Plenty of Fish Free Online Dating Review | Doc Love - Dating Advice For Men

Plenty of Fish Free Online Dating Review

Plenty of Fish Free Online Dating Review

The 411 On Plenty Of Fish Or POF For Short

It's a free dating website - sort of - because if you want some upgraded features then you're going to have to pay and even if you don't pay, expect every other dating website to be in your face because Plenty of Fish is not shy about using your information to target you while you're there

POF Dating Site - What You Need To Know

Point your browser at POF.com (that's the easiest way to remember it) and then sign up for a free account - it's pretty self-explanatory as to what you have to do but there is one confusing part. They ask you towards the back end of the sign up process to answer a series of questions so you match with potential dates better but you can easily skip that part. I don't really see a benefit to doing it because these online relationship predictor tests can be pretty goofy. Who cares if I'm "more likely" to read a book instead of party? Does that mean that I should skip all the girls that like to go out on the weekends?

As I teach in my dating relationship education course named THE SYSTEM, I don't want you to waste a ton of time online - your only object is to get her out for a coffee date so you can see how you mix in the real world! By the way, if you want some strategies for getting better with PlentyOfFish.com or any other online dating site for singles then read my article here.

What's Great About POF Online Dating

Okay, free is good - that's a good start. Also, there are a TON of women on there - because, it's, well, free. They also don't put you through a big song and dance to get your photos or profile approved - it's pretty instantaneous - which is great when you're just dying to send that pretty redhead a message. Also, they're pretty careful to limit guys to contacting women that are no younger than 14 years their junior - which I tell you guys all the time that you shouldn't be trying to go for women with too big of an age gap anyway - because there is such a difference in life experience and where you're headed - it's nearly impossible to build a long-term romance in May-December fashion.

I like what the founder of POF says in talking about this subject related to his dating website: "There is no reason for a 50 year old man to contact 18-year-old women. The majority of messages sent outside those age ranges are all about hook-ups." I agree totally with that - and THE SYSTEM is all about long-term relationships that can go the distance - so if you're 50, for example, stay in your "pond" and go for late 30's to your age range (okay - sorry about the bad pun!) If you want more of my thoughts on this check out my post on older men dating younger women here .

Another good thing is their POF Forums are pretty active - now I don't recommend you follow the advice a lot of those folks give because many are CLUELESS but you can pick up nuggets from time to time and it's especially good to see what the women are saying because as you know on my dating women radio show I often talk about things from Glamour, Cosmopolitan, etc., because the more you can get into the mindset of where the ladies are at, the better (however, don't take everything they say as 100% truth - for example - they may say they want a nice guy but they go for the bad boy - my course can help you decipher their "Womanese.")

WHY DOES A WOMAN CHOOSE TO STAY WITH ONE MAN VERSUS ANOTHER?

Only THE SYSTEM knows - and it's changed the lives of THOUSANDS of men around the world!

What's Not So Great About POF Online Dating

In no particular order...

  • You cannot eliminate the ads in the free version (see the section on "upgrading" below for more on this - you can eliminate these). These ads are ANNOYING because they're so specific to you - you'll see ads based on your profile and it's relatively creepy. Say, you're a blonde guy that's 35 - you'll see ads for other dating websites that say "our ladies love 35-year old blonde guys." It's smart on the part of PlentyOfFish.com but it does get a little intrusive.
  • Women get a TON of messages because any yahoo with an internet connection can sign up free and start sending emails. It's tough for you to get through the mess and also the ladies there are a little more worn out by the time you get to them because even though POF's founder doesn't want this to be a hook up site, some guys try to use it that way. Their user agreement states that you could get banned for this behavior but do you think they have time to watch every single message from all the accounts they have?
  • Their "meet me" feature is goofy. You can click "yes" to meeting a woman and she can do the same - it's kind of like POF's version of the Match.com "wink" but I personally don't think it works very well - some of my students have told me that they've sent emails to women that clicked "yes" to them and gotten no response - now how is that possible (by the way, you have to be an upgraded member to see the women interested in you).

Plenty of Fish Free Online Dating Review

Do You Upgrade In POF.com?

Here's what they claim happens to upgraded members - and only you can make the choice if you want to do this or not - but by every claim I'll tell you my opinion (curiously they don't list seeing women that want to meet you in their "pitch" - they only talk about you showing up first - however, in the meet me section, they bait you to upgrade by telling you that women want to "meet you" and when you try to find out who, it's time to whip out your credit card - and you know my thoughts on that feature!)

  • Show up first on Meet Me! (I don't think this works very well - not a benefit).
  • Unlock every user's Extended Profile (not a benefit - a lot of people don't bother filling this out).
  • See if your emails were read or deleted (not a benefit - who cares if they read them or not - you only care about responses).
  • Experience POF ad-free (I like this - definitely a good thing).
  • Find out the date and time someone viewed your profile (again, not a benefit - we only care about responses).
  • Massive increase in emails (students that have tried this say this isn't necessarily true).
  • Number of people viewing your profile triples (students that have tried this say this isn't necessarily true).
  • Stand out in all searches (I will say they do highlight members so this is a benefit).
  • Send three gifts per day (I advise guys to give no gifts of any kind until she's your girlfriend - so this isn't a benefit).
  • This upgrade more than doubles your chances of meeting someone (I'd like to see some statistics on this - can they say this for 100% of the guys?)
  • Upload 16 images (I suggest 2 photos - one casual - one professional - done by a working photographer - so you don't need all this).
So, most of the "benefits" aren't benefits in my mind - but you can make your own decision on that - the cheapest price you can get as of the writing of this article is $10.18 per month - but you have to commit for 8 months to get this price - $81.40 out of your pocket right away. You can go with a 2-month plan and that will be $19.35 a month - or $38.70 out the door once you click "Upgrade."

Plenty of Fish Free Online Dating Review

Plenty Of Fish Complaints

Again, in no particular order...

  • Customer service is non-existent - if you send an email to them, forget it - it's not getting answered - one of my students tried 5x to no avail.
  • They have randomly deleted accounts for no reason - and why is that? Well, the people complaining can't find out since they don't answer emails!
  • There is no way to hide your views of women - so if you keep going back to her profile you'll show up as a view - which can be a bit creepy from her perspective
  • Like with any dating website, there are scammers running around - if she seems to good to be true, she probably is!

Doc's Final Word Is Plenty Of Fish A Scam?

No, it's actually a very good site with actual ladies you can meet (some that want to meet you too). Like everything it has pitfalls and things to irritate you but I wouldn't hold back in joining - you might meet Ms. Right from that site!

More success with POF

The Doc Love Club gets you better with women!

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  • Antti says:

    Hi !
    Where can I ask questions from Doc Love

  • Joe Chemo says:

    Re: Should You Upgrade in POF.com

    Well there’s also a browser extension called adblock which allows you to “Experience POF ad-free” along with most every other site you visit. Not a big secret.

    “See if your emails were read or deleted” would be the main benefit among those you listed. A bigger one which you didn’t mention is “View Our Interaction” when you visit someone’s profile, “including whether you’ve messaged them before, or if they have viewed your profile”.

    However, it’s anyone’s guess how well any of this actually works. POF is just so darned wonky, and I know from experience there are major problems with their database and filters are not reliable. I feel they are charging too much for a site that brings all the disadvantages of a free and rather haphazardly put together site: poor reliability and usability, and the girls get so many replies.

    If they really want to make money, put the paying members’ replies at the top of the heap – that would be worth paying for. As it stands now, I would be paying to use a site where most of my messages won’t ever be read anyway (the type of women I’m after get over a hundred messages per day). So as a thank you for paying to use the site, POF is going to put dozens of free users’ messages ahead of mine when theirs are newer – but wait, they’re not done yet – on top of that, they make the girl scroll through a pile of other users’ pics every time to get to her inbox. Yeah, don’t think so.

    The other free website baggage is that free sites are quick to delete your account, and this process is often automated – i.e., some number of chicks block you and your account gets closed automatically, that sort of thing. Or for any number of other reasons. That’s fine for a free site, you just go make another profile. But not good when you paid for a membership which you could lose at any time for dubious and unclear reasons.

  • Well there’s also a browser extension called adblock which allows you to “Experience POF ad-free” along with most every other site you visit. Not a big secret.

  • M says:

    And those are not even the main reasons why you should avoid paying for a POF membership, the biggest one of all is their shady security. You can easily get your credit card info. hacked. So buyer beware

  • Nick says:

    Doc its a high rate of flakes and time wasters in POF. women there don’t know what they want and they are not serious although they act this way. Match and eharmonie are better choices cause its more expensive. So women who go there are more serious cause they paid. Quality is way better. Also about online i like the fact you wont get like in the real world i have a boyfriend that most of us keep getting. They are there to meet. On the downside there is a lot of competition.
    More guys than women.
    When you date a woman from there she is dating 10 guys that week. Even if your a challenge as soon as Mr 80% interest level shows up your history if she has 60% .in you.
    By the time he turns her off your out she already broke the date. And this happens a lot. I had girls flake on me after 3 dates and showed high interest and kissed me also. She probably met 85% interest level guy. ‘ Oh he is cute but i think i really like Travis’ (this sort of thing).
    If a girl dosen’t have 80 and over interest level in you forget it with online. No chance. 51% 60% and 70% = 49% in me. That is how i see it. Unless she only dates me.

    • DocLove says:

      Hi Nick,

      Thanks for weighing in – as you know THE SYSTEM is an efficiency SYSTEM so if you find that you’re personally having greater success with Match or e-Harmony then you should maximize those sites but I do know guys that have great women from POF. The whole idea is that no matter what your preference is you just stay in the game and keep trying because you never know if the next woman is Ms. Right.

  • Glenn says:

    I found the option on the website that says …

    “Allow a user to see that I viewed their profile:”

    Go to [Profile] and then select the tab [Mail Settings]. You can select either Yes or No.

    Not sure if it works, and kind of an odd place to put this option.

    • DocLove says:

      Hi Glenn,

      Thanks for writing. This is actually a nice option because if you go back to a woman’s profile multiple times – let’s just say you’re writing her on the 2nd email and you forgot about something in her profile you wanted to comment on – she won’t know you visited again. If you don’t click “no” then she’ll see you visited her profile and it can look a bit strange to her if she sees you visit her profile multiple times – which of course is perfectly normal if you want to know more about her – but again, it can look strange so it’s good to have the “no” option selected.

  • nick says:

    At the end of the day. Like you say Doc its all about selling. You have to view yourself as a salesman. And you don’t end up selling a product or yourself to a woman everyday. Its all a numbers game. Its good to diversify but always be on the online as well.

  • Hello Doc, got a question for ya. I just found out that an upgraded member on POF can look up a regular member’s contact history, and I am plenty pissed off about that. Do you happen to know if that upgraded member can read the messages you send to others as well?

    Would appreciate a swift response because I have friends that are on that website that could be harmed by such an anomaly. Thanks.

    • DocLove says:

      Hello there – a question like that would probably be best posed to the POF customer service folks but in my opinion this would violate your privacy so it’s probably not happening. Thanks for writing

  • TO MY EXPERIENCE, IT IS LITTERED WITH NARCISSISTIC WOMEN OUT FOR AN EGO BOOST AND TO PLAY FALSE LOVING RELATIONSHIP GAMES WITH YOU.

    • DocLove says:

      There certainly are those types of women online and in real life but all you need is one good one and there are good women out there – don’t give up

  • Sally says:

    No, an upgraded member can only see contact history a person has had with you – ie: when they sent a message, if you messaged back and when, last time they viewed your profile, if they said ‘meet me’ etc., which is all fair since upgraded members pay for that benefit. Upgraded members can’t see who else you contact .

  • T says:

    This company automatically renewed my membership after I had cancelled my subscription and refuse to refund the money in full. Don’t ever give them any payment information, including paypal as they will continue to charge you even if you cancel.

  • LuckyInLove says:

    It seems like EVERY dating website has the same or almost the same complains. I think that many diff people are signed up with many diff dating websites , they quit and switch to other (websites) and in the end of the day you may think that each website is a bit different but their memebers – ARE STILL THE SAME people. It does not prevent someone to sign up with POF and be a member of let’s say eHarmony, right? Different websites but the same candidates …. which means the same results also..

    • DocLove says:

      True to a point – some people feel more comfortable with certain sites – just like there are some guys that do better finding dates in nightclubs while others prefer speed dating – my only message to guys is find something that:

      1. You’re comfortable with
      2. That works

      Thanks for writing

  • Jq says:

    Well, i can say that i signed up in pof 2 years ago and that is where i met my wonderful wife. Now we have a baby girl. For me reading doc love and Cory Wayne helped me a lot in pof because you know who is a good candidate for you. I recommend it.

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