Dating Direct is an online dating service that promises to do everything to help you “find the person who’s right for you”.
Finding the right person to spend the rest of your life with is no easy task, and you will really need all the help you can get. But the big question is whether this platform’s talk of walking you to that “right person” is just marketing gimmick, or whether it can really help you find that “right person” who’ll be there for you everlastingly. With so many dating sites in the market, why should you choose Dating Direct over the others? In the first place, is Dating Direct legit? This review will examine Dating Direct in order to help you answer these questions and more.
Yes, Dating Direct is legit. It is not a scam dating site because they will never take your money without proving the service you made payment for.
Dating Direct was established in 1999 as a UK dating site, by internet entrepreneurs Darren Richards and Andrew Pike. The ground was very fertile at the time as there were not too many dating sites, so Dating Direct quickly raced to more than 40,000 members in three months. Membership grew to over 800,000 in just over three years, and Dating Direct became the largest and most popular dating site in the UK.
In 2007, with over 4.5 million members, Dating Direct was sold to the French Company Meetic, which is the largest online dating service in Europe. It was a win-win for everyone involved. Meetic was able to gain a stronghold in the UK market without launching a major campaign; while the owners of Dating Direct who had started it with £250 got £27.3 million for its sale. They also hoped that the move will take Dating Direct from being the choice online dating destination not only in the UK but also in Europe.
The move into the European market was facilitated by the acquisition of Match.com by Meetic in early 2009. Now having the same parent, Dating Direct and Match.com were merged together in 2012. They did not become one company; rather they continued operation as two different sites, but they had the same membership database. Later upgrade to the site, gave them the same features and functionality; such that, DatingDirect.com and Match.com are now basically clones of one another.
Dating Direct says its mission is to do everything to help you (their member) “find the person who’s right for you (the member)”. I don’t think the phrase “the person who’s right for you” can be used for the one night stand individual, or for any other individual for the casual relationship. Rather it’s best suited for the individual for a long term, “till death do you part” kind of relationships. Thus, Dating Direct is not a dating site for seekers of the hookup or flings. However, if you want a love story, if you want a long term commitment, if you can’t wait to say “I do”, then Dating Direct says it is the site you should be checking.
When you are looking for the right person, it’s supposed that you are single. Dating Direct is definitely for the singles. The relationship status that can be chosen are: never married, separated, divorced, and widowed.
When selecting your match preference in Dating Direct, you can choose to “look for a man” or to “look for a woman” no matter your sex. That means it doesn’t matter whether you are straight, gay, or lesbian, no matter the sexual orientation, you can use Dating Direct to find that right person for you.
The most important of dating platforms is technically not a feature, and that its member base. As we like to say: you are more likely to catch a fish, if there are many fishes in the pond. With many members of a site, there will be more opportunities to get viable matches. Thus, the ideal online dating service should have a large member base.
Dating Direct does very well in this regards. Despite being a fee-based service, Dating Direct has one of the largest member bases in the online dating business.
Dating Direct started strongly, and when it was sold it had over 4.5 million UK users. Today, with its association with match.com (using the same membership database), Dating Direct is easily one of the biggest communities of singles. The implication of having the same membership database with match.com is that the over 21 million worldwide members of match.com are also members of DatingDirect.com.
As it is stated in the Dating Direct website when you sign up in Dating Direct, you profile “will be visible on the local variants of our service which use the same platform operated under different brand names” – notably match.com. So as a user in Dating Direct, your profile will be visible in Match.com though you have never signed up with the latter, and vice versa.
Dating Direct is a legitimate dating site. It is not a scam. It is a no-brainer that you should use only legit online dating services. Anything but a legit dating site and you will not get the promised “soul mate” but disappointments. It’s even worse if the dating service is a fee-based service like Dating Direct because you’ll also be ripped off while being served disappointments.
In this regards, there is no doubt that Dating Direct is a legit dating site. Our first check of legitimacy is always legality; because most often than not legit sites are run by companies that are 100% legal. Dating Direct ticks the legality box. Dating Direct is now owned by Meetic, which has been publicly quoted company since October 2005. Meetic itself is owned by IAC (interactive corp), an American conglomerate headquartered in New York. In the least, this shows that Dating Direct is 100% legal. Dating Direct is also a member of the Online Dating Association (ODA), which means that the dating site maintains industry-wide operating standards. Suffice it to say that a scam dating service will neither be powered by a leading public Company nor be part of industry recognized standardizing association.
Another test of legitimacy is the test of time. Scam sites are notorious for ripping people off and serving disappointments, so scams will be exposed in only a matter of time; and with such exposure, they naturally die off. However, Dating Direct has towed the opposite path. Having started in 1999, it now has a two-decades operating history. However, in that time Dating Direct has only grown; from being the top online dating destinations in the UK, the site has also made strong inroads into the European market.
However, the ultimate test of legitimacy is whether the site is “fit for purpose”. This means that a legit site will actually connect single couples. Dating Direct ticks the box in this regards, as it has lots of success stories. These stories are not limited to the ones published on the Dating Direct website. Sceptics like us do not trust self-posted claims, so we went to the independent review platforms. Though you’ll still find some disgruntled persons, you’ll find a lot of success stories.
That said; with Dating Direct being a 100% legal company with about two decades of seamless operation of successfully connecting singles, there is no doubt that the dating service is legit.
Dating Direct is safe. Safety of a dating site has two components; the first is in protecting the sensitive information (personal data and credit card details) that members share with the site, and the second is in having the site free of scammers.
For the first, Dating Direct says in its Privacy Policy that it works hard to protect users’ data using a slew of physical, technical and organizational security measures. Though the details of these measures are not provided; we can have confidence in them. For one, being a member of ODA means that Dating Direct must meet strict safety standards. The site also regularly monitor its systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks, and it regularly reviews its security protocols and updates them when necessary. Thus, it’s safe to say that Dating Direct is safe in preventing users’ sensitive data from leaking out.
In terms of safety in having the site free of scammers; Dating direct also does relatively well. According to the site, one of the benefits of Dating Direct is “manually approved profiles”. This means that all profiles are thoroughly screened by a vetting team.
With a commitment to “profile content verification”, every profile is verified upon registration; and any inappropriate profile that is detected is immediately deleted. Also, Dating Direct has also made it very easy to report inappropriate behaviour; you can find ‘Report this profile’ on the profile page or from an email. With such commitment to profile verification and with reporting tools easily accessible, Dating Direct will be a toxic place for the scammers. Though, entirely eliminating scammers is a tall task, it’s safe to say that Dating Direct is safe in that the site is relatively scammers-free.
Signing up in Dating Direct is relatively easy. When creating an account, there’s no long-list form to fill; you’ll be guided through the process, one-question page by one-question-page. On getting to the landing page of the website, you’ll have to state your match preference (whether you are looking for a man or a woman). On the page that opens next, you’ll submit your date of birth; and on the next page, you’ll give your city/ town; and then your gender. Page by page, you’ll then nominate a username, submit your email address, create a password, check a box to certify that you’re above 18, and you’re good to go.
Then you’ll have to create a profile which Dating Direct will use in suggesting compatible profiles to you. The profile creation process is also relatively easy and takes the “one question per page” format used in account creation.
You’ll answer basic questions such as relationship status, a number of children, whether you want children, education level, appearance (height, body type, hair length, hair colour), religion, ethnicity, nationality, smoking preference, etc. All of these questions are designed to find out about who you are. But there’s no need to be worried here; there are pre-set answers that you’ll choose from, so you should breeze through it. What is more, if you find any of the question off-putting, you can choose not to answer.
After the brief questions round, you’ll have to write a brief description of yourself. This is where you can choose to highlight your interests and values. You’ll then have a chance to upload photos. Also, you may choose not to. However, you should know that in the online dating spheres, photo-less profile equals scam profiles. So for any chance of success, you should upload some photos to your profile even if you have the option not to upload anyone.
The dating profile is key to success in any online dating platform. It is what get people to initiate a conversation. Thus, how qualitative the profiles in a dating site can get is very important when rating these services. Generally, we like profiles that allow many photos, and that put the individual’s interests and values at the fore.
In this regard, Dating Direct does relatively well. Profiles in the platform have 5 parts:
Yes, there is a profile title that states the user’s username, age, and location. It also indicates when the user was last logged in. That said; the profile of Dating Direct can really be very detailed; it can give good insights into the individual’s values and interests so that you will not waste time and effort initiating communication with individuals that you are less likely to be interested in.
Dating Direct makes it easy to meet singles. The dating service uses the match preference you specify in your profile to send you some recommendations. And even when you have not given the details of who you are looking for, Dating Direct still send you recommendations. Remember that when creating an account, you’ll give your age, location and state whether you are looking for a man or a woman when creating an account. Dating Direct simply use this information to suggest to you singles (the sex you are interested in) who are within your age range, and who lives in your city/ town.
However, you do not have to look at only profiles thrown at you by the site; as a member, you can also search the member base to find singles that you may be interested in. With users’ profiles being very detailed, you can easily find users by yourself.
Searching for singles is a delight in Dating Direct because of its search tool. Apart from the basic criteria such as searching to get only profiles with photos, or searching users for users within a particular age range or distance from you; Dating Direct has an advanced search tool that allows its members to search profiles using a host of other criteria.
Do you want blue, eyes, black hair, slim body, etc? If appearance matters a lot to you, you won’t miss it with Dating Direct; you can even specify the desired height and weight. Do you want someone who’s never been married or someone who does not have any kids? Maybe you want someone who doesn’t smoke but has no problems with smokers. Are you particular about the person’s ethnicity or nationality; what about his/ her education level? You can even set your search to produce only persons with an interest in a particular sport or activity. And if you want your search to produce only persons who are online; no problem!
Maybe you want to search for only members that have the same birthday as you. What better way to initiate a conversation than to say “happy birthday”; thus, the search tool also allows searches for members who have birthdays on that day you are online. The search tool of Dating Direct can help you to filter its member base, narrowing down the search to just want you to want.
When you like what you see in a profile, making a connection will also not be a problem because Dating Direct supports a range of communication tools such as sending winks, email messaging, instant chat, and more.
With profiles very detailed, you will be armed with enough information to easily identify who you will be interested in. When matches are suggested to you, you’ll state whether you are interested or not, and if you have not made up your mind, there is a “maybe” option. The profiles you are interested in, and your “maybes” will be neatly saved in your folders in the “Today’s matches” page. There’s also a “they’re interested” folder where you’ll also find users who got showed your profile and took a liking.
You can also put profiles in a “favourite list” and also see a list of users who have viewed your profile. If you have not deduced it up till now; Dating direct is relatively simple and easy to use whether you are meeting suggested singles or searching for singles yourself.
The dating service is also fully mobile optimized, so you don’t need to sit before your desktop devices. At any time and anywhere, you can flip out your mobile devices, and you’ll find that DatingDirect.com resizes to fit the screen of any devices you are using to accessing it. You do not have to fear missing out on some features when using the mobile website, because everything you can get on the desktop version is there on the mobile version. The website is also compatible with the popular web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, et al), so it doesn’t matter which web browser is on your system.
However, a sad one is that Dating Direct does not have mobile apps. While the mobile compatibility gives you gaming on the go; mobile apps give faster and personalized service that is much more than “gaming on the go”.
Generally, followers of the online dating spheres view fee-based services as having more prospects than free services. This is because people who’ll open the wallets/ purses are more likely to be serious about dating. However, this does not mean that people will want to pay more than is reasonable to use a dating platform; thus, rates should be as low as possible.
In this regards, Dating Direct has only one service plan, with three subscription packs – one-month subscription, 3 months subscription, and 6 months subscription. This means that subscribers will have access to the same features, different only in the length of time that they can access the service. However, know that Dating Direct has some extras (add-ons) that can be purchased in addition to the regular subscription to get some special features.
The one-month subscription cost £29.99. The 3 months subscription cost £59.97, which works out to £19.99 per month. The 6 months subscription cost £59.94, which works out to £9.99 per month.
Finding that “person who’s right for you” may not be possible in one month, and buying the three months pack is stupid given that it’s just £0.03 less than the six months pack. Thus, if you’ll be using Dating Direct, you’ll be better off with the 6-month pack. Also, while other subscriptions are payable in full, the 6 months pack can be paid in three instalments, which will be debited during the first three months of the subscription. Also, it can be seen that the pricing of Dating Direct is relatively okay. It is considerably cheaper than the expensive dating services in the business.
However, while Dating Direct is a fee-based service, the platform also has a free plan that can be used free of charge. The free plan can be used for unlimited periods, but it is severely limited in terms of features.
With the free plan, you can create your profile, and access the main search engines of the site. This means that you get to check out the profiles of other singles on the platform. Notably, when checking profiles, you can view the profile photos. This is a small plus for the free plan of Dating Direct; because, in most online dating platforms, the photos of profiles are blurred out for free account holders. However, the main limitation of the free account is that you cannot use it to communicate. While you can view profiles, you cannot initiate communication with the user.
Thus, it’s advisable that you should always first go with the free account. After creating your profile, do a search of singles on the platform with your criteria, if the search brings up good numbers (and especially profiles that you like), you can then think of upgrading to a paid account, in order to start a communication.
As a subscriber to the paid plan, you can: communicate with other members via IM or private messages, save profiles to a “favourite list”, personalize your search using a range of criteria, browse the site ad-free, get discounts on tickets to Dating Direct events, and more.
You’ll want a service provider that supports a range of convenient payment methods so that paying for the service will be hassle-free. Dating Direct ticks the box in this regards. You can pay for the service using a range of credit and debit card such as MasterCard, Visa, Visa Electron or American Express. You can also make payment using PayPal (albeit, PayPal is not supported in every country).
Dating Direct does not support payment by cheques, or web wallets, or cryptocurrencies. However, with the cards and PayPal, you should not have a problem with upgrading to the paid account no matter where you are resident.
There are different upgrades that you can get on top of your Dating Direct subscription. These upgrades increase your chances of getting the ideal match. One such is the “Connect”. Primarily, the Connect Upgrade removes the limitations of a non-paying member that you contact.
Remember that free plan users cannot receive or send messages. Thus, if you as a subscribed member write to a member who is unsubscribed (mind you, there is no way of telling who is subscribed and who is not), the member cannot see the message or reply you. However, if you purchase the “Connect” add-on, that limitation will be lifted for every unsubscribed member you connect in relation to you. That is, the person will be able to view your messages and write to you. With the “Connect” upgrade, you will also be among the first to be introduced to new members.
In our opinion, the Connect upgrade is for Singles who are really desperate. This is because serious persons on fee-based dating sites will subscribe. A serious date seeker shouldn’t be on a fee-based dating site where he/ she cannot communicate with other members.
With the “Connect” upgrade, you are paying for yourself to use the site, and also paying for the other fellow to be able to get to you. If the person is serious enough to find a date, he/ she will also put in the money. So in our opinion, keep the money for the “Connect” upgrade; when you do find someone who is serious enough to also subscribe, that money can go into the drinks for the date.
The “Select” upgrade is another fine add-on of Dating Direct that gives users a richer online experience. It can be frustrating to send messages to other members without getting a reply; it will be especially frustrating when you do not know if your messages have been read. The “Select” Upgrade is the solution to that. One of the advantages of the upgrade is that it allows you to know if and when your messages have been read.
It happens many times in real life; that you like someone does not mean that someone will like you back. That disappointing situation happens even in cyberspace.
Just as you’ll be searching the members’ database for singles you may like; so other users will be searching for singles they may like. Thus, many times, you’ll find users that like you, but who you do not like because of not meeting certain criteria that you are particular about. For example, a user is 7 years older or younger than you are and is okay with it, but you’re particular about the age difference not being more than 3; or a user looks very compatible with you (matching interests, lifestyle, values, etc), but he/ she is a foot taller than you, and you’re particular about not being shorter than your other half, or you’ll rather be with
If you do not want to be disturbed by such users (who like you, but there is no chance of you liking them), the Zen Mode is a handy feature. When activated, you can be contacted by only profiles that match your criteria.
However, it should be noted that sometimes you do not know what you need until you have gotten it. That is, very often, the ideal person turns out to be that person that you would have been weeded out if you had religiously followed your “likes”. So sometimes broadening your horizon is sometimes advised. While the Zen Mode is an exciting feature that can save you some barraged by definitely no-no profiles, sometimes taking a second look at some ordinary no-no profiles will give you another perspective. And, who knows!
One thing with dating sites is that they want to appear to members as “busy”. And one of the best ways to show you that it is a busy site is to show you the profiles of all the members that have viewed your profile. Let’s face it, that someone view your profile does not mean that he/ she will be interested in you; and even if there’s a little interest, it doesn’t mean that the person’s mind is made up to initiate something. Thus, sometimes though there may be many profile views, there’ll be very few contacts.
If you do not want other users to know that you have viewed their profiles, the Incognito Mode will be a handy feature. It allows you to view profiles discreetly. Your profile will not appear to everyone whose profile you view but will appear to only members that you are interested in.
However, the Incognito Mode is an add-on that will have to be purchased along with your regular subscription. At the time of writing, there were two packages on offer. The first is Incognito for 24 hours which cost £1.99; and the other is going Incognito for a full month, which cost £9.99, and works out to £0.33 per day.
Dating Direct is one of the dating sites out there that do more than providing a virtual platform where singles meet. This is because, they also organize special dating events called “Afterworks for Singles”, where members can get to meet each other face to face, but in group settings.
The bulk of these “Afterworks for Singles” are free drinks event, where you can come to socialize. The events are organized by age group; so they are good opportunities to meet a viable match. If you do not want to go on your own, you may even invite a friend (non-member) to tag along. However, events could also include special third party organized cocktails, outdoor events, and everything in between. With such third-party social events, members in and around the city where the event is being organized can get to go. Members will receive special discounts on the events.
Dating Direct is legitimate and easily the largest online dating service in the UK; and since being acquired by Meetic, it is also becoming a popular choice for online date seekers in other parts of the world. Being is a fee-based service and having a commitment to content verification, you’ll find that it is not proliferated with scammers and time wasters.
Dating Direct also has the advantage of using the same membership database with Match.com. This gives it a very large member base, which means that members should be more likely to find matches in Dating Direct than in many other dating websites.
If you decide to use the site, there are many things to like about Dating Direct. You’ll find that the subscription rates are relatively low-priced; that the free plan users have the advantage of viewing profiles with photos, and even messaging another user with Connect upgrade. You’ll find that Dating Direct has an advanced search tool; that the dating service has a lot of premium features for a richer online dating experience (such as Incognito, Zen mode, Connect, etc); and that it takes dating from the virtual world to the real world with social events.
However, there is the problem of not having mobile apps. While using mobile web browsers to access the site will suffice, the functionality cannot be compared to that of using mobile apps. Thus, since Dating Direct uses the same membership base as Match.com, users could be better off using Match.com that comes with mobile apps.
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