Free sites that aren't free
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
July 9, 2012 12:13pm CST
My mother-in-law has joined a dating site. She thought that it was a free site, because it said that you could sign up for free. Unfortunately she is unable to read or send message unless she upgrades her account so she is forced to upgrade her account if she wants to get in touch with the other members. The free memberships are useless because you are only able log in. Of course she wants to send and receive messages, that is the purpose of joining the site, so she is going to upgrade her account.
I am not surprised that the site works that way, because I have seen other sites that work the same way. In order to attract new members they tell you that you can sign up for free, they just "forget" to mention that you will be unable to do anything else if you don't upgrade your account.
Have you ever joined a site that sounded like a free site and turned out to be site where you had to pay? Which site was it? Did you decide to upgrade your account or did you leave when you discovered the truth?
2 people like this
9 responses
@petersum (4522)
• United States
9 Jul 12
I am probably quite out of date but there used to be some genuinely free dating sites for female members only - the men have to pay. I used to own such a sight many years ago. I gave it up because no one pays!
For your information, the men / women ratio was 700 : 3
2 people like this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
9 Jul 12
I am surpriced that there was such a big difference between the number of men and women. I am not sure that what the common men/woman ratio on dating sites is today, but as a far as I know men generally outnumber women. I haven't seen any online dating sites that were free for female members, but I know it used to be that way in some of the dating agencies that existed before the internet. The women got a fre membership and the men had to pay. I know that because my friend once joined ones of those dating agencies, and he thought that it was unfair he had to pay when the female members didn't have to pay and he left without finding a girlfriend.
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
10 Jul 12
I know people that have signed up for these sorts of dating sites as well. I also think that it is unfair for the women to get their subscriptions free and the men have to pay. I guess that there is a reason for that, though - many of the women are actually trying to find partners and many of the men are just trying to have s3x (yes, this is a generalization and is not true for every individual but appears to be true for the majority), so making the men pay is seen as a way not only to make money for the site but also to try to weed out the ones just there for the s3x. Of course, this does not necessarily work, but I guess they are doing their best.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
21 Aug 12
Yes, there are free sites as well, and it is not neccesary to use the sites where you have to pay. In my country many people still choose to pay, because they want to use the largest site in the country and you can't use that site without paying. I met a couple guys from the free dating sites after my ex-boyfriend and I broke up, but I didn't meet my husband on one of those sites. We met on a social networking site instead. The dating sites aren't the only way to find love online, but many people think that they have to join one of the expensive sites if they are looking for a partner.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Aug 12
I also prefer the free sites. I don't use dating sites anymore, because I am already married, but there are other free sites that you can use like the social networking sites. My mother-in-law decided to pay for a membership in one of the expensive sites, and she hopes to meet someone there. So far she hasn't found the right person, but she is still looking and I hope that she will find someone like she hopes.
@ryanong (9665)
• Vietnam
28 Aug 12
Oh, i think they have much money for that then they ready to pay money to join expensive sites for dating.
Dating online is just the first step only, meeting in person and then understand each other more is more important.
Me, i rather to save money and then join free sites only...
1 person likes this
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
9 Jul 12
That is fairly standard practice with sites such as that. I don't consider it to be a deceptive practice, because they aren't saying that you can access the entire site for free. They simply say that it is "free to join" or that "membership is free." It is just sort of implied in the wording (i.e., "you can see hundreds of local singles...") that you won't be able to access the entire site for free.
I don't need to use dating sites, because I have my man, and I haven't had an issue with other types of sites. However, I do tend to question things a lot more than many people do. I usually do a reasonable bit of research before I sign up for any site, whether it be free, paying me or me paying for a service.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
9 Jul 12
It is true that they aren't lying, they say that joining is free and joining IS free, but I think that many people forget to interpret the words very literally and they think that the site is free to use. They probably want people to interpret it that way, because they are more likely to get new members that way. I think that it often has something to do with experience. As an experienced internet user you are more skeptical and you know how to interpret the words just like you mentioned. My mother-in-law is a new internet user and she got disappointed when she discovered that the site wasn't free to use because she thought that "free to sign up" meant free to use.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
9 Jul 12
A few movie sharing sites also demand payment of money for making it premium member etc. a few are good. good day.
We cannot criticise their charging. They spend money for starting the site and running it and have to manage it. It depends on the need of people to contribute or not.
1 person likes this
@Kalyni2011 (3496)
• India
3 Sep 12
Nothing is free, they adopt different techniques to attract rather catch costumers and extract money later..
Happy posting, cheers.
Kalyani
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
4 Sep 12
That is true, it is a really is a technique that they use. They want to attract customers so that start by telling us that the site is fee. When we sign up we realize that signing up was the only thing that was free. If you want to use the site and get in touch with other members you have to pay a fee. You are more or less forced to pay the fee unless you choose to leave the site because a dating site where you can't send and receive messages isn't useful. My mother-in-law has chosen to upgrade her membership on that site and today she is able to communicate with the other members.
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
10 Jul 12
It's like that with a lot of dating sites but there are some that are still free I think. I have never signed up to a dating site and still have no interest in doing so myself but a friend I know has signed up to plenty and has had no luck. The people there are pretty fussy I think 
Try a site called OKCupid from memory this was the site my friend was on and is completely free. If it's all free tell your mother-in-law and she might be happier there 
Try a site called OKCupid from memory this was the site my friend was on and is completely free. If it's all free tell your mother-in-law and she might be happier there @Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
12 Jul 12
I think that I read about OKCupid some time ago, but I didn't know that it was a free site. I never visited the site because I already married and I not looking for a partner. I will mention it to my mother-in-law. I know that she would prefer a free site. She got a free trial membership on the other dating site, but it is going to expire soon and if she wants to remain a member she will have to pay. The site that she joined it the largest site in my country, but a free site is better.
@BabyCheetah (1911)
• Australia
12 Jul 12
Yeah definitely mention it to her. I don't go on them either as I couldn't care less about finding someone right now. I'm having too much fun on my own
1 person likes this
@vidhyaprakash_2 (7116)
• India
28 Aug 12
Hi friend, most of the sites are in this sort, they give free membership to attract the members and force them to upgrade to get more benefits, even some sites give some trail offers for 10 days or 1 month to made the member to get interest with this kind of premium features, most of the dating and matrimony sites are working in this manner.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Aug 12
That is true, a lot of sites use this technique. They start by telling you that it is free site, but when you join you discover that you will have to upgrade your account if you want to use the different features of the site. If you aren't able to send or receive messages without upgrading your account you are more or less forced to upgrade if you want to use the site, because you will be unable to get in touch with the other members if you don't upgrade your account. A date site where you can't contact the other members isn't a very useful
@sharksfin (1091)
• Philippines
9 Jul 12
Yes, I have. In fact, just two nights ago. I signed up for a free account that will help bring traffic into my blog. They gave options. I even had to study everything first as I don't want to be obliged to pay later on. But, after all the hassles of filling the forms and not to mention the server being too slow, I ended up not able to use many privileges and they are even leading me to an upgrade in order for me to enjoy the privileges I needed, which was my reason for signing up in the first place thinking they're for free. Oh....headache!
That's one reason I became too lazy reading instructions and guidelines. You carefully read them and you'd get tricked to believing something that is just a make-believe.
1 person likes this
