Galaxion is offline Galaxion Post #1  January 21,2010, 10:01pm
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I joined during the holidays, spent the several minutes y'all remember filling out the profile questions. Eventually I reached the penultimate page with its big colorful blocks, no questions to answer and big friendly letters inviting me to review my matches! Imagining the zillions of records there must be in the eHarmony files, living in a big metropolitan area, not having specified terribly restrictive requirements (must live within 1 mile, must be within this 1-month range of age, etc.), I clicked the button and saw . . . .

You have Zero matches.

Harsh.

Not the high point of my day! I go on with my holiday week and a few days later decide to review my profile settings and see how I'd made myself impossible to match.

Login, You have Twenty matches.

Yow! Like trying to--

You have Thirty matches.

...trying to take a sip from a firehose. Suddenly the "Turn off matching" switch no longer looked like a euphemism for "cancel my profile." and I hit it. The sorcerer's apprentice took a rest.

I don't think it's unreasonable for the system to take overnight to find the first matches, but I didn't see any warning to that effect.

Also, for first-time users, it might help to have the match volume throttled down. A third of the ladies who were my matches in that crowd closed before I had realized that matching had really kicked in. Part of that was another beginner's mistake on my part, I didn't post a photo until the second session. Many of those dozen might have closed quickly in any case, but we'll never know.

A button that says "Five-match limit is in effect, click here to remove the limit" would have helped me come up to speed. (Of course, I'm new here. Maybe there's a reason that a voluntary speed limit for newbies wouldn't work.)

Two ladies kindly initiated the communication process and we're at levels 3 and 1. I reviewed the remaining dozens of matched profiles over a few evenings, sent first messages to one and closed a handful of others for various reasons.

That leaves nearly twenty in limbo. I don't want to close them, but I'm new here and three communicating at once is enough to give the attention they're due.

I'm happy with the system overall, but it was a bumpy beginning.

(An amusing side note: I ran into one of the rapid "closed - other" matches at random on the street one day last week. We recognized each other from our photos, traded a nod and a grin and kept walking our separate ways.)
 
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tweet37 is offline tweet37 Post #2  January 22,2010, 5:09am
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has all the tools and can........satisfy

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Galaxion wrote :
{snip}
That leaves nearly twenty in limbo. I don't want to close them, but I'm new here and three communicating at once is enough to give the attention they're due.

I'm happy with the system overall, but it was a bumpy beginning.

(An amusing side note: I ran into one of the rapid "closed - other" matches at random on the street one day last week. We recognized each other from our photos, traded a nod and a grin and kept walking our separate ways.)
Three matches in communication at once isn't much to worry about. If you get to meet one of them you're doing darn good. 10 to 15 in some stage of communication at once will likely result in 4 to 5 reaching OC which will in turn result in 1 meet-up. So don't sweat it.

On the other thing, send a re-open match request and see what happens!
 
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ami1uwant is offline ami1uwant Post #3  January 22,2010, 8:44am
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If I am understanding you....three matches that are in the begining stages isnt a big deal.

You really dont know the person until you get to open communication. I would say for most this equates to only 1 out 4 matches who you get to open communication with you actually meet face to face.

3 out of the 4 matches you get at the start is dead---no active members.
 
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mrflyer is offline mrflyer Post #4  January 22,2010, 9:21am
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Galaxion wrote :
You have Zero matches.

Harsh.


Also, for first-time users, it might help to have the match volume throttled down. A third of the ladies who were my matches in that crowd closed before I had realized that matching had really kicked in. Part of that was another beginner's mistake on my part, I didn't post a photo until the second session. Many of those dozen might have closed quickly in any case, but we'll never know.
Nothing harsh about it- it''s just the number of matches that had been delivered to you so far.

Since you can turn off matching any time you want, there's no need for throttling them. Personally I'll take all the matches I can get until I start dating someone seriously, since the vast majority never make it even to the phone or email stage.
 
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Galaxion is offline Galaxion Post #5  January 22,2010, 4:46pm
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is very fond of taffeta.

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It seemed harsh at the time because it was the first time I'd gone through the lengthy survey process and the screen before "You have Zero" didn't explain that it may take a while for the match engine to cycle.

Once I had to look around for an 'off' switch, I figured out the "turn off matches", but I didn't understand its purpose at first.

Thank you for the replies. It helps to hear others' experience about the proportion of active to unattended profiles.
 
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