Viewer talks about Great Expectations

Call 12 for Action is looking into the options available to past and present members of a Valley Dating Service charged with fraud.

The state is asking the courts to award restitution to alleged victims in this case of Great Expectations in Scottsdale. We spoke to a former member of Great Expectations who says she experienced many of the problems spelled out in the state's lawsuit against the Dating Service.

"I came from another country, so I trusted what they said."

Angelina Weikel says when she was checking out dating services several years ago, she was excited at what Great Expectations in Scottsdale told her.

“They said they had men who would love to meet Asian women, like you. They said they screen them thoroughly, their backgrounds, what they do, if they're married, so "don't worry."

The Attorney General says Great Expectations didn't do criminal background checks on all its members. As part of a just filed lawsuit against the Dating Service the State also says the company lied about the number of members in its dating pool, unlawfully obtained credit information, and illegally extended memberships. Angelina says her first red flag with Great Expectations was a high pressure sales pitch.

"If you sign up today it will be $5000, but if change your mind and want to call back tomorrow, it'll be $6500."

After going on several dates with men set up through Great Expectations, Angelina says it became apparent to her that the company was charging different membership fees to different people.

"It just happened in the conversation, and I asked him how much did you pay, and he said oh, about $1000 or $800, and I said how come I paid $5000."

Angelina has long since dropped her Great Expectation's membership. She says if she every joins another service she definitely won't sign up on the spot-- it's too big a decision.

"Whatever they tell me, I would just say wait a minute, let me go home and let me sleep on it, instead of letting them put the pressure on me."

So what's next? If Great Expectations is required to return any money to alleged victims, the Attorney General's office will provide information on how to obtain a refund. But the AG’s office says consumers should not wait for a ruling-- they should file complaints now at WWW.AZAG.GOV.

As for Angelina's case, I left several messages last week for the Director of Great Expectations, Mike Buhler, looking for a response-- he finally left me a voice message over the weekend. I plan to talk to him about Angelina's wishes. She has already received a partial refund from Great Expectations for $3000 and would like to have the balance-- $2000-- also refunded.