Online Dating What Can I Expect From My Dating Site

Online Dating: What Can I Expect From My Dating Site

In recent years, the online dating industry has exploded and nowadays there are literally thousands of dating sites to choose from. These sites differ greatly from each other in their offerings and it’s not hard to see how one could get confused when coming to choose between them.
One point of contention when using sites is what exactly can the user expect the site to provide in terms of service, support etc.
While there are no clearly defined guidelines for what is expected of a dating site, there are some general industry standards which are adhered to by reputable sites. Here are a few things you can expect from a good dating site, as well as a few things that would not be included in the service.

Things to be expected:

1. Reliability

When using a site, it’s not unreasonable to expect it to run smoothly and efficiently and allow you to make use of the features it advertises. This is especially true if you have paid for the services, but is also a reasonable expectation even if you are using a free site.

2. Privacy policy/terms and conditions

Never trust a site that does not advertise its terms and conditions and privacy policy openly. These are usually available as links from the main page or the about page of the site, sometimes at the bottom of the page. Although often lengthy and boring, these documents are an important read if you want to know exactly what it is you are agreeing to when you sign up to the site.

3. Problem resolution

Dating sites are designed to be a safe and secure environment for people to meet. While sometimes it’s impossible for the site to weed out every dodgy person immediately, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect the moderators of the site to respond quickly to complaints voiced by users and for offensive users to be removed from the site.

4. Support for issues to do with the site

If you have problems using any of the features on a site, you can expect help and support from the site staff. This includes explanations of anything from the chat system to how to contact people or how to upload a photo. Moat sites offer email support and

5. Free search before payment

Allowing you to “try before you buy” is pretty much industry standard. Most sites won’t expect you to put your credit card details in before running a quick search on the site.
It’s always best to have a look around a site to see whether it has any members and whether any of those look like the kind of people you want to talk to. If a site requires you to pay first, be suspicious: it may well be a scam.

What can’t I expect from a site:

1. 100% fault free

Dating sites are not as easy to maintain as any of us would like. As a result, occasional downtime or bugs are inevitable. While it’s fair to accept a decent level of service (see above), do take into account that sometimes mistakes do happen. The fact that a site is big and successful doesn’t necessarily mean it will run properly 100% of the time. As a rule, a few bugs here and there and the occasional few hours downtime are to be expected but if a site is down for days, you’re probably better off going elsewhere unless the situation improves drastically.

2. Instant results

Even online dating takes time and even the best sites may not deliver the results you want straight away. Even if a site looks disappointing at first glance, it may still turn out to be a winner if you give it a bit of time. Spending a few weeks on a site should be enough to tell you whether it’s the right site for you. If, after that, you are still not convinced, at least you’

3. Support for issues not to do with the site

Any good dating site will have a customer service team who will readily help you with any issues relating to the site itself. They are less likely to help you with issues relating to your own computer or Internet service and your ability to use them. Some may still do, but in general, the support teams who work for dating site companies, expect the users to have a basic level of Internet/computer knowledge.

4. Being able to deal with offensive things that happened off the site

The people who moderate dating site only have jurisdiction over what happens on their site. They cannot, for example, act on the basis of emails sent off site, phone calls etc. The only thing they can do is cooperate with the police in cases where there is a need for further information when investigating a case.
It is common practice for Internet scammers to try and lure people away from a dating site and into private conversations offsite as soon as possible, exactly for that reason.

5. Getting involved in personal relationships (telling you if a person has read your messages or not)

It is impossible for site teams to get involved in what happens between users on the site unless the issue is someone is being offensive. They couldn’t, for example, tell you whether someone has read your messages if that feature is not a standard feature on the site. They will also not be able to speak to another user on your behalf.

BONUS : Online Dating – Why Uploading A Picture Is Such A Good Idea

In the world of online dating, one of the issues that keeps coming up is the photo issue. Surveys conducted by dating sites have shown that you are 10 times more likely to get contacted if you have a picture on your profile, regardless of your looks. Still, many people prefer to leave their photo area blank. There are many reasons why you may choose not to upload a photo. Some people are insecure about their looks and think a photo will actually damage their chances of finding a date, while others are ashamed of the fact that they are looking for love online and don’t want their friends or colleagues to find out. Still, if you are considering trying your luck with online dating without adding a picture to your profile, there are some very good reasons why you should reconsider.

People will think you are not serious

Most dating sites will require you to register in some way before being allowed to run full searches. This leads some people to set up a profile just so they can have a quick look around. If you’re just having a look and are not necessarily interested in making contact just yet, you may not want to go through the trouble of finding a good photo and uploading it. However, if your profile contains little information and you do not upload a picture, people may assume you are one of those people who are just looking around, even if you are more serious. If the person looking at your profile is serious about finding a partner or a date online, they may not bother contacting you at all because he/she may think it would be a waste of time. It’s worth keeping in mind that even if you are only having a look, you will get a much better response if you upload a photo.

People will think you have something to hide

While there are some perfectly innocent reasons why people may not want to upload a picture (as stated above) it’s also quite common for the reasons to be less than innocent. For example, people who are married or in a relationship often turn to the Internet in order to find people to cheat with. For obvious reasons, such people do not want their picture to be publicly available. Many online dating guides advise their readers to watch out for profiles without pictures exactly for this reason. Putting up a picture shows you have nothing to hide.

People will think you are hideously ugly

Harsh but true. While different people have different tastes, if you deny them of the chance to see what you look like, they may end up assuming the worst. Even if you are insecure about your looks, you may be exactly what the other person is looking for. Why not let the other person decide for him or herself?

People will not see you come up in the search at all

For the reasons detailed above, many people prefer not to be contact and be contacted by people who have not uploaded a picture to the site. Some dating sites offer their user the choice of specifying this when searching for people. This means your profile will not even show up in their searches, even though you fit their other search criteria perfectly.