Interaction: Dateline: dishonesty

Myers: Hello, and welcome once again to the programme where you get to see what people do for you and quiz them on whether they know what they do for you. It's Interaction, and our subject this week is online dating services. Are they cheating you? Are they really working in your interest? Are they making judgments about what fraction of the population is totally undateable? Or are they just trying to spare your feelings? These and more questions later, but first we'll have the Interaction IQ, the Initial Question. Tonight it's from Rex in Wasalham, Northern Ireland, UK, who asks whether dating services have acquired too much power over human society. We'll take that question first to New York, NY, USA, and our first guest, the president of Purple People Meeters Manhattan, Ms Geri Vorbeck.

Vorbeck: Absolutely not. We have very little influence. All we do is tell people to go to a specific place at a specific time to meet a specific person.

Myers: In Seattle, WA, USA, we have a paralegal and a former client of the Seattle Super Match Program, Mr Ken Sniggles.

Sniggles: Absolutely. They've ruined my life. I trusted them to find me a match, and they just sent me the dregs. What the hell's their problem?

Myers: In Memphis, TN, USA, we have another paralegal and a client of Partnerfinder of Tennessee, Ms Jen Chiggles.

Chiggles: Absolutely not. They've enhanced my life. I trusted them to find me a match, and they just sent me the best. Their problem's nothing.

Myers: And with me here in our Warwickshire studios is a photographer at The Corporate Exposer magazine, and one of the individuals to help break this news, Mr Toko Chan.

Chan: Well, I don't know if they really have too much power, but they are pretty dishonest.

Myers: And I'm Debbie Myers. I think all corporations of at least medium size have too much power, including the World News Centre, which makes me something of a hypocrite. In any case, let's discuss the origins of this story, which broke a couple of weeks ago. Claims have come out stating that two online dating services, Match.com and Yahoo Personals, sent their own employees to dates with clients instead of other clients. Toko, how was this conclusion reached?

Chan: Well, suspicions were first raised when a woman in Chicago was on a date with a man who seemed perfectly ordinary to her. Nothing unusual happened; it was a regulation date that ended in regulation disappointment. But several days later, the woman was discussing the date with a friend. As she described the man, her friend gradually realised that she knew the man, and furthermore, that the man was an employee of the dating service in question.

Myers: Which dating service was this?

Chan: You know, I'm not sure. A similar occurrence took place not long afterward in Minneapolis, and I don't know which location was associated with which dating service.

Myers: But in this case the woman's friend knew who the man was.

Chan: Right. He alerted us, and I was sent to Chicago to investigate. I took the now famous pictures of another employee doing the same thing, and the rest happened after that.

Myers: All right. Geri, what is the policy of Purple People Meeters Manhattan in this respect?

Vorbeck: Our policy is very clear, Debbie. We'll only send clients to meet other clients. Never employees, or our friends, or our relatives, or some guy we rear end in packed traffic and offer him a free date to make it up to him.

Myers: And what would you know about that?

Vorbeck: Nothing! Nothing at all!

Myers: Umm... all right then. But Ken, I understand you've had an unfavourable experience with your dating service.

Sniggles: Yes, I did.

[Pause.]

Myers: Do you want to share?

Sniggles: Well... I don't know if I can. [verge of tears] It's kind of upsetting.

Myers: What is this, Oprah? Look, just tell us, and we'll decide if you should be upset.

Sniggles: Okay. Well, it all started two years ago when I joined Seattle Super Match. The first woman I met was pretty cute, but she was in rehab, and I just felt like she'd be too much trouble. There was one who seemed nice enough and had a good sense of humour, but she would just spontaneously break into song, like a 1930s musical or something. And one just had a strange pair of glasses that distracted me all night. They were bright orange, and although I never got a chance to find out, I think they would have glowed in the dark. And then there was this one who stood crooked, and –

Myers: Ken.

Sniggles: What?

Myers: Ken, we're going to have to move things along. We'll try to come back to you if there's time, but first it's time for our viewer questions. Don't forget that you have a number of ways to get in touch with us. There's E-mail, snail mail, telephone, facsimile, telegraph, text message, and bunt. Our first question tonight is a bunt, and it's from Andrew Pettitte in Houston, TX, USA. His question is, how can it be that so many people find it that hard to get dates that they must subscribe to one of these services. Jen, you subscribe to one of these services. Do you in fact find it that hard to get dates?

Chiggles: You know, I reject this notion that I somehow find it hard to get dates. I mean, I have a job that requires a serious commitment. I just don't have time to go looking for guys at bars or laundromats or clubs or Yahtzee halls. That –

Myers: Jen?

Chiggles: Yeah?

Myers: Did you say Yahtzee halls?

Chiggles: Yep.

Myers: What the hell is a Yahtzee hall?

Chiggles: Don't they have Yahtzee halls in England?

Myers: No, we don't.

Chiggles: Well, you're missing out. I've been to four Yahtzee halls in Memphis, and they're good places for exciting games of Yahtzee, but as far as meeting guys, they're no fly zones. I'm surprised you've never heard of them, Debbie. Haven't you been to the US?

Myers: I have. I've traveled all across the US. And I can assure you I've never seen a Yahtzee hall.

Vorbeck: Yeah, me neither. And New York has some of everything, so if there's anywhere a Yahtzee hall would be, it would be here.

Myers: Hmm. Ken, have you seen Yahtzee halls?

Sniggles: Never heard of them. But they sound like a lot of fun.

Chiggles: Oh, my god. They are so awesome. The clatter of dice from all corners of the room, the scratch-scratch-scratch of scorepads, the occasional cries of Yahtzee!, it's great. You'll love it.

Sniggles: I'll have to come down to Memphis and go to one with you.

Chiggles: Oh, you so have to.

Myers: If I can interrupt your flirting, we have another question to get to. Nip from Oita, Japan, are you there?

Nip in Oita: Yes. Hi everyone.

Vorbeck: Hi.

Chan: Hi Nip.

Chiggles: Hi Nip.

Myers: Hi.

Sniggles: Hi.

Myers: So what is your question, Nip?

Chan: Wait, hang on.

Myers: What is it?

Chan: I have a question for you first, Nip. Is that your real name?

Nip in Oita: No, it's not.

Chan: So how did you get that nickname?

Nip in Oita: Well, it's funny you should ask. I live in Oita now, but I was born in Delhi, India. And as far back as I can remember, everyone was saying that I bit my mother's nipples when she was breastfeeding me. Apparently she, like, told everyone that she knows, and our entire neighbourhood knew, and everyone would keep telling me about it. And then one of my classmates started calling me Nipple Biter, and that became Nip Biter, and then Nip. And I used to fight him all the time, but eventually we fell in love, and we've been married for seven years.

Vorbeck: Oh, that's such a cute story! You should make it into a movie!

Myers: Well, regardless, we have to get moving to your question.

Nip in Oita: Okay. My question is, what would... wait, that wasn't it.

Myers: Why do we have so many callers forgetting their questions?

Nip in Oita: No, that wasn't it either.

Myers: Well, let's move –

Nip in Oita: Wait, I remembered it!

Myers: Okay then.

Nip in Oita: Okay. It was, Ken, can you continue that story you were telling earlier?

Sniggles: About my bad dates?

Nip in Oita: Yeah.

Sniggles: Okay. Well, like I was saying, there was this one who stood crooked, and as long as we were sitting, I wouldn't notice. But then when she stood up, she'd be slanty, and I'd be like, What the hell! And then one girl had an upside down nose, and then someone –

Myers: An upside down nose?

Sniggles: Well, that's what it looked like to me. It was that funny shape and everything.

Chiggles: Oh, you poor thing! I have to say, that's just totally wrong that your service would do all that to you. You must be so pissed at them.

Sniggles: It's not that bad, actually.

Chiggles: You're so brave. I'd be, like, raging at them. Aren't you raging at them?

Sniggles: No, not really.

Chiggles: You should. You oughta show them who's boss, you know?

Sniggles: Well, maybe you should come to Seattle and show them who's boss.

Chiggles: Oh, I so have to.

Myers: Well, now we're completely out of time. About all we can do is thank Mr Toko Chan, Ms Jen Chiggles, Mr Ken Sniggles, and Ms Geri Vorbeck for appearing on our programme this week. Next week we'll be in Kyiv looking back on one year since Ukraine's Orange Revolution. We'll be talking with president Viktor Yushchenko, former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a youth political activist, and a blogger who alters pictures of Ukrainian politicians. So, until then, good night.

Chiggles: So are you coming to Memphis first or am I going to Seattle first? Because you can come down to Memphis next weekend, but my mother comes after that.

Myers: I expect an invitation to the Sniggles-Chiggles wedding.