LookAtThisPOst Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 This is very strange and probably a scam that POF has started? There had been a few women on the site I would attempt to contact, and after i type out a whole message and hit the "Send" button, I get a... "This user only accepts messages from UPGRADED users." Now, this person isn't an "upgraded" user themselves, which I find strange, but I thought this feature could only be enabled by those who are upgraded users themselves? Upon further research I've also discovered that quite possibly that this is a default of some sort, and the user may not be aware that they are blocking would be prospects from contacting them. Basically, some may be unaware they are blocking other people and POF may have "checked" the box for them in some fashion. That it's automatic. Thoughts? Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Follow the money. Also, given how the internet works, those could be fake accounts published by POF itself as, well, 'marketing'. I don't use POF or any dating site currently but tend to understand how business works. If one can get away with it legally, that's what business does, these days anyway. Maybe you stumbled across a 'coding error'. Oops, let's get that fixed. Heh. Link to post Share on other sites
Art_Critic Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Time to upgrade..... Link to post Share on other sites
PegNosePete Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I thought this feature could only be enabled by those who are upgraded users themselves? No, anyone can set it. This person chose to set that filter. No need to jump to conclusions that it's some kind of conspiracy or scam. Just personal choice. Pretty stupid personal choice IMO, but since when has that ever stopped anyone? 4 Link to post Share on other sites
Author LookAtThisPOst Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Follow the money. Also, given how the internet works, those could be fake accounts published by POF itself as, well, 'marketing'. I don't use POF or any dating site currently but tend to understand how business works. If one can get away with it legally, that's what business does, these days anyway. Maybe you stumbled across a 'coding error'. Oops, let's get that fixed. Heh. Yeah, I've seen several complaints in regards to a lot of "unfair" things when it comes to the site, mostly the frustration is derived by spending time composing an email, to only get halted by a message saying you can't contact them. Some refer to that mess over there as "spaghetti coding". Link to post Share on other sites
Toodaloo Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I have seen this with mens profiles. I assume its a way for them to try and filter out possible money grabbers if they have assests etc. At least that is why he said he had done it. Who knows. To be blunt I didn't pay that much attention. The only one with this that I had a conversation with turned out to be bit of an idiot anyway. Stood me up because he had been drinking. Is that someone I want to date? No. Did that make him a great catch? No. Either way it doesn't bother me. Link to post Share on other sites
Author LookAtThisPOst Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 No, anyone can set it. This person chose to set that filter. No need to jump to conclusions that it's some kind of conspiracy or scam. Just personal choice. Actually, many on the message boards have come to prove, via real life friends/members of POF, that it sometimes isn't deliberate, but what I did find out if a person DOES upgrade...the profile is automatically DEFAULTED to that profile ONLY to receive emails from other "upgraded" users and that the person needs to uncheck that box so that they can THEN receive emails by free members. I knew of a person that said someone added him to her favorites...he saw this, contacted her and was stopped by the "upgraded user only" message. Pretty stupid personal choice IMO, but since when has that ever stopped anyone? Yep, people make stupid decisions all the time. LOL. Link to post Share on other sites
Art_Critic Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 When I was single and did OLD I went with the non-free sites and did so for a reason, so that you weed out all the trash that the free profiles breed. The setting she set is a filter to filter out all the free profiles and the trash that those breed... hypocritical.. maybe but it is an option they give their users, I guess you could upgrade so you were no longer a free user if you wanted to contact women who set that option. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author LookAtThisPOst Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 When I was single and did OLD I went with the non-free sites and did so for a reason, so that you weed out all the trash that the free profiles breed. The setting she set is a filter to filter out all the free profiles and the trash that those breed... hypocritical.. maybe but it is an option they give their users, I guess you could upgrade so you were no longer a free user if you wanted to contact women who set that option. Actually according to a lot of forums users here on LS, some claim that even the paid sites like Match and others were no better...some people can afford to pay the monthly membership to send out perverse message to women. Free users shouldn't have the option to block other free users and an option ONLY for those that are paying. Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 OP, run a comparison for commonalities. If the users are across all lines of appearance and socio-economics, less likely a marketing hack. If they're all hot, well, there ya go. FWIW, the POF UK forums pretty much had the same disparity of opinion. One suggestion was favoriting them (the users who only accept contact from upgraded users) and inserting a message into one's own profile regarding the meaning of that. Boy, back in the day it was 'e-mail' and get to know someone on a simple web interface. That's progress. Heh. Link to post Share on other sites
PegNosePete Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 The problem with paid sites is that there's so many "create a trial account to look around and review your matches" users. There's no way to distinguish them from paid up users (because the site wants you to message trial users, to encourage them to pay up). There's just as much "trash" on the paid sites. I achieved success on POF by simply ignoring anyone who didn't want to (or couldn't due to POF's totalitarian advertising mechanisms) receive messages from me, and instead concentrated my time on those who did. Link to post Share on other sites
Author LookAtThisPOst Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 OP, run a comparison for commonalities. If the users are across all lines of appearance and socio-economics, less likely a marketing hack. If they're all hot, well, there ya go. Well, it's a mix of attractive vs. quite the average. Others I've attempted to contact were average/cute looking, but not neck turning. It's a mixed bag. Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 How about the guys? Link to post Share on other sites
Author LookAtThisPOst Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 How about the guys? I don't message guys myself, but I did see something said about them in regards if GUYS did this and since men rarely get "first contacts" (since the rule is set for "first contact") from the women, much less get replies...they would just make their chances go from worse...to...well...worse. Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Since hot guys can be a draw as well, I was looking at it from the marketing standpoint. These sites don't exist as charities, rather someone out there is trying to make money from them, so their focus is on that, not dating. I think that favoriting hack has traction, presuming you're actually using POF to meet people and find this obstacle to inhibit you. I'll bet there are some others too. If I spent a day on the site analyzing it I probably could offer some advice on that part. However, I'll pass Link to post Share on other sites
GemmaUK Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Well, it's a mix of attractive vs. quite the average. Others I've attempted to contact were average/cute looking, but not neck turning. It's a mixed bag. Are you 'average'' or 'quite the average' yourself? To be fair it wouldn't bother me if I was unpaid and someone who was paying had unpaid's blocked. I can totally understand that and even if it's just a ticked or unticked box then I still have no issue. As another poster said, just upgrade. POF was never expensive back when I was on there..has the fee gone up to huge amounts per month or is it still basically just a few pence/cents per day? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author LookAtThisPOst Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Are you 'average'' or 'quite the average' yourself? To be fair it wouldn't bother me if I was unpaid and someone who was paying had unpaid's blocked. I can totally understand that and even if it's just a ticked or unticked box then I still have no issue. As another poster said, just upgrade. POF was never expensive back when I was on there..has the fee gone up to huge amounts per month or is it still basically just a few pence/cents per day? I read that people did the upgrade thing and had a bad time getting them to cancel their subscription. Their software is rather archaic and rather convoluted in nature. If I were to pay for anything, I'd got to a standard dating site. To some who have already tried, they said it wasn't a real improvement. Link to post Share on other sites
Miss Peach Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Yeah, I've seen several complaints in regards to a lot of "unfair" things when it comes to the site, mostly the frustration is derived by spending time composing an email, to only get halted by a message saying you can't contact them. Some refer to that mess over there as "spaghetti coding". Spaghetti code is pretty common in IT actually... Not a great thing but pretty common. In any case I never found better matches on OLD between free and paid site but there is an old idea that paid sites have more serious people. Link to post Share on other sites
GemmaUK Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 I read that people did the upgrade thing and had a bad time getting them to cancel their subscription. Their software is rather archaic and rather convoluted in nature. If I were to pay for anything, I'd got to a standard dating site. To some who have already tried, they said it wasn't a real improvement. Then ether join a paid site where you won't get blocked for being an unpaid member or don't spend time composing mails. A brief first mail is all that's needed anyway, your profile should be the thing which shows your character. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
PegNosePete Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Their software is rather archaic and rather convoluted in nature. Yes, that is true for most code, but I wouldn't trust POF with my credit card number. Their site is buggy as hell and features get added, removed, and become bugged or fixed with no notice or warning on a daily basis. I had no problem getting dates as a free user, anyway. The odd person who blocks unpaid users, just ignore, move on. There's plenty that don't so just message them instead. Link to post Share on other sites
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