Some feel wronged by dating service

A local online dating site is getting out there, thanks to product placement in three major movies and TV segments on "Dr. Phil" and "Live With Regis and Kelly."

But Kirkland-based Perfectmatch.com also is getting a bad reputation among some consumers who say the site didn't find them a perfect match at all — and didn't respond when they tried to get a refund.

In the past year, the Consumer Protection Division of the state Attorney General's Office has collected 18 complaints about the company. The Better Business Bureau has processed more than 30 since the company's launch in 2002.

Lots of dating services have complaints. There are hundreds of Better Business Bureau complaints on file against Perfectmatch competitors Match and eHarmony. But both of those services have good standing with their local bureaus, while Perfectmatch has an unsatisfactory rating with the bureau here. The state Attorney General's Office gave up on some consumers' complaints when the company didn't respond to letters.

"The last year and a half for Perfectmatch has been a very exciting period," Chief Executive Duane Dahl said. "We've experienced a tremendous amount of growth, and certainly from that growth we've had a couple of challenges."

Perfectmatch has doubled its staff in the past year and has 3 million members, Dahl said. Much of its growth can be attributed to a pre-Valentine's Day "Dr. Phil" show last year that featured the company.

"I like Dr. Phil and I kind of trust him," said Penny Galpin, a widow from Monroe, N.C., who signed up for the site last year. "I personally don't think he would knowingly be involved with someone who is like that."

Perfectmatch says Galpin was one of about 207,000 people who paid $99 that day for a four-month promotional membership.

Galpin says she called Perfectmatch to cancel moments after signing up because she had changed her mind. The telephone operator promised her it was taken care of, she said, but soon she started getting bills.

Galpin said she couldn't reach Perfectmatch again and ended up disputing the charge through Bill Me Later, the company that handled her payment. Bill Me Later stopped sending her bills.

Unresolved complaints

Perfectmatch has an unsatisfactory record with the regional Better Business Bureau because of two complaints that have not been resolved. Dahl said he believes his company has responded to every complaint lodged against it, but records from the state Attorney General's Office show that's not the case.

Several people who complained said they haven't heard from the company, and the Attorney General's Office closed several unresolved complaints because Perfectmatch did not respond to its letters.

The Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General's Office and the private, nonprofit Better Business Bureau accept consumer complaints. They work to resolve complaints by writing letters to the company, but they can't act as a private attorney for consumers or force businesses to respond. Both agencies keep a record of complaints. If a business is violating the Consumer Protection Act, the Attorney General's Office can sue the company.

Many of the Perfectmatch complaints were about the company's automatic-renewal policy. Unless members cancel their membership before the end of the period they agreed to, it is automatically renewed at the end of the period and they are billed again.

Dahl said that is clearly outlined on the Web site.

After the "Dr. Phil" show aired, Dahl said, it sometimes took up to a week for his employees to respond to customer complaints. Since then, he said, the company has hired a new director for its member-services team and responds within eight or nine hours.

"When you're dealing with 3 million members — all with a very high expectation of having success, all yearning to find love, that eternal happiness that all of us are looking for — the expectations are very high," Dahl said.

Mismatched

Carol Ripp, 54, of DeForest, Wis., asked for her money back after seeing the matches that Perfectmatch found for her, but she didn't get the refund.

"They only sent me like half a dozen people," she said. "Just a bunch of bozos, you know?"

Members subscribe and fill out a questionnaire about themselves and their perfect match. Ripp said she wanted someone taller than herself and someone who didn't want kids.

Her matches included a man 7 inches shorter than she is. One wanted kids. Another was looking for someone "buxom," which Ripp said she is not.

When the company matched her with a man from Grand Rapids, Mich., she lost her patience and e-mailed the company: "Do you think this man is going to swim across Lake Michigan to meet me?" She didn't get a response. The company says she sent her e-mails to the wrong place.

Ripp maintains that the company ignored several of her e-mail and telephone messages. She finally filed a complaint with the Washington Attorney General's Office. Dahl said Perfectmatch responded, but the Attorney General's Office has no record of a response.

"It was just a flop," Ripp said. "They just wanted my $99."

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com