Clara asks, " Please advise how to remove all profile information from Plenty of Fish. I'm dissatisfied with the results. The site is advertised as free, however, a fee appears for further contact. I want all info removed. How do I do that?"
Hi Clara. You aren't the only one emailing me asking how to do the same thing. Last March, POF started charging users to 'get serious', and just over a month ago the emails started pouring in that some POF features are now pay-per-use. You're the first reader to share that they're being asked for money just to contact someone else though, so I'll have to do some sleuthing there to see what's up.
In the meantime, closing your POF account is easy, even though it requires a few clicks. Log into your account, and click on the "Help" button at the top middle of your screen. At the top of your screen you should now see a "Delete Account" link. Or, if you want more information, click on the fourth option - Profile - to get details about how to hide your profile and how to close your account, although I just noticed that the instructions on how to close your account are incorrect (there isn't a "Resign" link or button anymore).
Let us know if you're successful. And for everyone else - have you recently closed your POF account? Why? Did you find it difficult to do?
I get nothing out of POF and only hang around because there’s nothing else as user friendly out there, as I mentioned just tonight to someone who I messaged purely out of boredom. It’s a scammy business for sure. When you select new users in your search, you may see a few new users, but you’ll also see users you’ve always seen. Matches sent to you automatically don’t match the critieria that POF sets up with you. It sent me a match for female for example. And those ads that target men who, just by chance, happen to be my age exactly… I just love being tracked.
Then again, How’s the owner of POF supposed to generate revenue, and he can talk about his altruistic reasons all he wants, but just because he says he’s got only altruistic motives, that doesn’t mean he does. And even if he does, he still has to pay the bills. I don’t begrudge him a biz model that earns him a profit. Depending.
In my case, realistically, I can expect to receive little attention due to my age. And I’m not about to lie about my age because I don’t lie, period. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to try to get somewhere. I really wonder though. Sure, I’m 54 (for a few more days), but considering the number (supposedly) of fish attached to this site, it’s still strange that I’ve gotten absolutely nowhere in all this time.
I actually don’t know how long I’ve been on the site. It’s probably been a couple of years.
I’ve also been with POF for several years, and I have yet to be asked for money. I’ve met several nice guys through this site, and chatted with many, but so far, not “the One”. The thing is you have to go and look at the profiles yourself, instead of waiting for someone to make the selection for you. I’ve been chatting with a new interest for days, and still no one is asking for money. Oh yeah, I turn 66 next month.
What are you implying? I didn’t make anything up here. There are features – still present or not; I have no idea since I tend to do only a few basic things regularly on POF – that required me to fork over money to use. I’m not going to repeat this endlessly. My reputation for honesty could never be anything but rock solid, because I believe in it and that’s that. Anyone who feels that they want to sideline me by making it appear otherwise has an impossible task on his or her hands.
Very dissatisfied with POF. I used it for approximately a month and thought it was a user friendly website, and things were going well, but I had some problems logging onto my account. I followed specific directions, but had no success, then I started a new account, and also was unable to log in. There is no contact phone number, so no one to help you further with logging in , or other information. I received an email from POF and provided my opinion, only not to hear back. I think not having a contact phone number, etc is very unprofessional. Sad to see a site so professional in so many areas to not provided a contact information for problem-solving–a basic business etiquette.
I have never been aske to pay a fee for POF.com and I actually just met someone from the site. We just had our first date, and couldn’t stop talking. It’s been my experience that the owner of pof.com gets his revenue from advertisers and from people upgrading there membership to “increase” results. Its like anything in life, you can’t just expect someone or anything to show up on your doorstep, you have to take an active role in anything you do, so if you want to get result from a dating websidte, you have to put effort into it.
That doesn’t mean that any of our criticisms weren’t valid. No one’s arguing that you should get something for nothing. I only know that I explicitly stated in my post that I have no issues with the owner of POF generating revenue. That’s not what we’re talking about. We may be talking a little about ‘how’ he chooses to generate that revenue. But no one has made anything up. Maybe once you use the site more, you’ll bump into some of those requests for more money that we have encountered.
I hated POF. I THINK I deleted it but not sure how long it takes to completely delete it. I did the detailed search and continued to have married and men working on their marriage to send me messages when I specifically did not want that sort of relationship. That’s all I found there. What kind of man does that? Oh, and let’s not forget the almost divorced guy that wanted ME to teach him how to dress as a woman and tell him which men he could date~~~!!!!! He wanted it to be a “Will and Grace” type of relationship with cross dressing, partial sex, and dominatrix….Seriously? You would ask a total stranger all these things? Pretty much giving up on the web thing.
I joined POF but didnt meet any1 which s fine but when i went to delete my alc “i clicked on the delete account” key but was still directed to a page full of “why not’s
” and stuff!!! but yet no actual key to just to get off d f-ing thing!!!!! cowboys lookin to make money if u cant delete ur acc if u ask me……………….DONT JOIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, but the only things you need to pay to get at POF is to view status of sent mails read/deleted and to get “ultramatch”. So, your criticisms are false. End of story. Believe what you want, but your belief is completely wrong. Perhaps you got scammed into a lookalike site?
I have found my match and put it on the site which was all ok but the problem is that ” you ” are still taking $15.95 out on my credit card since last Jan. 2011. so would appreciate if this was stopped. Thank you Kay
Do you get an email of confirmation sent to you when you delete your account?
Ive have been on pmf for a month at the cost of £30, and all i have got out of it is a barage of messages from “inactive members”. In other words false profiles set up to lure you to other dating or sex sites. Even so called genuine members appeared a bit suspect. their messages all read the same and i got no responce when i replied to them (why message me at all then if not interested???!!!) The final straw came when i got contacts from men when it is crystal clear from my profile that i am straight!!!!….Yep its a con. However, i cant delete myself from it cos when i try it dosent recognise my user name or pass word, but no problem loging in….Funny that!!!
I am so disappointed that POF is not free anymore. If they say
they are, then they’re lying. See what happens when you try
to return a message!! So I rejoined recently (eternal optimist)
and was pleasantly surprised at the new batch of clientele.
I have horror stories about my previous time! There are some
HORNY men out there who try to take advantage of you.
But my question has to do with the membership fee:
How much is it a month?
How many months are you committed to?
Can you send a check or do you have to give a credit card
number?
I got burned on another site because they kept charging
my card even when my membership ended. I wrote tons of
letters to get that straightened out. So I would never pay for
a membership in this manner.
I’ve found it to be very user-friendly, and have messages
already from great guys who I cannot write back. What a shame:
I will gladlly pay the fee if I can do so at no risk.
POF and any related “free” dating site is a waste of time principally because it has Zero Perceived Value by the users.
Many of the users on POF have profiles that would score them on the top of the charts on a narcissistic personality quiz. Their sense of entitlement is grounded in fantasy. Women on this network are “matched” to me, however when I get to the point of chatting with them on the phone, many of them just plain turn me OFF.
When I get to the first date, I can perceive they’re behavior is mostly an act, and invariably I’m assaulted with the question “How much money do you make” in its infinite variety of clever forms.
These aren’t representative behaviors of mature women who’ve had enough of the games they so complain about that they’re open to genuine relationships with genuine men. I’m certain the women on the network have comparable complaints about POF and the men they’re “matched” with.
The best part is the censorship. POF provides a forum for communication, however when such communication is intellectually written from a scholarly point of view (i.e. statistics) discussing the pros and cons of online dating, they delete the threads. The censorship there reminds me of what it might have been like living in 1939 Berlin!
Bottom line, I’ve wasted enough valuable time on POF. It’s time to turn to another service. If you’re curious about online dating, but not at all serious, I recommend going to POF so you can observe how an online dating network should NOT be conducted. You might even have a few laughs.
I want to get off of POF. No hey haven’t ask formoney,I just amnot interested in dating,please remove my name. thank you,Sylvia
I have been a member of POF for 3 months. All I received in that time was scam mail and mail from women who were clearly not intrerested in holding a conversation but came rioght to the point. Money. And webcam girls from porn sites.
Complete waste of time. Now I am trying to get my subscription cancelled, with no luck for 2 months.
Tony
i was on pof and made some good friends but several times it kept saying incorrect password even tho it was the correct one, so i closed the account and when i tried to sign back in it wouldnt let me for cheshire, it keeps saying because of risks of spam we are not signing in your location anymore, so whats all that about, i want to go back on it but it wont let me.
I really like and appreciate your blog article.Much thanks again. Keep writing.
Plenty of Fish does not let you off the site even though it says delete account…………its a bad site bad sit
Hi,
I am able to send as many emails in plenty of fish without being charged.
However it seems that unless you give them a testimonial with a picture of yourself and the person you formed a relationship with along with his and your picture together you cannot have your account deleted.
Denise
The forums? I respectfully disagree. Maybe it was OK a couple of years back, but it is now run by a couple of moderators that explain why some critics call moderators “monkeys with guns”.
Sure everything is fine as long as you go along with their views. Yes they will post their opinions. That’s already a red flag for moderators since the whole point is to moderate and not get personally involved in any discussion. I have seen perfectly good posts get deleted because it obvious that the moderator didn’t like it even though it didn’t violate any rules. Come on. That’s hardly the way forums should be run.
It was better 5 years ago when I used to post, but there’s no point considering the amount of bias that goes on. Say one thing that doesn’t stroke the mod’s ego the right way and he – Abelian – will delete all your posts and references to them. I’ve seen it happen to others.
Thanks for the article. Really Cool.
after you delete your profile, you can use your same username if you decide to go back on the site, and if you do a username search and nothing comes up they have hidden there profile, they didnt delete it, even after you delete your username it still will show under username search but it will show closed account, So if you meet someone and they tell you they deleted there account and if you just want to make sure do a username search on them, if nothing comes up they lied to you they didnt delete it, if they deleted it, it will show something under username search, One question for P.O.F how long will a deleted username stay out there for if i am the one who deleted it not P.O.F but myself deleting the account? and i like your site, hell if any of these whiney ass people wanna pay 30 dollars a month for the same thing you are giving free, the site is free people i have no reason to lie they dont ask for a dime..
I spent so much time one plenty of fish and never had anything promising. I went onto okcupid and met my current husband, and yes okcupid is free and it is AMAZING!!!
But the absolutely sad thing about this is my husband and myself both had plenty of fish accounts and we never saw each other even once and we had an 81% on okcupid of working out. I am very mad at plenty of fish for wasting my time. And if anyone does go onto okcupid, one warning, it does have a series of questions for you to answer but you can choose when to stop, but the more you answer the better results you will have. Have a good life, all 
hope you find what you are looking for!
Some of these guys are pretty hot but full of BS. Just because it’s a free service you get everything and every age. I was content before this and now it seems things are really depressing. None of these guys fit their profile. I’m 57 and the site mislead me with 40 year olds, which is not what I asked for. They are not even in the area I asked for. I’m not poking blame but yet, it still makes me believe that all men are the same… I’ve been alone for seven years and you think these members would be screened better.
I have tried several times to delete my POF account. It just keeps taking me back to the same two screens. After about a dozen attempts…… I gave up. Any suggestions?
Hi I have tried and tried many times to delete my account at POF going through the delete account procedure yet it still remains
Ken
ive only been on this site for a couple of months. im not ditching the site im just saying i dont like this try to find a date thing. i want to delete my acc. on pof. ive tried and i cant. i am involved now with someone that i did not meet on this site, so therefore would love to delete this. pleaseeee delete me from this site. thank you
I have followed various links including the one on the help page of POF but I can not delete my profile! I even filled in all the questionares they want before leaving yet my account has still not been deleted! How else can I do it? Many thanks.
I was able to delete mine – or so I think – by using “help” and a link for something like “delete account” at a menu bar near the top of that page. It took me to another page that asked for my user name and password again. After that, I couldn’t log in, so *hope* my account was deleted. Four years on POF with nothing positive to say about the design or management of it.
I never had much luck on POF. Another free site that I think is better is DateHookup. I have had more responses from men who actually wanted to go out! Sometimes, the woman has to make the first move. I am over 60, so I thought that it might be mostly young people, but it is not. And, at this moment, there is no money involved to communicate. Give it a chance!
I can not del
llet this account. Please have someone.Contact me ASAP I have followed your directions to no a avail. And loosing patients.I expect to here from you in a few days.I Cannot promise future legal action.but ammused imbassassment we come. Mike Aufiero mike30188 you have my info. Thanks in advance.all I want to stop these emails
M
A couple of people told me about Plenty More Fish and that it was a free site. However, I can’t do any more than wink at someone for free. If I try to send a message a page with various payment options pops up and as I have read so many bad stories of POF continuing to take payments when people have cancelled I am reluctant to sign up! I’ll have to stick with nights in in front of the tele…
I have been trying numerous times to delete my account. When you click on ‘delete account’ it takes you to another page with various links. When you click on the ‘permanently delete account’ it takes you back to the first page! It is a vicious cycle and my account is still active!
And to make it worse, there is not contact info to reach customer service on their end who can answer my question/delete my profile.
My self and a few others have tried unsuccessfully to delete our accts. I myself in the last 2 day have tried delete my account 6 times and I’m still on. I followed al the proper steps. Pof today sent me new matches, and one person I blocked got through and sent another rude email. Really. This site is terrible. I will never recommend it to anyone. I want my acct completely deleted!!!
My husband used to use pof before he met and married me. Now that he is married he wants nothing to do with pof. He tried deleting his account but still constantly recieves e-mails. He is sick of getting e-mails from them and I am sick of it too.
I just opened a POF account a few days ago, and today I find its completely gone missing, even if i do a search for my name, nothing comes up. I’ll probably make a new account, but i put so much time into making the account, writing about myself etc, i feel very frustrated to have it vanish on me…
POF is a complete scam.
You can never actually delete the profile. I end up just editing the profile to so it shows garbage data.
The users “online” is a scam as well. I know this because I know of a person that NOT online during that period.
Many of the users are just messing around with no intent to meet.
Best way to meet sincere people is in person at Meetup groups and social mixer event. You can figure out very quickly if they are the right fit. Family and friend should also be considered. It just like networking for a job. Takes time. No easy shortcut.
POF is now a complete joke, not even pretending to be a dating site rather a advertizing hub, and thus the reason why proviles cant be deleted, as more add revenue can be charged on sites with larger membership numbers. I suspect most accounts are dormant, phoney, or POF sock puppets
I can’t delete my account. I have gone through all the steps & finally push delete. But I still get messages in my email & if I click on them to find out why. It shows my account is still up & running. I am getting very frustrated. what else can I do to get rid of my account? I have never had any trouble on any other sites(not only dating) deleting any account I have opened. I am very frustrated.