Association of British Introduction Agencies

Terrible. The ABIA is about as useless as a raincoat on a hot sunny cloudless day. I wrote to them to seek help on the awful service I experienced with Gray & Farrar; which included being overcharged 20%, however VAT was not a line item on my receipt and I do not live in either a UK or EU jurisdiction, so there was no reason for this overcharge, and also to let them know that G& F had introduced me to men who did not pay, unbeknownst to me, and that no due diligence was conducted on the men who did not pay (one could have potentially a scary criminal record but as long as one is male one could possibly get a free ride with G& F with such lax standards) I received a bipolar response from the president at the time, Heather H P. The ABIA will not help. The best is to spend your money in something other than a matchmaking agency.

BEWARE! The ABIA claims to protect consumers against malpractice - but continued to recommend one dodgy agency for years after I sent them extensive documented details of malpractice, including multiple breaches of ABIA rules, false advertising, dishonesty, nasty threats, and even fraud, losing me thousands of pounds.None of this bothered the ABIA enough to expel them. Instead the ABIA continued to recommend the agency to the unsuspecting public for years, until one ripped-off customer resorted to suing in the High Court. A former employee described the agency as “the most corrupt and immoral matchmaking outfit” - just as I had documented to the ABIA years earlier. Fortunately the agency ended up going bust.To add insult to injury, the ABIA didn't even have the decency to reply to my letter asking why they let this all happen under their noses, despite my extensive warnings!