Dating Services Reviews

eHarmony is a dating site that connects its users through advanced compatibility matching. For some people, the idea of browsing through hundreds of thousands of dating profiles is exciting; for others, the ideal process of dating involves in-depth profiles and scientific matchmaking. For people in the ladder category, there is eHarmony.com. According to the eHarmony web site, they are responsible for 236 marriages per day, around 2% of all U.S. marriages. Obviously, they are doing something right.

eHarmony, one of the world's most well known matchmaking services, provides a much more in-depth exploration into the online dating universe. Through a process of comprehensive profile creation, scientific compatibility matches and paced introductions, eHarmony utilizes a much more serious approach than other competing dating sites such as Match.com. You can decide whether that is a good thing or a bad thing; picking the right dating site is all about personal preference.

Signing Up
Unlike many of its competitors, eHarmony will not allow you to browse through the available profiles on its website without becoming a paid member. When you first visit the eHarmony home page, you will be greeted by a form asking for your name, email address, and other basic information. After filling this out, you will be immediately directed to the in-depth profile form. This form is notorious for its length, a questionnaire containing around 260 personal items to answer. Although most profiles will be approved, some people may be deemed "emotionally unhealthy" and will not be accepted into eHarmony.

The key difference for eHarmony is the matching process. Instead of allowing the user to casually browse the available candidates, eHarmony uses a scientific process to make the matches for them. As an eHarmony member, you will receive matches based on their compatibility with you. The system eHarmony uses to match you with others is based on many years of research and a basic list of twenty-nine key dimensions of compatibility. Their process has been scientifically proven and provides one of the best possible ways to match yourself with a compatible partner.

Features
The major features of eHarmony that separate it from its competitors revolve around its process of compatibility matching. Although eHarmony does sign up about 10,000 to 15,000 new users each day, they do not find it necessary to boast only about their profile database. Instead of focusing on the amount and diversity of the profiles they have posted to their site, they focus their promotions on their matching process.

The Compatibility Matching System, a patented process that eHarmony utilizes to match its compatible users and created by Ph.D. psychologists, is the main reason why the company is so successful. eHarmony does not even allow its members to browse through the available profiles because of their confidence in the matching system. The process includes twenty-nine steps of compatibility that were created based on many years of scientific research. eHarmony studied approximately 5,000 married couples and tried to figure out what specific aspects of compatibility were at work there. They also utilized this research to discover what compatibility issues can cause major problems in a marriage. When you pay to become a member of eHarmony, you are essentially paying for the research, to involve yourself in that scientific process of matchmaking. They also provide a significant amount of informational material and customer support to help its users throughout the entire process.

The site also offers its members specific services, some free and some paid, to help improve their dating experience. First, they offer a free service called "RelyID." If you choose to go through the RelyID process, you will be making it clear to all other eHarmony users that your name, address, and age are all officially verified. The site also offers a feature called "Secure Call." With this service, an eHarmony member has the ability to accept and receive calls anonymously. Without giving away any personal information such as your phone number, you will be able to hear the voice of someone you've been matched up with without the dangers and insecurities. Finally, eHarmony offers its paid option called the "Premium Personality Profile." For $19.95, your personality profile will be equipped with fifteen additional personality aspects to help control the way you appear on search results.

Pricing
EHarmony is one of the most expensive dating services you can utilize because of its advanced, scientific approach. They want to provide a professionally run and designed service for people who are serious about dating. Logically, even keeping the price of membership high will decrease the amount of registered users who aren't serious about finding someone to love.

You can choose from many pricing options at eHarmony, but two levels of membership are essentially available: the Basic Plan and the Total Connect Plan. With the Total Connect Plan, members have access to extra features such as the Premium Personality Profile. Users will need to pay for the allotted months all up front, not month-by-month. The Basic membership, for a one-month commitment, costs $59.95. For three months of the Basic membership, eHarmony will charge $39.95 per month. For a six month membership, it will cost $29.95 per month, and for a twelve month it will cost $19.95 per month. This is significantly higher than many dating sites, especially considering that some of them provide service for free, but still is affordable enough for 10,000 new users a day. For the difference in cost to get the Total Connect Plan, simply add about five dollars to the Basic monthly fees.

Other Reviews
Most dating service review web sites have already reviewed eHarmony and gave it a solid rating overall. Although many people are discouraged by the lengthy profile process and the absence of searching/browsing ability, eHarmony's overall customer satisfaction and success rate is quite high.

As with reviews of almost any product in any industry, the user reviews are quite low for eHarmony. This fact, however, is commonly due to the people writing the reviews. In general, only people who have a complaint or a problem will take the time to submit a review of something online. If a person is happy with a dating web site, they will probably just spend their free time on that site instead of reviewing it somewhere else. On DatingSitesReviews.com, the user-based ratings gave eHarmony a 2.5 out of a possible 5. eDateReview.com which is also based on user reviews gave eHarmony a 1.97 out of 5. User ratings posted on About.com gave the site a kinder response with a score of 4 out of 5.

As usual, the professional reviews give the site a much higher, much more appropriate score. According to Village Matchmaker, eHarmony received a perfect 5 out of 5. About.com's professional review gave the site a 4.5 out of 5 while a review from Consumer Rankings gave it a 3.5 out of 5.

Conclusion
Once again, it's important to remember that choosing the correct dating service depends on your personal preference and the style of process you want to embark on. A site such as eHarmony is not a place for the casual dater looking for couple of fun dates or for a quick "hook-up." eHarmony is designed for those daters who are serious about finding love and holding on to it.

For what it attempts to and successfully accomplishes, eHarmony should receive great accolades. They chose to take a unique, scientifically driven approach to dating that has pushed the envelope and change society's perspective on what "matchmaking" can be. The service has attempted to take a hands-on, alternative approach to dating and has sparked the interest of millions. That approach, however, is not right for everyone. The particular danger is the lengthy profile application that causes people who might not be right for the process to commit a significant amount of their time to it.

eHarmony does have obvious drawbacks such as the aforementioned lack of search capability, but online daters should be doing their own research. If people involved in online dating investigated a bit more into the web sites they consider joining, they would be much happier with their final decisions and wouldn't need to switch multiple times before being happy. For people looking for a quick match, look elsewhere; for people seeking an in-depth matchmaking process, stick with eHarmony.