Review of Lunch Actually eSynchrony

Do NOT join eSynchrony

1) eSynchrony may seem like a cheaper option to Lunch Actually on the surface. But it is highly possible that you may end up paying just as much or even more per date. Unlike LA packages that goes by number of dates, eSynchrony packages goes by number of months. eSynchrony packages allows unlimited dates per month. The sad truth is, other than your first date, whatever subsequent matches you have approved will NOT be coordinated for you. Since you have paid a lower amount for eSynchrony as compared to Lunch Actually, the customer service level will be lower as well. eSynchrony has an even higher shortage of staff and almost all your queries and requests will not be attended to. LA consultants will still patronize you once in a blue moon though they do not give you any dates. eSynchrony consultants go Missing In Action. After both you and the other party have mutually approved the date (which can be done through clicking a button in the eSynchrony website), just like LA, the eSynchrony consultant is suppose to coordinate a time and book a restaurant for both of you to meet up. Since the consultant goes MIA, you will end up with multiple pending dates waiting for coordination in the system for months till your package expires. Eg, you buy a 4 month package but by the end of the 4th month, you only manage to go for 1 date (with 8 dates pending for coordination). Even though you are free to go on dates, you are not able to contact the consultant to arrange for the other 8 dates during the 4 months when your membership is still active. In the end, one eSynchrony date ends up being more expensive than one Lunch Actually date.

2) Your eSynchrony profile and criteria will probably be tweaked or almost completely changed just like what will happen if you join LA. eSynchrony requires you to do a lengthy personality test where you will then be matched to other members using the computer system. You will be able to see the number of matches immediately after you finish the test. Initially, you will be able to find around 20 to 30 matches. After about 2 months, the number of matches will suddenly shoot up to 300 to 400 overnight. And strangely, you will notice that a lot of the matches are way off the criteria you had set earlier on. Eg, you had set the criteria that you are not open to someone who has been married, someone of a different race or someone much much older than you. You will somehow be matched to all these people overnight. Congratulations, you have got a wild card! You might as well join a free online dating website since eSynchrony works almost exactly like that.

3) eSynchrony buffs up their membership number by retaining the expired members in their system and also people who did not pay for their membership. You are able to sign up an account under eSynchrony and do their personality test without paying. Once completed your profile will be in the system and you will be matched to other members. However, if you didn’t pay, you will not be able to go out on dates as you will not be able to view the profiles and your dates (they can view yours). Back to what was mentioned in point 2, you will find maybe like 20 to 30 matches after doing the personality test. Then you decided to pay for membership where you did the payment online. After paying up, you will get to view all the profiles. However, if you are unlucky, more than 70% of the matches either did not pay for membership or did not renew their membership (although their profile is still in the system). Some of the rest of the 30% may be inactive members and do not log in often. So in the end, you may be left with just 1 or 2 active members whom you are not interested in.

4) eSynchrony calls up existing Lunch Actually members to join them. Possibly those under LA’s “nice or attractive members list”. If these “nice or attractive members” sign up with eSynchrony, most probably, they will end up having their profiles and/or criteria tweaked to match up with more people. If a LA existing member signs up under eSynchrony without ‘invitation’, most likely their profile/criteria will be left alone and remain the same.

5) eSynchrony consultants can go MIA either from the beginning or midway. Most of the time, you will not be able to find any consultant. If you are lucky enough to get one, the consultant will try to arrange a date for you. After you have given her your free dates, the consultant goes missing. You will be left wondering if you should still keep your dates free or make alternative plans.

If you join eSynchrony, either you will end up with no dates at all, or you will reluctantly approve dates you are not really interested in since you have already paid. The percentage of no shows for eSynchrony is also higher than for LA.