Be2

History

be2 was originally founded as a German matchmaking service in 2004 by online entrepreneur Robert Wuttke. The German Service went live on April 1, 2004. The same year, the Spanish and Italian service were added. Since its foundation, be2 has expanded rapidly, mainly through a strategy of internationalisation.

Facts

be2 has almost 30 million registered members worldwide. Today, more than 20,000 new members join be2 daily. However, it remains unclear how many of these members are active and how many have a Premium membership. According to company data, the male-to-female ratio is balanced, with a slight surplus of women (57%). be2 conducts surveys among its members and publishes the results.

Membership

be2 is based on a scientific model of analysis that uses psychological, anthropological, and sociological criteria to assess the compatibility of two personalities for finding not just any partner, but the one that is right for a specific user. The registration, personality test and the basic matchmaking service are free of charge. In order to write messages and see other members’ profile photos, members need to purchase a Premium Membership. be2 protects personal data of its users via internal mail system, which makes it possible to communicate with members without personal information being exposed in any way.

However, according to research, this system is flawed (see Criticism-bottom paragraph).

Criticism

Blogs, review sites and online forums repeatedly report complaints about the company. The investigator in TheHookupGuy and MeetWomenOnline concluded: "We were more than disappointed in this scam dating website. A better word for it would be mortified!". A blog was created for the exclusive purpose of such complaints, [antibe2scam.blogspot.co.uk/|Anti Be2 Scam]. Sitejabber published 41 reviews (as of 12 May 2015), mostly scathing, detailing aggressively misleading marketing practices, hidden charges, unwanted subscription into recurring expensive payment, charges applied to dormant accounts, obstructions to termination of contract and profile, and so forth. Other sites, such as DatingScams.co.uk and ScamBook, report similar findings.

In particular, The pricing of Premium Memberships are regular causes for complaint. The membership is, in fact, a subscription, which is automatically renewed, unless the membership is cancelled in due time. However, complaints were received where premium account-cancellation was, in fact, impossible.

Although the online address makes the company appear to be registered in the UK (be2.co.uk), it is actually based in Luxembourg. Its practices are considered illegal by the Danish Consumer Council.

The journalist Troels Jørgensen from TV station DR has rated BE2's matching system as flawed. Wildly different profiles were matched to exactly the same potential partners in a test performed for consumer rights programme Kontant. Also, membership is extended without consent which is illegal according to The Danish Consumer Council. This is also illegal in Sweden according to The Swedish Consumer Council. All the questions raised by the Danish journalist in the programme have since been addressed by the company. be2 made several changes to its service in Denmark in response to the programme.

International

Internationally, be2 is active in 37 countries on all continents; it is in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, France, Finland, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Canada, Croatia, Colombia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Venezuela, and the United States.