You might have heard of DateMyRide, a free dating site for car enthusiasts. But now the site has a problem. The service originally allowed anyone with any type of car to join, no matter what year, make, model or color. Unfortunately, its loyal users began submitting numerous complaints about their horrible dating experiences with people who drive old, beat-up or smelly cars. So the site has issued an edict to its users: either trade up to an acceptable car or hit the road.
“We had to react immediately and review our rapidly growing user database to identify the people who drove clunkers,” says Kevin Kacinskas, CEO of DateMyRide. “As a result, we had to contact several thousand users to ask them to either trade in their ‘Pintos’ for a newer or nicer car, or leave our site. Our customer satisfaction is our No. 1 priority.”
The dating site founder says he can’t jeopardize its unique dating experience by allowing people to date those who drive cars with no air-conditioning or cars that haven’t been washed since 1999. This situation not only creates a negative dating experience, but also “potentially creates a number of health issues for our clients, physically and mentally,” the site says.
The recently launched dating service was founded on the premise that many people want to choose their potential mate based on the type of car they drive. Going forward, the site is implementing sophisticated screening software to allow it to detect and weed out users who own and drive clunkers. For the unlucky visitors who got stuck with a clunker, DateMyRide has set up a program where they can apply for an auto loan with an approval rate of 99 percent.
