It's Just Lunch has not lived up to my expectations. I have received little value from the service they have provided thus far. I understand that it is hard for a dating service to satisfy customers since most customers will only be satisfied if they meet that somebody special. However, IJL does not seem to care about working with the customer to improve service but rather becomes defensive and views you as just another unreasonable complaining customer. I know I'm not alone as often IJL dates digress into complaining about IJL's service. There are three main issues I have with the service: the frequency of dates, the quality of date matching, and waiting at the restaurant for dates that do not occur.
At the interview I was told that IJL had many members that fit the description of what I was looking for. The year contract I signed comes with a minimum of twelve dates but I was told by the dating specialist that I would receive about two dates a month. In practice I found that I was only getting about one per month and often had to call IJL to motivate them to schedule another. The matches I went on dates with often mentioned that they had to be proactive by calling IJL to get dates as well. Eventually I accepted that I was not going to receive two dates a month and would be receiving the minimum specified in the contract. Two and a half months went by after my ninth date without receiving another date. I called IJL and was told that my membership had expired. I explained that they still owed me three dates and the woman said that she would look into it. Two weeks went by without hearing back from her. I called IJL again and another woman said she would look into it. She called me back that same day and told me I had been added back to the dating pool to receive my remaining three dates. It has been two and a half months since then and still no tenth date. In total it has been five and a half months since my last date.
The dating specialist made it clear to me at the interview that she had lots of experience matching dates. She told me IJL had many members who she though would be a good match for me. I'm allergic to dogs and cats and this is a turnoff to some people. The dating specialist said she understood as she was allergic to cats as well. My first date was with a woman who ran an animal care business, had pets, and was currently studying animal science at a university. She and I agreed that we were not a good match and I provided feedback to IJL that they should match me with less pet oriented women. My second date was with a woman who was very attached to her dog, so attached that I'm positive she would have mentioned the importance of her dog to IJL. She and I agreed that we were not a good match and I provided feedback to IJL that they should match me with less pet oriented women. My third date was with a woman who had pets and was currently studying to be a veterinarian. She and I agreed that this was not a good match and I provided feedback to IJL that they should match me with less pet oriented women. I was more forceful with my feedback the third time which finally lead to less pet oriented women. Their system for recording feedback from dates and applying it to future matches is not satisfactory. My nine dates would breakdown as such: one very good match (although she never replied to the voicemail I left her), three matches that were worth my time but we did not have enough in common, and five that I should never have been matched with in the first place.
I have had dates with nine women as I have stated above. I have been scheduled for dates with a total of ten women, four of which I waited at the restaurant for but the date did not occur. I'm not completely sure what happened in all the cases since stories changed over time and the parties involved (IJL, restaurant, matches) blamed each other. The first two failed dates were similar. The women claim to have been at the restaurant and that the hostess failed to notify me of their arrival. I saw one of the hostess at a future IJL date and she assured me that this was not possible, the woman never came. The third failed date claims to have called the restaurant to cancel and the restaurant did not tell me so I waited. This was the one date I was not rescheduled with. The fourth failed date claims that IJL never told her about the date and that the reminder call was not received by her voicemail until the day after. IJL claims to have told her about the date. In the end everybody said it was somebody else's fault and there was nothing more they could do. Unfortunately that leaves me waiting at restaurants for dates that won't occur. read more
