp to see what other Clients thought of IJLIt turns out that there are more than negative Yelp reviews for IJLMany of the complaints are similar to mineBait and switch scams, refusal to refund the remainder of the contract, poor customer service etc etc
Not only that but the Attorney General of New York successfully settled with IJL International regarding poor business practicesThe company paid fines and costs to the state and agreed to reform its business practicesState Laws limit how much a dating service may charge, and also require that consumers be provided with numerous other protectionsState law limits the amount a consumer can be charged for a social referral services contract at $per yearIf IJL agreed to implement policies and procedures, then why is IJL San Francisco still charging outrageous amounts of money to its clients???
I have tried to be reasonable in terms of having the remainder of my contract refunded less the $interview processing chargeI am not requesting the full $but rather $I think that is a good compromise especially since I have gone through a lot of emotional turmoil in trying to work with IJL, not to mention the time wasted on this scam of a company
I would appreciate any help Revdex.com can give me in resolving this dispute

Good Morning
We will review the client's situation and contact her to discuss her complaint
Thank you so much

It's Just Lunch apologizes for any inconvenience this consumer experienced and have adjusted her record accordingly so no further contact will be made per her request

I would like to comment on the great service that "It's Just Lunch Milwaukee" has given me ! I decided to give them a try after being on online sites for awhileI have been very satisfied with the customer service and the matchesEveryone that I have dealt with at IJL has been very professional and took the time to make sure that my matches where the type I was looking for and that everything went well with the dateI have to say that all the dates I have been on were really greatI enjoy meeting new peopleEveryone of them was truly very nice and kept an excellent appearanceThey have been able to provide more matches than I would have ever expected and I look forward to my future matchesI wish I could have dated this way when I was youngerIt is a much better experience and well worth it !

We regret any dissatisfaction the Consumer may have experienced. However, we wish to correct the statements that Consumer provided in her comments.The Consumer claims that there are no matches in her area, which is not accurate. In fact, the Consumer has attended one date
and received two other matches. TheConsumer provided positive feedback for the date she attended.With respect to the matches the Consumer received, each date was carefully selected per IJL standards, was well coordinated by the dating director and, met many of the key parameters the Consumer discussed with IJL. IJL truly hopes our clients will connect, however, personality and attractiveness are subjective to eachindividual. IJL works to introduce its clients to other IJL clients and participants, who based upon IJL's interactions with each, IJL believes is a good matchAll of the matches IJL presented to the Consumer, are very good matches for her.IJL has contacted the Consumer to resolve her concerns and will assign a new dating director to handle her membership

I had my doubts about IJLI did decide to do it and it turn out to be very rewardingI am a widower and hadn't dated in years and had no idea how to accomplish this taskI had a few dates with other couples friends without any luckIJL made the dating a much easier processI did find someone who has turned out to be a partner, we have plans to take it to the next step and are exclusive
The one thing it did for me was filter the process by getting a date with someone who was looking for a relationship

Thank you for bring this to our attention. At It's Just Lunch we take customer service very seriously.. We will contact the client to address her concerns

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2016/01/20) */
Its Just Lunch regrets to learn of any dissatisfaction the consumer has experienced as this is not the norm with IJLThe consumer's membership is expiredHer membership was cancelled under the terms of her membership agreement and is no longer
a member with IJL, however, her initial fee is non-refundable, which is outlined in the client membership agreement We wish the consumer the best in her dating journey

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/10/06) */
October 3,
Revdex.com of MN and ND
*** ***
Case #***
This letter is in regard to *** ***'s membershipOn August 30, 2014, she enrolled with It's Just LunchHer membership entitled her to either months of active time
We
would like to start by giving you a little background on our companyWhen a client enrolls with our company it is with the intention to dateIn a perfect world we would have these clients on a date every to weeksUnfortunately, we do not live in a perfect worldThe majority of clients enroll with It's Just Lunch simply due to the fact that they are too busy to do what we doWe find someone who fits into the blueprint of what they are looking to meetThey fit into the majority of what they have asked us to findOnce we find this person we then verify with each client that they are still single, available and when they can fit a date into their already busy scheduleAfter completing these steps with BOTH clients, we call the restaurants and made the reservationsWe even call the clients AFTER their dates for feedbackOur process is very hands on with each and every clientWe believe this process works better when a team of people work on everyone's fileWe have a matchmaker that actually talks to the client first to find out preferencesThis matchmaker will continue making the matches for the clientHowever, the matchmaker needs to focus on finding more clients and thus the coordinators must take a driver's seat to arrange the dates, call for feedback and discuss any issues that may arise in someone's membership
We have been successfully introducing single people for the past 20+ yearsBefore someone signs their agreement they have an extensive phone interview with a matchmakerDuring this call our process is described in detailWe explain how we call each person to inform them of our selection and ask for time and dates so we can schedule a dateWe also discuss our coordinators calling the client after a date for feedbackThe busy, professional, clientele we work with prefer to have us call them with details about their dateWe are not a computerized service thus we have live people who communicate with our clientsDuring this call we also describe clients we feel could be potential dates for them
During Ms***'s initial call, her matchmaker, ***, described twomen that were possible matches for herOn 9/3, she was told about an additional match and coordination efforts were under wayHer first day was scheduled and occurred on 9/When Ms*** gave her feedback on after her date, she stated the information she had on him was incorrectIJL describes people based on information the client provides to usWe do not embellish on our clients information or intentionally give inaccurate informationWhen a client is told about a match, we urge them to take detailed notes on the information they've been given, however, we can't force them to do this and even when they do, there are times when the information is not remembered correctly once they're on the dateUnfortunately, mixing up the details of one match and a completely different match isn't unheard of; we do hope ti doesn't happen, but it isn't something that is within IJL's controlGiven Ms***'s statement that she was told misinformation about her first date, it's entirely possible that this exact thing may have happened to Ms***
We are good standing with the Revdex.com and strive to provide the best service possibleWe understand that this is a process and it can take time to meet that special someoneChemistry can't be promisedPer the terms of her agreement refunds are not an optionFor this reason her request for a refund is being deniedWe are hopeful Ms*** will allow us to coordinate more dates for her soon
Until we are able to resolve this matter, we are going to place Ms***'s membership on a complimentary hold, up to two monthsIf Ms*** does not want to reactive her membership on or before 12/3/14, the membership will naturally expire
Sincerely,
***
It's Just Lunch
***
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/10/09) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept the offer to postpone my membership, because I cannot work with a company that violates the basic rules of integrity--such as honestyIt is impossible to trust IJL after such a breachAlso, I am dismayed to see that the respondent used my full name in her replyMy understanding was that using identifying information was disallowedI request that my identifying information be redacted immediately
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2014/10/15) */
October 15,
Revdex.com of MN and ND
*** ***
Case #***
This letter is in regard to *** ***'s membership
It is unfortunate that Ms*** does not want to move forward with her membershipShe is very early in her membership and we would like to help her achieve her goals of meeting some great single men
IJL is in good standing with the Revdex.com and have lots of happy clientsIf IJL was not being truthful about client's descriptions we would not be in good standings with the Revdex.com
Again, we are more than happy to start coordinating more dates for herHowever, according to her response "I do not accept the offer to postpone my membership." We are now at an impasseWe have not done anything that would warrant a refund of her membership feeHer membership is currently on hold and can remain on hold until 12/3/If Ms*** does not want to meet anyone else thru IJL we will expire her membership, per her wishes
IJL would also like to address her comment: 'using identifying information was disallowed'
In the years I have been responding to letters like this I have always used a clients name in my responsesWe are a personal matchmaking companyOur clients, typically, respect that we know them by name and not just a case number, as the Revdex.com doesThe Revdex.com has not asked me to stop or stated it was disallowedIt is my understanding the burden to remove that type of information before it is published on the website falls to the Revdex.comIf Ms*** is worried about her identity being released it is odd why she would file a complaint with a company who publishes all complaints on the World Wide Web
Sincerely,
***
It's Just Lunch
***
Final Consumer Response /* (3000, 13, 2014/10/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept the response, because it does not address the issueI joined IJL based on information that was not trueThe sales rep described three gentleman, of whom one sounded perfect--same job, only three years older, and even sharing my same passion-- writing fictionWhen I met him, I learned that he was ten years older than the age that I was told; that he had never worked in my field; that he did not write fiction, but rather born-again-Christian material; that he had a serious mental illness that had forced him into retirement many years earlierHe also suffered from physical impairments that created distress for himHe was assured that I shared his faith; that I had been informed that he was 71; and that I was a year older than my actual age
The respondent claimed that only two men were described to me; I produced an email from the sales rep--***--describing three men--of whom this gentleman was one--that was sent within three working days of my enrollment
I cannot work with individuals--or with an organization--that is less than honorableI am asking for a full refund and an apology-- for myself and for the gentleman in question--who appeared so very vulnerable, due both to his age and to his mental health concerns

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 10288808, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.]
My issue has not been resolved, I was told there were no males in the system from 45-in the databa*** in their Detroit office and was told we are always having people sign up so, we'll call you, it's been two weeks and no call, if thats the case, then why did they tell me there were a "Plethora" of men in Cincinnati. I consider this advertising and I want a FULL REFUND or I plan to take them to small claims court
Regards,*** ***