Comments on: Events and Adventures Singles Club Review

By: Thankful

Thankful — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:08:28 +0000

Thanks to all for the collective comments on E&A. I had considered joining here in Northern Virginia, went through the online application, and immediately started receiving the calls. An emergency at home came up before I could go in for an interview, so I asked to be taken off the calling roster – that I would contact them upon my return and we could try to schedule an interview then. The bells a whistles started going off when they did not grant this small request. I finally just started ignoring them (they’re the only ones who call me from one particular area code…), and even now, SIX MONTHS later, I still get the occasional call from them. So glad I didn’t go in for that interview! The club sounded kind of neat, but too many things about it were “strange.” Reading this list of complaints and generally bad experiences with them only makes me more thankful that I did not follow through with the interview.

By: kc

kc — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:02:09 +0000

FYI to everyone. An F rating at the BBB comes from many complaints. They base their rating on the ratio of positive to negative comments about a business.

By: Varg

Varg — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:16:06 +0000

The branch I am going to is the Tampa/Tampa Bay area one. (I’m not sure if this is the headquarters for the branch as the office I went to wasn’t in Tampa but rather in Clearwater.) Again, my experience with the salesperson wasn’t anything like these horror stories.

By: kc

kc — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:37:10 +0000

Varg, I would think the F BBB rating would speak for itself. Just research as much as possible before signing that contract. Good luck.

By: sal

sal — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:35:00 +0000

As E&A has different offices, each office is franchised from the E&A headquarters (which is in Fort Lauderdale, FL). I’ve found that there are two websites related to E&A: http://www.lotsofevents.com, and http://www.eventsandadventures.com If you look at the cities listed in each site (and click the link to each city), they are not the same. As I understand, eventsandadventures.com is owned or operated by Adventures Northwest, Inc., dba Events & Adventures–This appears to be the Seattle, Minneapolis, and most west-coast cities. The remaining cities are operated via the lotsofevents.com website (and I’ve noticed one or two cities link over to a different website as well).

Varg, I’d like to know which location you went to. Because E&A is a franchise operation, it would seem that some franchises are better/worse than others. Please help to identify the bad branches (and in your case, the good ones). As has been stated in this blog before, I used to be a member of E&A (Atlanta), and you would have found me to be a big proponent and promoter of E&A. However, E&A terminated my membership for no clear reason, and as such, because of very unprofessional behavior, I’m now one of their biggest opponents. (When it comes to Atlanta, I would not recommend E&A, as there is a VERY active amount of meetup groups that do the same thing E&A does, and does not cost anywhere near what E&A does).

By: Varg

Varg — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:26:17 +0000

I’ve been reading some reviews here as I was thinking about joining this club, but the reviews here of the initial sales and interview part of the whole process vastly differs from the experience I had. Could it be that the E&A’s in certain areas are worse than others? Just so you know, I’m in Florida, but most of the reviews here that specify which E&A it is seem to be in Seattle and St. Louis. Perhaps someone could offer me some advice here.

The BBB rates my local E&A as having an “F” (the lowest rating), mostly due to them not addressing a lot of complaints — half exactly. The other half were either addressed by the company with the customer being satisfied, or the company addressed the issue and made a reasonable effort as far as the BBB was concerned but the customer was did not satisfied. I plan to call them tomorrow and ask about this rating and these unanswered complaints to see what they have to say.

As far as my experience goes, it really differs from most of the stories I’ve read here. I went to their website and didn’t find too much info other than some basic info about them and their current events calendar. I entered my name and contact info for being interested in becoming a member.

The next day a woman called me and we had a short conversation about what the club was all about. Again, this was all very basic info. She scheduled me for an in-person interview with an event coordinator. I never felt pressured and she didn’t even ask anything personal.

I showed up for my interview and waited no more than 10 minutes. (I think I was no more than 5 minutes late myself, but my wait certainly wasn’t unreasonable. I’ve waited a LOT more in doctors’ offices and such.)

I finally met the event coordinator and she asked me why I was interested in the club, what my goals were, had I been dating, if I was interested in expanding my social circles and/or dating, etc. All of them were very reasonable. Nothing very personal or intrusive at all. I asked my own set of questions as well and she answered all of them directly. The cost for me (I guess they tweak the costs depending on your age and profession) was $100 a month, plus, of course, the costs of the specific events. She mentioned nothing about any initial or joining fees, and said that I could suspend my membership for a total of 3 months, breaking those 3 months into any amount of days or weeks I wanted to. (So say, for example, I was going out of town for 2 weeks and wasn’t going to “use” my membership in that time, I could put it on hold for those 2 weeks which would extend the membership for 2 more weeks past when my membership would have expired.)

She also stressed to me that this would be something I would want to use, that I would want to go to at least 2-3 events per month just to make the whole thing worth my while.

It all took about 45 minutes I think, definitely no more than an hour, and it all went pretty well. She said I could think about it and let her know.

That was it. No intrusive, personal questions, no sales pressure tactics, including threats of not being able to join (not having enough open slots) if I didn’t sign up that day.

Could someone tell me if these horror stories are specific only to certain areas, or why my experience differed so much from most of the people here?

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:35:05 +0000

This place is a scam with a poor business practice! I heard about Events and Adventures on the radio and decided to check them out. While talking to a person on the phone, they would not tell me the cost. I had to go in to Bellevue (an hour drive) for an interview. At the end of the interview I was told the costs, and sales pressure was applied. The club seemed to fit what I was looking for, so eventually submitted to the pressure and decided to go with the entry level package, and placed a $360 deposit. I was told that I had three days to cancel, or I would lose $400. After 30 days, you can not cancel. The next two days were a weekend and a holiday. After looking at the site (which is poorly designed and has lots of errors), I realized that most events were in the north end. I sent an email asking a few questions about my membership and the events. I NEVER got a response. By the first business day, I had decided that this club isn’t for me and I needed the money for a more important issue. I called the representative to cancel my membership, but he was not there and would return my call within a couple hours (this was in the morning). I NEVER got a return call. I then proceeded to send a certified letter in the mail to cancel and get a refund. A few days later I got a letter from them in the mail that claimed I did not qualify for a refund and owe them the difference of $40 to cover the interview process. That’s lame, as the interview process occurs whether you join or not, and I had canceled within the timeframe I was told! What a scam – I would never join this place again! Granted, if you’re willing to pay a LOT of money (along with the cost for each event), there are a lot of events and activities planned every day. Just don’t expect to get out of the deal easily (even if you lose your job or die).

On Saturday afternoon, January 16, 2010 I went to the interview at Events and Adventures. Sales pressure was applied after describing the club, but it seemed to fit what I was looking for. I reviewed the contract and asked Bret about the cancelation and having to pay $400. He said that as long as I cancel within the three days, I would not have to pay the $400 – that they aren’t worried about taking the money. He also said that I could even cancel up to one month, but MAY have to pay $400. On Tuesday morning, January 19 (Monday was a holiday), I called Bret to cancel my membership. He never returned my call. That evening I re-read the contract and wrote my cancelation letter, and it was sent certified mail the next morning. In there letter, they state that the $400 is to cover the interview process, but the interview and background check occur regardless if you sign up as a member or not. They initially stated that they would not refund my money because it was not within the one day to get a refund. After having a lawyer send them a letter, they finally refunded my money.

By: Agatha

Agatha — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 06:14:59 +0000

Trust me, you do not want to sign up for this club. All the reviews are the same. $1200 just to join, plus a monthly club fee, plus the cost of events. No way to cancel. Not a good idea.

By: ebennett

ebennett — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:02:56 +0000

I just went to the Nashville office yesterday and I wish I had googled them before I went in for my “interview.” Yes, don’t even waste your time unless you want to spend a few thousand dollars. I just wanted to go in because I was curious about the fees and membership terms. It was around $1700 for a year’s membership plus $25 a month plus you would have to spend more money at most of the events. Every time I said I wanted to think about it I was given the high pressure sales pitch and she kept offering me a discount or reduced price and of course it is for ONE day only. I don’t like being given a hard sell at all! I was made to feel like this was my last option of having fun or meeting new people. There are other ways and free ways for that matter for getting out there and meeting new people.

I just got a weird vibe the moment I walked in the door. I just felt it wasn’t for me. It all “sounded” great, but I wasn’t interested in making a year commitment right there on the spot. When I finally got up and said I wasn’t ready to make a decision my interviewer was at least nice and wished me good luck either way.

Yes, don’t waste several hours going for an interview unless you have a lot of money and it is not a problem for you. I keep hearing this ad on the Big 98 and seeing ads in the paper….someone should tell them this is a bit of a scam.

By: kc

kc — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:14:59 +0000

P.s. What kind of a legitimate business treats a customer with spinal problems so badly after making them provide proof? They probanly figured they’d stall for time asking her to prove her dilemma, or they figured she’d give up. When she followed through, they showed their true scummy colors. How low can a company go? When I read these experiences by others, I think “well they’ve sunk as low as they can”. But then someone else posts a situation where E and A sinks even further when I didn’t think it possible. AA’s story is probably not even the lowest they’ll go, sadly.