The Executive Club of St James's

THE BEST PROFESSIONAL INTRODUCTION AGENCY IN THE U.K. OR YOUR MONEY BACK!

WELCOME

 

Designed for younger professionals. -  ladies aged 24 to 43 **,   men to age 59

** (for ladies aged 40 to 58 and men to 59 may we recommend a less expensive service, see:   www.executiveparties.co.uk

1. THESE FEATURES MAKE The Executive Club of St. James's  truly  UNIQUE to ANY other U.K. Introduction agencies

Many things, firstly it is the quality and age group of our members (ladies ages 24 to 43 not over size 12 and gentlemen 26 to 59 over 5ft 6ins.)  Most dating agencies survive on the large fees  ladies in their late 40's, 50's and 60's will pay to join.  There is only ONE reason we decline taking fees from this age group  as we could easily provide dates, but with 24 years experience we know that the chances of a "paired relationship" is very slim, (we promise we have tried.)  as gentlemen of the quality they require to meet, can and do, pair up with younger ladies, because they can.

We offer several money back guarantees that even after 24 years no other introduction agency has been able to match even one.  They are, a 3 day change your mind cooling off period, a 4 weeks  try the service with the right to have all your  fee returned towards any another personal introduction agency in the World, a guaranteed minimum number of introductions in 12 months with the right for your money to be refunded.

We have a selective membership policy  and only accept clients whom our members would be proud to meet and who we feel it will be successful for.  All members must be well mannered, articulate, intelligent, successful and seeking to settle down with someone very special. We are sure we have the highest quality membership of any UK agency hence how we are able to offer our guarantees. 

We have been about for 24 years and around 50% of our members come from personal recommendation - this attracts exceptionally high quality people and keeps our membership costs lower.  Without this level of recommendation we, like all the newer introduction agencies that emulate us,  would also have to charge fees of  many thousands of pounds. We give you a money back guarantee that you can't join a better introduction agency in the UK regardless of whatever they may charge.  A 50% REFUND FOR ANY REASON, within your first two months with us you may cancel your membership and have a refund of 50% of your total joining fee ( less any free service period).  If you become unemployed we extent this guarantee to THREE MONTHS.  Of the 20 features listed above it would take an exceptional agency to provide any 6 of them and  most agencies would struggle to meet just a few of them -  ask them!

2. HOW DOES YOUR SERVICE WORK?
Most unattached professionals have the same problem, where can you go to meet other unattached professionals of the quality you would want to spend your life with? Most of your time is spent searching, not dating. We can change that situation by introducing you to the best selection of unattached professionals in the U.K. You may also attend social events organised by our sister organisation ‘Panache’.

Social events are a good evening out on your own and you will make good friends, male and female, however the calibre of people attending social events are not to the same standard as those you meet through the introduction service, as many social members for a variety of reasons are not yet ready for a committed relationship. The introduction process is:  We compile a description about each member at their interview. Members are allocated a personal advisor ( most other agencies only provide this facility to higher levels of membership, usually just passing over written profiles by post,  hoping the other party will respond.  

All our  introductions are set up by the advisors acting as an intermediate and is carried out by telephone as it is quicker, more personal and more successful). The personal advisor  selects members they feel would be interesting for you to  meet. We tell you about them (see para 15, for a typical description) you may accept or reject the suggestion. 

Many agencies select the introduction for you and that is your introduction whether you meet or not.  If you say yes to the person we recommend to you, we contact the member by telephone ** and tell them about you.  If they decline, neither of you, even knows each others first name.  If the member accepts we pass over a first name to each client and a contact telephone number. Providing our client is contactable, we can get back to you within the hour - your date is on. Whoever initiated the date, calls the other party.  Spend about 10 mins chatting on the phone and arrange to meet at a mutually convenient time and place for coffee.  When a person agrees to accept a date from us they have committed to meet the other party, face to face, for at least 15mins over a coffee.  We get feed back from both parties on the dates, helping  us monitor members behaviour and preferences.

** High level clients  Executive, VIP & Presidential members may then view a photograph that clients have given us permission to show, before finally accepting the introduction. (They have a very strict confidentiality contract they have to sign).

3. WHERE DO YOUR MEMBERS COME FROM?
In addition to our excellent positioning on the major internet search engines our marketing sources have included The Saturday Times, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard, the top financial publications, most quality women’s magazines, commercial radio, specialist magazines such as GQ, Time Out and Tatler, The London Underground, poster sites such as at Clapham Junction, as well as direct mail. Our most successful lead source however, both in quantity and quality (around 50%) is from the recommendation of our previous and existing  member. We also have a steady supply of new members being recommended by other agencies  who are honest enough to advise their clients they would be better served by  approaching  us,  as we are more likely to be successful for them, as we will have the type of clients they wish to meet.  We have also  been selected by a major Gym group as the only introduction service to be given access to their Gym TV screens in their key London gyms.

4. HOW DO I JOIN?
You will need to telephone 0207 930 5555, 8am to 10pm so we may check basic details about you. We can then tell you honestly whether our service is likely to work for you or recommend a more appropriate agency to you. If we feel comfortable with each other, we will invite you to attend an interview in London or at your home. Our office hours for new member enquiries are Monday - Fridays 8 am to 10 pm. (you  are welcome to try at weekends we normally take calls- but no promises!). For members our dedicated dating  line is 01323 490666, 7pm to 9pm Mondays to Thursday. Please read para 49 below before contacting us.

5. WHO DO YOU NOT INVITE TO SEE YOU?
We must feel proud of you and know that our members would also be proud to meet you. We must believe that you will benefit from our service and you will be comfortable dating our members. We have found from  experience that our service does not work for everybody, and we will be honest enough from the outset to tell you and advise you of other agencies more suitable for your needs. Our introduction service does not work for men under 26 years of age or less than 5’6” in height. From past experience we have found the service does not work for ladies over 44 years of age or over dress size 12. We expect all members to be intelligent, articulate, socially skilled and well mannered. If a client’s longest relationship was less than 6 months or they had just come out of a long-term relationship it is unlikely they would be invited for an interview. You are welcome to call and talk to us and we will be able to discuss alternatives for your specific situation.

6. WHERE DO YOU INTERVIEW?
Clients are interviewed in London, Brighton or at your home. We spend around 4/5 hours together in a 'one to one' interview, where we endeavour to find out  a lot more about you and what you require from a relationship. This is made up of many factors including your previous relationships in addition to what you need from the future. We pride ourselves in providing the facility that enables you to find someone very special with whom to spend your life. Interviews started during our normal hours at 11.15am are free of charge. You may also choose to  start an interview  at 5pm at a cost of £10, or 5.30pm at £15, or at 6pm at £25. Interviews can be arranged  by special request outside of these hours incur a charge,   Saturdays £65, Sundays and Bank holidays £80.

Interviews held at your in Central London home and a small travel allowance is charged for further distances. In all circumstances we take a deposit by debit/credit card when we book an interview, provided you keep the appointment this payment is not processed. If you fail to make the appointment for whatever reason including resetting the appointment to another time or day you will then be charged a £30 non attendance fee, or if you give us less than 3 hours notice the fee is £60 as we will incur costs. This deposit is 'truly magic' it improves your health,  without it 1 in 10 clients have an 'emergency' or illness that prevents them attending the interview yet with the deposit system only 1 in 35 clients experience  emergencies or  fall ill. If you think a 4 or 5 hour interview is a long time to spend, even to find a lifetime partner, talk to  Paul Mc Cartney I think he may disagree! If we didn't think it was  a very important part of the journey to finding your lifetime partner we wouldn't spend five hours of our time at no charge would we?

7. HOW MANY MEMBERS DO YOU HAVE?
We have over 3,000 members in total. However total membership figures are very misleading in fact dishonest. We believe many many agencies lie about their figures one claiming to have 3,000 members we believe have far less than 200! and if 70% of the members were all ladies aged over 50 or gentlemen under 25 this may not be of any use to you at all.. Some agencies claim membership figures of the total numbers ever to join e.g. 10,000 in our case.  Active members available for dating, are the only members of use to you. When you attend the interview we will tell you how many introductions we can guarantee you and how successful the service is likely to be for you IN WRITING.

Active membership figures vary throughout the year but are usually around 200/300 If we take on 30 new members and 28 of our current members pair up with them and leave, we then have 28 members less than we started with. Large memberships  can only be accrued over many years from people the service has not worked for or of course, they never were not looking for a committed relationship in the first place. If we were less successful our membership figures would swell with members either because our service was poor or the members were 'unsaleable'.  

Beware of agencies that make all sorts of verbal promises, only to find when you've joined   the small print on the contract doesn't even guarantee 2 dates in a year or indeed during your whole membership period. Ask them to write down the promises they make on the contract.  One agency guarantees just one introduction  within six months for your £12K fee! another promised just two.  Always read the contract thoroughly  before joining,  preferably before attending the interview  or take it home overnight to read carefully BEFORE SIGNING( see  a copy of our contracts now on www.execclub2.co.uk)

8. CAN I SEE PHOTOGRAPHS?  Usually No. We attract the quality of people we do because of our absolute confidentiality, indeed we have had the privilage of having one othe most famous people in the world as a member. Do you think top people would join if we showed their photograph to people walking into our office? There are agencies that will show photographs of their members before you join, we will not. For our Executive and VIP clients however, we hand select members and if appropriate show photographs to them as they are under strict contractual obligations to maintain absolute confidentiality. Of course if you were not sutably impressed with the members you met with us you have can leave under our unique money back guarantee.

9. WHAT MEMBERSHIP LEVEL WILL I NEED?
The interview is completely without charge and without pressure to join. If we offer membership, we are able to select from a choice of 10 membership options. We have low cost memberships suitable for members requiring only a basic level of service to memberships of £3375 or more for people who require the best service money can buy. The interview is partly to assess which level of membership you would require. Joining fees are spent on marketing, to maintain the quality of the members available to you. With all memberships, a monthly service fee extends the membership period indefinitely and covers the administration costs (wages rents etc. - oh! and my profit thank you!). We will not recommend an inexpensive membership if we do not think it will work for you. We are more likely to suggest another agency. A guide to which membership level you will require is given in the membership level details see paragraph 10. Our consultant will recommend the membership level.

10. WHAT ARE THE LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP?

(for copies of our contracts and refund guarantees see www.execclub2.co.uk)

Executive Club Joining Fees
All listed memberships are lifetime memberships or as stated below. All prices include VAT.  We accept Visa, Access & Maestro debit and credit cards   ( Amex at +3% fee)  Membership fees, where necessary can be spread over a period of time see para 10K)

SOCIAL ONLY MEMBERSHIP   This membership allows you to attend all the social events. You are also normally allowed to bring guests with you if you wish. Cost £125 for a two year membership or £150 for lifetime membership, suitable for people aged 38 upwards. This membership is open to wider range of people and does not  require an interview.

*PASSIVE MEMBERSHIP  This membership allows your details to be held by us , you cannot activate dates, but your details will be available to our dating clients who may ask to meet you. You may also attend social events. Cost £365 ** including a three hour free  interview.

** This membership is only suitable for, and restricted by us, to certain groups of people, usually ladies aged under 30 who are slim, attractive, non smoking, single, without children, 5.4"to 5.8" tall, and requires only a three hour interview. As this membership is subsidised, you will be required to make your decision whether or not to join at the interview, as it is not financially viable to interview clients twice. NOTE: if you are considering this membership you must discuss it with us  before attending an interview as it only requires a three hour interview. If you have a full 4/5 hour interview an extra charge of £30 will be added to this already heavily subsidised membership fee.

ACTIVE DATING MEMBERSHIPS
(memberships  above £750 are extended for  life by payment of a monthly service fee see paragraph 37 for full details. All costs are inclusive of the current VAT rate.

A. BASIC MEMBERSHIP  This membership is similar or superior  to ALL other U.K. professional introduction agencies who  charge usually around   £1600+   ( and some many thousands) for same or lesser  level of service.  It is a guaranteed 15 date programme, 15 month membership at one date per month.  For us, this is a very basic level of service indeed,  cost: £650  plus £12.50 per month. We NEVER recommend this level of service unless someone is extremely short of money.  Even at this level of service, in addition to other agencies we include a free 4 or 5 hour interview,  a personal advisor to help you select your introductions and a free one hour consultation with an independent lifestyle/image consultant. This membership  at its worst, is at least equal to, or better than, other  professional introduction agencies charging over  £1700 for exactly  this level of service (without the benefit of accessing the quality of  Executive Club members).

This membership is not a lifetime membership and non of the money back guarantees unique to The Executive Club applies to this level of membership.  We as  other agencies, guarantee  to supply you with 15  introductions. We would normally recommend “Standard or Gold Membership” as they are  a far superior lifetime memberships giving a superior quality of service, value for money, and  success rates).  Basic membership is available to all members. As this is a low cost membership the price quoted is for joining at your first free  interview, if you wish to think it over for day or so, that's fine by us but it will involve a second meeting to complete  photographs and administration for which we will charge £30. We think this is a "rubbish" level of membership amd is included so you can make a direct comparison with other agencies offering this service for around £1500

  Cost £650

FULL DATING MEMBERSHIP  A lifetime membership. A personal advisor will help you to select and arrange your introductions. Your active membership lasts for 12 months from your date of joining or the activation of 10 introductions of your choice. Your membership is then continued for your lifetime where will  at your  request arrange one  active introduction every 9 weeks, plus of course our members may ask to meet you.  Our exclusive guarantees DO apply to this membership and all  memberships above this level. We pay for a one hour telephone consultation with an independent image / lifestyle consultant. This is a membership specifically designed for someone on a  tight budget where the joining and service fees are of prime importance. (We would normally recommend “Standard or Gold Membership” as they are  superior in the quality of service, value for money and success rates). Cost £1175

B. STANDARD MEMBERSHIP   We do not limit the total introductions you can make and we will arrange up to two a month, plus any members asking to meet you.  This is a good level of lifetime membership. We pay for a one hour telephone consultation with an independent image/lifestyle consultant.  It is excellent value for money and will provide a good service for ladies aged 26 to 34ish and men aged 26 to 58 however, if you are in the financial position to afford it, we would usually recommend the Gold service as it gives several additional benefits at a small increase in cost. Cost £1375

C. GOLD MEMBERSHIP   In addition to the benefits of Standard Membership. You will receive a pro-active service whereby your dedicated personal advisor will call you to tell you about new members suitable for you as soon as they become available, we will also arrange up to three introductions a month for you.  In addition your advisor is allowed to access a special data base of non members who have responded to specific advertisements placed for our VIP clients. You also have free access to meet with the owner who can give advice on getting the very best from the service and general advice on dating, gleaned from over 24 years in the business.

 We pay for a one hour face to face consultation with an independent image/lifestyle consultant.  This is a superior membership for clients requiring a higher level of service and  is recommended for higher earning ladies (less men can match your lifestyle), ladies aged over 35, ladies under 5ft 3ins or over 5ft 9ins, or any ladies on a shorter time frame for finding a committed relationship. It is also recommended to Gentleman under 5ft 9 ins or wanting to meet with younger ladies. This is the membership we would usually recommend to 80% of members we interview. VIP membership should also be considered if you are in a position to afford it. Cost £1575

E  EXECUTIVE MEMBERSHIP  This membership is as the "Gold" with the added benefit that  subject to extreme confidentiality conditions we will allow you sight of photographs of members who have given us such permission and you have  expressed an interest in meeting, subject to sight of their photograph.  In addition you have a priority in accessing new members after VIP members.

Cost £1995

F. V.I.P MEMBERSHIP   Your VIP advisor will visit you and spend half a day with you at your home, understanding you and your lifestyle. At your request she will visit you at your home or office bringing hand selected profiles and photographs to you from which to choose your dates. In addition your VIP advisor will monitor all new members joining and telephone you with details of those who meet your requirements. This means you jump the queue and could be meeting new members within days of them joining. Your VIP advisor also has access to the best of several other affiliated dating organisations to choose your introductions from.

We pay for  a one hour face to face consultation with an independent image / lifestyle consultant This service is recommended for people wanting a high level of personal service. We do not know of any agency that can match this level of service regardless of what they may charge, whether they charge £8K, £10K 20K or more. Who is it for? Generally anyone requiring a superior service such as very successful ladies aged from 33, and most ladies aged 39 or above, would require this service level (less men available who can match your lifestyle and you are competing with 32 year olds for the same men, so you need to jump to the front of the queue). Suitable for gentleman of any age who want the best service, especially so, if you want to meet ladies a lot younger than yourself. If you can afford it, this is a superb level of membership and highly recommended. Cost £3375.00

G. PRESIDENTIAL MEMBERSHIP  This membership is a very high level service and It is a service second to no other in the U.K. regardless of cost. It is similar to VIP but with many added benefits including Alun Jenkins (the owner) arranging your introductions. We will carry out personal headhunting for you at no extra costs This membership is only of  benefit to a few people as the VIP service is more than adequate to get the best service you could possible need,  for the vast majority of people. Cost £7500.

H. PRESIDENTIAL PLUS- GUARANTEED MEMBERSHIP  This is a guaranteed success service OR YOUR MEMBERSHIP FEE REFUNDED. It is a service second to no other in the U.K. regardless of cost. It the same service as Presidential with an absolute success guarantee, that should you fail to find a partner ( to marry or live with) within 2 years of active membership we will at your request refund your fee as follows - If you have had a relationship lasting 4 months or more with a member we will refund 50% of your membership fee, if not, we will REFUND ALL YOUR FEE. Cost £9500

I. REDUCTIONS   (We have  skin colour & age discounts for members aged under 30 and a positive discrimination policy for different skin colours to offset any fall off in the service.

AGE DISCOUNTS  For non smoking, single never married people, aged under 30, without children and without any other complications,  the following reductions apply on  Basic Plus, Standard,  Gold  and Executive memberships.  Age  under 25 - 40%, age 25 - 35%, age 26 - 30%, age 27 - 25% age 28 - 20%., age 29  10%  age 30+ nil.

SKIN DISCOUNTS
In addition to age discounts we operate a positive discrimination policy on skin colour to offset any fall off in service. Black less 30% , Brown 20% , Asian/Oriental 10% .

For Social & Passive membership and Basic membership (as they are already heavily discounted)  and VIP memberships and above, we offer 50% of the above skin and age discounts.

J. SERVICE FEES  Lifetime memberships are kept active by payment of a monthly service fee,  £12.50, £15,  £25, £30, £70 and £135, you may drop in and out of active membership. see paragraph 37 for details.

K. PHASED PAYMENTS pay just 50% now.  If you join any membership costing over £700 on the day of your first interview (it then saves us a second meeting), we will  include these additional benefits:

 i.  An option to pay your membership fee in three parts. On joining 50% of the fee is payable with 25% being paid 1 month later and the remaining 25% a month after that. 

ii.  We will  waive your monthly service fees for two months  (or for one month for Executive, VIP and Presidential members)  

We may at our discretion allow single parents or low earners to spread their payments over longer periods of up to six months

 iii. You have a three day cooling off period to change your mind and cancel at no cost

iv.  Should you wish to drop out of membership  during  your first two months with us, FOR ANY REASON eg. you have paired up with  someone (even through us), or you are moving out of the area  etc,. providing no fees are overdue we allow you to drop out without having to pay any further instalments when they fall due (or refund 50% if you paid in full) , however this will also cancel your  lifetime membership. To rejoin at a later date would involve the normal selection process at the appropriate membership fees prevailing at the time. If however you become unemployed, we extend the guarantee to THREE MONTHS, AND allow you to rejoin within 12 months by topping up the full fee again.

v. If you pay 100% your membership fee at your interview, we will extend the 2 months free service fee, to 3 months free.

We accept payment by cheque or credit/debit cards (Amex +3%)

11. HOW DO I CHOOSE MY DATES?
Your personal advisor will recommend members to you. Your advisor will tell you more about the members including their appearance from their photographs, see para 10 for a typical description.. You make the final decision whether you would like to meet them, if so we contact them to tell them of you. ( some agencies choose your introductions regardless of what you may ask for and others may allow you to decline a certain amount after which anyone they offer you is counted as an introduction whether you meet or not).  If the member agrees we’ll call you back with any positive results. When we pass over a members’ telephone number, your ‘date is on’, and you can only talk yourself out of that date. The member has agreed that, on the information they were given, you are the sort of person they would like to meet over a coffee, to see if it could develop further. Remember, if we contact you with a member’s details you are under no pressure to say ‘yes’, but if you do, we expect you to meet, albeit for a 15-minute coffee. We discourage our members requesting people who provisionally accept dates and then decline to meet for a coffee without a very good reason.

12. HOW DO I MAKE THE ACTUAL DATE?
Telephone your date at a time you think is reasonable for them. We would consider it unreasonable to call before 8 am on weekdays or 9.30 am on weekends or after 10. pm. Ask for your contact, remembering that the person may be our member’s daughter with the same name or the baby-sitter, so always be as discreet as we are and never mention The Executive Club. Use ‘a friend of ‘members only codeword’ or ‘from The Club’, if you have to. They, of course, are expecting a call from you and already know your first name. Your date however may be in the middle of a children’s party or with a nosy neighbour, so always ask if it is convenient to talk, if not arrange a more convenient time. In case of difficulty in making contact, call your advisor for help.

13. HOW DO I ACT ON MY DATE?
Your first and second date with members is a ‘club date’, this means that you are our representative and we demand that you act in such a manner that we can be proud of you. Try to relax and don’t talk about your ‘ex’! If any member makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, telephone your advisor, so we can monitor the situation. Keep the conservation positive don't offload your world problems on your date. They are looking for someone to lift them not to  take on your problems. A person the moans and whinges all night then calls us  to say there was no "sparkle" in their date? If a member starts talking about his/her obsession for orange suspenders on a first or second date we would check their previous dates for any problems and we may decline to date that member. We investigate all complaints of poor manners.

14. HOW ARE THE MATCHES PRODUCED?
You are allocated a personal advisor who searches for and recommends members to you. Who you choose to date is always your choice. You are at liberty to decline any person for any reason, although we ask that you tell us why honestly, as it helps member to adapt to get the best from our service.

15. WHAT DETAILS DO YOU GIVE OUT TO MEMBERS?
Here is typical description we would give to you.

She lives in the North West area of London she says she’s a simple solicitor in a top international law firm, specialising in commercial law, aged early 30’s, 5ft 5ins tall weighs 8stone 9 pounds dress size 10 with an excellent figure. We would rate her as very attractive with short brown hair very trendy, with very good skin, slim build shapely. She’s well spoken classy and always bubbly to talk to, single never married without children and is a non smoker. If you’re into star signs she’s an Aries. She has British and USA. nationality lived in the USA until 1990 but loves the UK and wants to live here for ever she says . Her personality is kind caring hardworking maybe too hardworking, confident bubbly and fun to be with. She drinks occasionally and is educated to degree level and has a MBA. She enjoys her work and is reasonably well paid but spends it all on clothes and holidays she says. She enjoys trips to the cinema and theatre, occasional concerts from pop to classical loves the proms. Great days out Ascot, Henley or visiting stately homes around the UK. Enjoys the countryside, walks in the country or renting a cottage in the Cotswold's at Christmas. Loves log fires and snow. Moderate skier poor golfer but good at tennis. Enjoys travel been all over South America, Canada and the USA would like to explore Europe and Africa. She’s renown for giving dinner parties or just having friends round for good conversation (not about work!) and sharing a good bottle of wine. She would like to meet someone aged 33 to 46ish kind intelligent able to tame me as I know I am a little too independent for my own good so willing to learn.

16. DO I ONLY MEET MEMBERS OF THE SAME MEMBERSHIP LEVEL AS MYSELF?
No. You may meet members at all membership levels. The fee you pay is for the level of personal service you receive from us and the ability to access the new members more quickly and in no way affects who you can meet

17. WILL PEOPLE ASK TO DATE ME?
Perhaps, tall, interesting gentlemen over 34 years of age often get dated by ladies. Attractive girls under 33 are often requested by gentlemen. Shorter gentlemen and ladies over 37ish will need to request their own dates to get the best from the service and should consider higher membership levels.

18  CAN I HAVE FREE ADVICE ON MAKEUP AND DRESS STYLE..  We have found this to be helpful to  our members so we contribute towards  a consultation  with two independent consultants. All full dating members are given (at our expense) a 1 hour Free consultation with a image  / lifestyle coach, and ladies are given a voucher ranging from £10 to £40 towards a two hour training session with a top make up consultant who will teach you how to make up to make the best of your features.  You may contact them direct if you wish ,the make up consultant is Lena Beuafort on 07940402746 (best 7pm to 10pm) and the  image /lifestyle consultant is   Lisa on 077230 33413

19. WHAT IF I AM SHORT OR OVER WEIGHT?
From previous experience we have found the service works less well, especially so for shorter gentlemen who should normally be at least 5ft 6ins  tall (Tom Cruise you can call us though if you wish). You will be given an indication of any problems associated with height at your interview. Being overweight will reduce how well the service will work, especially  so for ladies. Members outside of the normal range (e.g. lady 5ft 11 tall etc., ) would usually require a higher level of membership

20. DOES IT MATTER WHERE I LIVE?
Maybe.  The service works best for people living or working within 20 miles of the M25. However people of a certain calibre living outside of London  ( our members have ranged from Edinburgh, IoM, to The Bahamas) have little option but to travel to London to meet people of the quality they require. It is a condition of membership that all clients will meet initially in central London even if they live abroad. 80% of our clients live within 25 miles of central London

21. HOW FAR SHOULD I TRAVEL FOR MY DATES?
Generally, the higher the quality of the people you require to meet, the further you should be prepared to travel to meet them. After the first two dates members will often meet you halfway and after all, for that special person to spend the rest of your life with, how can anywhere within reason be too far? We have members who fly from Europe for their dates!  ( to comply with the trades descriptions act -  they do use aeroplanes ) Your first two meetings however should be in central London unless you both agree otherwise. Gentlemen we find it rather bad form to ask that a women travels to meet you locally for your first date, so please do not ask.

22. HOW MANY INTRODUCTIONS WILL YOU OFFER ME?
That depends to a large extent on who you are and how old you are. After assessing you at the interview we will give you a minimum guarantee in writing.   We are the only dating service in the UK we know of that guarantees you a minimum number of introductions in a specified time period and gives you right to a proportionate refund of your joining fee. See www.execclub2.co.uk for details.

We will arrange up to two dates a t a time for you providing you have no outstanding dates. At your interview we will also give you a prediction in writing of how long it will take to get:  5 dates,

Plus how many dates and in what time period it will take to find someone:

 a  good enough to go on holiday with and/or have a sexual relationship with ,

b.  special enough to settle down with.

23. WHAT IF I SMOKE?
Over 90% of our members will not date a smoker, so being a smoker will seriously reduce your choice of dates. Do not be tempted to lie about your smoking. Remember, many members have joined us specifically requesting a non-smoker. If you have deceived our members or us, we may ask you to compensate the member for a wasted evening and we will consider removing your membership for being dishonest ( we can't trust you). We insist that you tell us the truth. IF YOU START, OR INCREASE YOUR SMOKING YOU MUST TELL US. If you stop or reduce your smoking, tell us, as it will improve your choice of contacts. (We keep  leaflets at our interview office  for an organisation that guarantees to make you quit smoking or refund your fees).

24. DO YOU INTERVIEW ALL MEMBERS?
Yes. We interview all new members prior to them being offered membership of The Executive Club. We have also taken over other introduction agencies (Together Introductions, RSVP, Personal Touch etc). Their members were also interviewed by their respective agencies prior to being offered membership. We also have access to a database of non members who responded to specific advertisements we have placed for individual VIP members. If we allow you access to this database they are not members and have not been screened in the same way as members, however you would always be informed of this situation.

25. DO YOU CHECK ON PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOUR?
Indeed we do. It is a contractual condition upon you that we expect every member to act in a manner that does not bring discredit to themselves, a fellow member or our organisation. We investigate every complaint. On your first two meetings with a person you are regarded as ‘our representative’ and we expect you to be courteous and well mannered. To stand up a member without good cause will usually result in us terminating your membership without refund. We ask for feedback from both parties after dating ( we log this information on both members file to provide a better service and identify any developing problems - take a bath!) and encourage members to phone and talk to us if they experience anything other than a pleasant time.

26. DOES AGE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
It certainly does! There are TWO unattached professional females aged 35 to 50 for every ONE unattached professional male in the UK ( source government census). All professional agencies have this problem but seem reluctant to tell you (unless you are a man of course).

MALES

Under 25 We do not accept you, as we cannot attract enough girls under 25 to give you a service we would be proud of.

26 to 32 You will need to do most of, if not all of the dating, as attractive single girls under 30 are usually dated frequently, but we have a good choice for you.

33 to 38 Ladies may date you as well, especially if you are interesting and tall. Generally, in this age group, the service works very well indeed as in line with the national demographics we have more ladies than gentlemen.

38 to 58 The older you get, the more in demand you become, tall, interesting guys over 42 are usually spoilt. Quality gentlemen in this age group nearly always get snapped up very quickly - lucky you!

Over 60 We suggest you call us, as we discourage ladies over early 40's joining

NOTE as unlike other personal  introduction agencies we do not take ladies over early 40’s or over size 12 so we have no pressure to push unsuitable dates on gentlemen just to make up their number of dates to avoid having to refund their considerable fees.

FEMALES

Under 24 We do not usually accept ladies under 24.

24 to 29 Attractive single ladies in this age group are in demand, hence we discount your joining fees. See para 10i

30 to 34 The service usually works very well indeed.

34 to 38  A good choice of dates you should initiate dates as well don't just wait for guys to date you.

38 to 41 To get the best from the service you will need to request dates for yourself, but you should still have a wide choice of people. Also consider a higher level of membership, Gold or VIP , as the success rate is very age dependant.

41 to 44 As very successful gentlemen given the choice, tend to date younger ladies. The service starts to slow down and you are likely to have to initiate most of the dates to get the best from the service. You are likely to need at least our Gold  but preferably our VIP level of membership

Over 44 We have found from experience that our gentleman are very reluctant to accept dates from ladies in their late 40’s. Even if you were our close friend, and we would of course love your money! but we feel it would be a waste of your money joining, regardless of  how young you may look. Feel free to call us and we will give you advise on better ways of meeting people than joining us and we can tell you of many other agencies that cater for ladies up to their 70's We would recommend another agency for ladies over 40/44 see www.executiveparties.co.uk

NOTE.    We like ALL other professional agencies in the UK have around two women for each man,  the same ratio as the nation demographics for the U.K. All professional agencies have this problem but seem reluctant to tell you (unless you are a man of course).

27. HOW SUCCESSFUL IS THE SERVICE?
This obviously depends on many factors, but be guided by our ‘10’ rule. For every 10 people you choose to meet through our service, experience tells us 2 will be a complete waste of time, 6 out of 10, will be very interesting but without enough in common to take it further. Two out of the ten, you will date several times and they will become friends. When you have 4 good friends one is likely to become so special that you leave us. NEVER JUDGE US BY MEETING ONLY TWO OR THREE PEOPLE. Providing you meet members twice, the ‘10’ rule ALWAYS works.

In the 24 years we have been in business we genuinely do not know of any other agency that can  match our success rate, hence why we are unique in the industry by offering money back guarantees and have done so since 1985 (try asking other introduction agencies to match our guarantees or for that matter just match one!).  We were however perplexed how other agencies were claiming 80% and 90%  success rates, when we've  never achieved that. Then "EUREKA", what they  are  claiming  is that they "successfully match over 90% of their members".  Sounds impressive hey! what that actually means is that within your 1 year membership period at least 90% of their members get at least ONE introduction. On that basis we have a 100% success rate and always within 4 weeks of joining.  We find that "success" statement very dishonest. One of "our paid spies" when visiting an expensive agency for her interview pressed them a little harder on their impressive  "80% success rate" by asking how they defined success? - answer "a three week relationship!"  - not bad hey for £6K. We define success as nothing less than at least living with your long term partner and hopefully an awful lot more and probably with children ** ( that takes more than 3 weeks!) . If just one of our clients had to wait  even six weeks for their first introduction we would die of shame. Even in our worst case scenario of,  a 6ft tall lady, with a two month old baby and smokes 2 cigarettes a day (can't get any worse  - as we would tell her  at her interview - no chance),  even she is GUARANTEED at least 10 quality introductions in 12 months otherwise we would apologise profusely, eat worms, and make a refund.

**Hey guys a note:  If you form a relationship with most of our women without children aged under 38, then you can take it as 95% sure they will want a child in the near future. If you are not into the children scene, either date ladies already with children, or ladies over 40 or join another agency, not ours. 

28. WILL THE SERVICE DEFINITELY WORK FOR ME?
No. We cannot make people like you. We can only introduce you to a much wider selection of people than you are ever likely to meet without us. We would not however, offer you membership if we did not believe that our service was the best option for you. If you are in doubt, call and talk to us. If you have a nice personality and are presentable then generally the service works very well indeed. It will not work for people who are mean, unfriendly, cold or closed etc. At your interview we will give you an estimate IN WRITING of the probability of success given your circumstances along with an estimate of how many dates and in what time period you are likely to require to find a partner. If we do not honestly believe we are the best service for you, we will, given your circumstances recommend better agencies for you. Why would we do this? – simple if you have a poor experience with us or any another agency, it tarnishes the whole reputation of our industry (as happened to time share). However if an agency is successful for you, then you become our life long ambassadors, recommending our services to your friends. As 50% of our new members come through personal recommendation you can see how important it is, we must avoid failure.

29. WHAT HAPPENS IF I TELL A LIE?
We expect every member to be honest with us. If you lie about your age, height, smoking, etc. we will remove your membership without refund as we cannot  trust you, and our members deserve better than that. If, for example, you were married and still living with your wife, we would remove your membership AND press for criminal charges to drag you to court for obtaining our services through deception. All members have to sign a legal declaration that everything they have told us is the truth and they have not withheld any relevant  information (from nervous breakdowns to sexually transmitted diseases etc.) that may have prejudiced our decision to accept them as members or impose specific conditions to their contracts to disclose certain information to members after meeting them for number of times. E.g. If a gentleman age 39 knows there is a high probability he cannot father children, then on a fourth date with a lady aged under 36  he will have to tell  her, and is required tell any member regardless of her age after six dates. - or lose his membership - try asking that one at the bar before dating someone!

30. WHAT DO WE EXPECT OF YOU?
We expect you to be courteous, well mannered, reliable, respect fellow members and to have integrity. If a cheque is dishonoured when presented to your bank, all our refund guarantees becomes void under these circumstances. We shall insist on the payment being made good. If you join at your interview you have a three day cooling off period to cancel your membership at no cost whatsoever providing your payment clears.

31.& 32 CAN I SUSPEND MY MEMBERSHIP?
Yes. On all lifetime memberships you may suspend your active membership as often and for as long a you wish. You may reactivate your membership at anytime by paying the appropriate service fee. On a fixed term membership it will expire at the end of the fixed period.

33. HOW SAFE IS YOUR SERVICE?
We interview every new dating member in depth, we insist on home addresses and home telephone numbers, we have photographs of every member, and all members are required to sign a legally enforceable statement about themselves.  We log and keep details of all dates for at least three years. We look into any complaints so we can build up ‘intelligence’ on members who could be a problem. We remove membership from people we are not happy with. Remember the ‘floating’ single may be someone we have already declined to accept or removed from membership. To stay a member with us, we have to be proud of you. In twenty four years we have not had one serious problems with any member.

34. HOW CONFIDENTIAL IS YOUR SERVICE?
Very. We have top business people and world famous names, so your confidentiality is essential to us. We never use our trade name on outgoing calls; messages on answer phones are left in such a way that they may be replayed in company and your guests wouldn’t have any idea what it was about. Nosy secretaries? No problem, we won’t even leave our telephone number (B.T. call return service won’t get it either). Some agencies will show your photographs to anyone who comes to their offices, we never do. We consider that to be a serious breach of confidentiality. Even in the event that we were burgled, we do not keep records of your name, address, telephone number or photograph at our London offices. Our London office has 8inch thick soundproofed walls and ceilings so your conversations cannot be overheard  by other people.  All waste paper at our service centre is incinerated on our premises and London’s waste paper is shredded. All members are required to sign a legally binding confidentiality agreement (See a copy on www.execclub2.co.uk)

35. IF I WAIT, DOES IT GET CHEAPER?
Never. Special offers! We know of agencies that charge £800.00 to join and then charge people who wouldn’t join straight away the same service for £99 or less! (they’ve gone bust again). Some agencies supposedly drop the price as a pressure to join on the day.  If you are thinking of joining other agencies wait a while after your interview before joining and you may be surprised at the "special discounts" that are offered to you, to join. We never discount our fees to new members other than the published special discounts for the under 30’s and skin colour  as we want the members we introduce you to, to  be decisive and have joined for the right reasons. We treat all members as friends so we give you this promise, no new members pay less than you do. Some agencies charge the women and then give male memberships away free - we will not,  if you think it is acceptable for the women to pay  so you don't have to, or don't think the quality of our women is worth  every penny of your  membership  fee, then  we ( and our women)  would rather you go to an agency that takes men on free.

36. WHAT IF I AM NOT HAPPY?
Tell us! Discuss any problems with your advisor. If you are still not happy talk to our owner Alun Jenkins. Our job is to make you happy. We care about the success of our service and always strive for excellence. To be a member of our organisation is a privilege, as it is, to be of service to you. We are “family”. As a last resort you could always make use of our famous refund guarantee, where we will pay the joining fee of any other introduction agency in the world. We do not know of any other agency in the U.K. that will match this offer.

37. WHY SERVICE FEES?
Your joining fee is spent on marketing to attract the quality of members we do. This fee is not sufficient to cover the normal staffing and office costs. Active members pay a monthly service fee which is their contribution towards the running costs of the organisation, office rents, postage, salaries, insurance, etc. ( and Alun's wages/profit -  "thank you" about £5 to £10 a month).  Another advantage to members is that it means all your introductions are with active members, not with loads of "sleepers" just resting on the database for years -  just in case?  or men that were given free memberships just to make up the dating numbers. Monthly Service fees are:  Passive and Basic - £12.50,  Full Dating Member £15, Standard £25, Gold £30, Executive £70, VIP & Presidential £135

38. DOES NATIONALITY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Yes it can. It is also dependent on your fluency with English, as can your skin colour or religion. (did you notice our discounts for different skin colours? See paragraph 10i) If you phone us we will tell you honestly what prejudices exist and how it affects the service to you. About 80% of our members are white skin English with 20% being from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

39. ARE YOU A MEMBER OF A TRADE ASSOCIATION?
Yes. For your added security we are full members of the Association of British Introduction Agencies (ABIA). We  meet all the standards set by the industries Code of Practice,  a copy of which is given to all members along with this information, although of course we operate to standards far in excess of these minimum standards. Many agencies cannot even meet the minimum standards  set by the ABIA so they are refused membership.

40. WHAT DEFINES AN INTRODUCTION?
We define an “introduction” as when we have obtained the permission of both members to pass over a telephone number  as they want to arrange to meet. It is a condition of membership that you should meet each other, even if it is for 15 minutes over a coffee. If for some reason you cannot contact each other, call us and we will investigate. If after talking on the telephone the member is reluctant to meet you, call and tell us. If this happens to you more than 1 in 10 occasions it’s likely you are doing something on the telephone to put them off. If this is the case, call your advisor who will assist you and if need be, arrange an appointment with one of our staff to advise you on how to improve your success rate. Remember we cannot make people like you, at the time we told you of each other, you must have both wanted to meet, otherwise we would have stopped the introduction if we felt the member was not keen to meet you. If you are not getting the best from the service call in and make an appointment to meet with Alun.

41. WHAT IS THE COMPANY STRUCTURE?
The Executive Club is the trading name of several trading organisations all family owned . Members of The Executive Club of St James’s join ‘E.C. St James’s’ and this is the name that shows on ALL credit card transactions. Payment of your service fees and the dating service is carried out by ‘E.C. Seaford Ltd’. VIP members are serviced by ‘VIP Services’ to whom your standing order is paid.

We have three offices,  a small office in London used only for interviews, a large dating centre in Seaford East Sussex where the dating staff work and an office abroad carrying out IT work.  We employ 6 part time evening dating staff, 4 full time staff and the owner Alun Jenkins.  Alun normally try's to answer all new member enquires and the members emergency hot line  from 8am to 10pm on 0207  930 5555 (the line follows him around so  expect a delay while Mr Telecom locates him and occasionally expect a poor signal as the train dives into a tunnel). Alun  interviews most clients personally -  as he only moans that the quality of people we would accept as members is not good enough!  All matching and administration is carried out by specialist staff  as Alun can't  even remember where he put his glasses!

42. CAN I SEE A COPY OF THE CONTRACT AND CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS I HAVE TO SIGN AND A COPY OF YOUR REFUND GUARANTEE?
Yes of course, log onto our special site www.execclub2.co.uk

WARNING many members of the public are tempted to join the agency that makes the wildest verbal promises on the phone or at the interview and then  sign a contract  with small print that allows the agency to provide only ONE or TWO introductions in a year, with the agency being able to extend your membership period indefinitely  until you receive  the minimum 5 or 8 introductions promised in the contract, albeit at one or two a year. ( one agencies small print promises a minimum of just two introductions in your entire membership and another states that one date within six  months of joining is reasonable and  that it fulfils its contractual obligations,  for £12K?? ).  If at your interview they make statements about having 3000 members, are equally balanced, or you will only meet certain types of people, or a suggestion that you will get loads of dates -  ask them to include these statements in writing on your contract before signing it.  We know of one lady in her early thirties who paid "a bespoke agency" around £10K and when complaining after 9 months she had only met one person was told to be patient.  

WARNING Ask for a copy of  a contract to read BEFORE attending an interview or take it home to read it before signing. If they have nothing to hide they will be pleased to do this. NEVER sign a contract for large sums of money without reading it in detail and preferably take it home  at least overnight to read first, otherwise you may be legally bound to pay £12K or more, even if you change your mind the next morning. If it has a strange or fuzzy clause it will be for a reason, use your head.

43. HOW DO YOUR FEES COMPARE WITH OTHER AGENCIES?
Professional introduction agencies who interview their members are expensive to operate, they have certain overhead cost that have to be met. The main cost of all quality agencies is the marketing costs to attract the right calibre of people. Other costs are office and staff wages to service their clients. The fees of other agencies operating at a "professional" level  usually charge between £1300 and £1800 for service very similar to our Basic membership at £650. For a higher level of service such  as our Gold membership at £1575 you can expect to pay from £3000 to £20,000 and  your membership may expire after a year, where ours is lifetime membership. You may  continue with your service even after several years ( we couldn't have done our job well enough). We give money back guarantees that  our service is superior to any other.  For a comparison we have taken our competitors level of service  similar to our  Basic at £650 to our Standard membership at £1375 (although they may be for a fixed period of only 12 or 15 months. Drawing Down the Moon at £1650/£3,500, Sara Eden at £1300, Berkeley International from  £8,200, Gray and Farrar at £8800, Fiona Smyth at £1500, (now ceased trading Jan 2009), County Register at £5,875,  Only Lunch £1700 (now ceased trading March 2009), Rhodes Harvey £4K to £9K, Seventy Thirty at £10K, £20K and £60K ??  For the members we choose to accept we guarantee our service is superior to any of these other agencies even at 10x our fees -  and we  back up this statement  with a money back refund guarantee. We are the only agency in the U.K. to do so, and have done so since 1985 and this may account for why we can stay so selective and obtain so many members through personal recommendation.

44. WOULD A MORE EXPENSIVE AGENCY GIVE ME A BETTER SERVICE?
We doubt it, providing you fall within our criteria for us to offer you membership, we know of no other service even at 10x the  cost that can match our service. Ask any other agency if you can try them for four weeks to check out the quality of their members and have ALL your money refunded towards any other agency in the world without  reason other than you ask for it.  We know of no other agency regardless of cost that offers  EVEN ONE of our refund guarantees let alone the four we are proud to offer our clients, in writing , and have done so for 24 years. How do we know we are better? because we employ independant mystery shoppers to attend interviews and  then supply  independent reports. We also monitor public complaints about the service they receive from various agencies.

45. THE WRITTEN GUARANTEES

a. We will refund your joining fees towards any other agency in the world should you even think someone else can provide you with a better service.

b. We give every dating member the minimum number of introductions they will receive in one year in writing or the right to a proportionate refund (others may NOT specify time periods then extend your membership until you reach the minimum number promised – that could add up to two dates a year and you could be on a zimmer frame before your number of dates are achieved.

c. Members joining at their interview may:

 i change their mind within 3 days of joining and have ALL their money refunded.

ii  You may also cancel your membership for ANY REASON within your first two months e.g., moving area , met someone (even through us) and be entitled to a 50% REFUND. 

iii   Should you become unemployed we will refund 50% of your joining fee within your first THREE MONTHS and allow you limited use of the service at our discretion.

d. For Presidential  Plus members, should we not find a partner that you decide to marry or live with within two years we will refund all your membership fee if we don't find you a partner.

All this is in addition to the four/ five hour interview we give to clients at no cost, whether you join or not.

46. HOW CAN YOU PROVIDE A TOP LEVEL OF SERVICE AT THESE MUCH LOWER FEES?
The reason we can keep our membership costs lower than others is:

a. We have been around since 1985 and have many thousands of happy ex clients recommending our service to their friends hence over 50% of our new members join through personal recommendation. Without this, we would need to treble our membership fees as we would have to spend huge sums on marketing to obtain sufficient new members of the quality we require. To achieve this level of recommendations require an agency to. have been around  long enough to accumulate  thousands of 'happy' ex clients, and to have been perceived by them as value for money thereby making it easy to recommend us to close friends.

b. We only interview clients in London, our main service centre is in Sussex where rent and rates are 75% cheaper than central London and our labour rates are 50% less than London. In addition we are able to cream off really caring employees (with the extra confidentiality advantage that they live 70 miles from London so they are unlikely to know you or your friends).

47 WANT EVEN MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DATING AND AGENCIES IN GENERAL.

See www.datingagenciesforlondon.co.uk  this site can link you to wealth of knowledge from details about dating agencies to understanding the opposite sex.  For specific tips:

for ladies to understand men see: 

www.datingagencydatingagencies.co.uk  

For information for men to understand women see : www.datingagencydatingagency.co.uk

48  FREE IMAGE/LIFESTYLE CONSULTANT

To assist you to get the best from our service, we pay an independent image / lifestyle consultant to give you a one hour consultation.

49  SPECIAL NOTE ON INTERVIEWS

 We interview in great depth, more so than any other agency in the U.K. Most clients find this most informative and sometimes even a life-changing experience. It is a one to one interview usually with the owner Alun Jenkins. We often encourage people to soften their ‘hard shell’ to find someone very special (as opposed to another 'grey'  marriage as many people settle for). We are not trained as, or attempt to be psychologists, we do however give advice on dating and relationships in general. based on our 24 years experience. Occasionally about 1 in 100 of our female clients find the interview intrusive and not pleasant, unfortunately because of their closed nature we are not able to pick this up at the time and they may get upset with what we have told them, often  a day or so after the interview (one reason we give a 3 day cooling off period), especially so if  we advised them not to join  or  recommend another agency to them instead.  

We will always give our time of 4 or 5 hours to a client in an attempt to help them, even if we know they are not suitable for our agency. We treat you as though you were our brother/sister we will not flatter you and tell that life is all magic, we tell the truth, the way it is. If you feel uncomfortable at any stage of the interview,  please discuss it with us. In the interests of our members we will not offer membership to anyone that remains closed and secretive. If you are one of the 1in 100 clients this pertains too, we apologise for not being able to sense it, and  please feel free to terminate the interview and leave at any stage. To read the comments of clients after attending the interviews read www.letsmeet.me.uk

The structure of the interview is.

1. A quick run through of what makes our service different to every other ( we do this at the start, so at the end of the interview so we can’t then ‘gloss it up’ to be just what you're looking for).

2. You tell us your life story from birth until the present. Your childhood is particularity important to us to understand why you may attract the wrong sort of attention/person. We can advise you of any changes in attitude or behaviour that will improve the situation.

3. We go on to define “love” so you don’t settle for a second best relationship as most of the population do. We explain how the opposite sex thinks and how relationships develop from sexual attraction to becoming the single most important feature of life. We will explain the statistical facts of why for certain groups of people it becomes a very competitive environment and how to 'load the odds' in your favour. We usually give you relationship and dating tips.

4. We ask you many personal questions and require you to sign a legal declaration that all is true and you have not withheld any relevant information. ( if you do not join this document is destroyed either in your presences or within 14 days if you go home to consider joining).

5. We then either recommend a more suitable agency to you, or tell you which membership level you would need to benefit from the service. (occasionally people get upset because we will not let them join at a “cheap level” as we do not believe it will work and we do not like failure, we prefer you take your money and join a cheaper agency). If you are offered membership, as we have had several world famous people you are required to sign a strict legally enforceable confidentiality contract (see a copy on www.execclub2.co.uk)

50  ADDITIONAL MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Although you are always welcome to go home after your interview and consider for a few days whether you wish to join  (the fees are the same), it then requires us to make a second appointment to complete the paperwork and take photographs

If you join at your first interview, any membership costing £600 or above, then we complete all the documentation and give you :

A THREE DAY PERIOD TO CHANGE YOUR MIND AT NO COST, so we refund all your joining fees.  In addition we also add these benefits to your membership

CONTACT INFORMATION

HEAD OFFICE & DATING CENTRE
(please send all correspondence  here)

The Club
Data House
Princess Drive
Seaford
East Sussex
BN25 2TZ
E:mail alun@execclub.net

TEL: 01323 490666
Mon. to  Thu 7pm—9pm

LONDON OFFICE
(Interviews only)

213, 2nd Floor
Portland House
Bressenden Place
London
SW1E 5RS
Tel: 0207 930 5555
New members enquires and urgent calls

Web site
www.execclub.net
&
www.execclub2.co.uk

Contracts, confidentiality agreements and guarantees
web site
www .execclub2.co.uk

Tips about dating in general and all dating agencies
www.datingagenciesforlondon.co.uk

E:mail alun@execclub.net

Owner
Richard Alun Jenkins

CODE OF PRACTICE FOR INTRODUCTION AGENCIES
A Code drawn up by the Association of British Introduction Agencies

Forward by Council of A.B.I.A.
In October 1981 the Association of British Introduction Agencies was created, at the instigation of the Office of Fair Trading, in response to genuine concern about the conduct of dating and introduction agencies. The ABIA is now recognised generally as the authoritative voice of the introduction industry with its members providing a reputable and ethical service. In the absence, so far, of any official legislation, we strive to create a greater public and media awareness of our service, to raise standards across all of the industry and enhance the image of our industry. Whilst it would be quite wrong to infer that all non-member agencies are questionable, it is a sad fact that many are – not so much through lack of integrity but through a lack of resources and commercial acumen. The industry is plagued by the growth of short-lived agencies whose founders expect rich returns from poorly researched and funded businesses, with many lasting no longer than a few short weeks. The services provided by agencies are particularly personal ones, and it is very helpful that consumers having problems with the services can have access under the code to procedures for resolving the problems, including independent arbitration if necessary. This is an area where consumers have the strongest need for adequate and clear information about the services being offered before any commitment is entered into. The code provisions addressing these are valuable. Consumers need to have confidence that a code of practice will deliver what it promises, and the independent mechanism set up to enforce this code is able to do this.

Association of British Introduction Agencies. Suite 109, 315 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4HH
Tel: 0208 742 0386 www.abia.org.uk

Aims of the Association

1. To monitor, regulate and improve the standard of service offered to members of the public.

2. To act as an intermediary between the industry and the public (including, for example, the media) in respect of agencies’ practice.

3. To represent the industry in dealings with Government.

4. To collect and evaluate information concerning United Kingdom Introduction agencies, whether members or otherwise. This Code of Practice is
designed to further these aims and will be updated as occasion demands. The Principles set out here are not intended to interpret, qualify or supplant
the law of the land. They apply only to transactions with consumers. The Association considers that its members have a duty to accept the Code in
its entirety. If clients feel dissatisfied with their treatment by a member they have a right to take this up with the Association and, if not resolved, to
an independent scheme set up in conjunction with an independent panel of arbitrators.

Standards of Practice
(All members of the Association have accepted these Standards of Practice)

Before any fees are paid or interviews conducted, or any binding commitment entered into, a prospective client shall be given a copy of this Code of Practice, together with a clear and Introduction and Dating Agencies: These agencies must make it clear that their primary objective is simply to facilitate introductions. It must be clearly stated whether or not an interview is to be conducted with the clients and whether or not all clients are

(A) OBJECTIVE AND METHOD OF INTRODUCTION USED
a1. Marriage Bureaux: At the outset, marriage bureaux must make it clear that their primary objective is to help clients find marriage partners. It must
be clearly stated whether or not an interview is to be conducted with the client and whether or not all clients are interviewed.

a2. Introduction and Dating Agencies: These agencies must make it clear that their primary objective is simply to facilitate introductions. It must be
clearly stated whether or not an interview is to be conducted and whether or not all clients are interviewed.

a3. ‘Lists’ Method: this must be described in detail to prospective clients.

(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR MARRIAGE. Bureaux must state whether or not membership is restricted to those current unmarried. Where membership
is so restricted applicants should be asked provide a signed statement that they are legally free to marry

(C) CRITERIA USED FOR MATCHING. The criteria used for matching clients must be fully explained. Clients must be told whether stated
preferences will be fully adhered to or whether they will be treated as general indicators only.

(D) NUMBERS OF INTRODUCTIONS, ETC. Agencies shall give individual applicants, upon request, a realistic indication of the number of
introductions they are likely to be offered during their period of membership, given their particular circumstances and stated preferences. Upon
request, the agency shall tell the client how many people they have available for introduction in the client’s age group and area at any time. If a
bureau offers other services (e.g. social events for single people) a realistic indication of the likely extent of these must be given, subject to
individual agencies terms and conditions listed in their contracts.

(E) FEES CHARGED. All fees charged should be clearly stated, including any additional charges, which might be
made for interviews, further introductions, etc., or upon marriage. It should be made clear whether or not such
fees include VAT

(F) REFUNDS Agencies should offer clients the choice of either a refund proportionate to the amount of service received or an
extension of membership if they are unable to provide the level of service indicated initially. This criteria will apply at the end of the
membership period only.

2. All agencies must have an office set aside for the exclusive use of the agency that clients and other interested members of the public can easily
identify, locate and visit. Each agency must have a listed telephone number that the public can, during normal working hours, use to speak to
someone in authority within that agency.

3. The agency must show to the satisfaction of the Council of the A.B.I.A. that the agency has a client base, which is reasonably balanced in terms of
age and sex to enable them to realistically offer clients an adequate selection of introductions.

4. All information obtained from clients shall be treated in the strictest of confidence and all legal provisions governing the protection of data will be
followed. It is incumbent upon all member agencies to give guidance (and advice) to their clients regarding standards and codes of behaviour. The
lists of names and addresses of clients must remain the property of the member company and must not be sold, lent, hired, or used for any purpose
other than as part of their introduction service. Bureaux shall ensure that clients are removed from their lists of members immediately they so
request

5. All information supplied by the client to the agency shall not be divulged, without the prior consent of the client, to any other person or party except
those of the agency’s members who have agreed beforehand to have their details given to other members of the agency.

6. In the unlikely event of an agency belonging to the Association ceasing to trade, the agency will, with the client’s consent, arrange for the unexpired
portion of any membership to be transferred, free of charge, to another member agency that offers a comparable service.

7. All members shall prominently indicate in their literature that they are a member of the Association and show its address alongside.

Advertising

1. No member shall publish advertisements that are inaccurate, ambiguous, exaggerated or liable to be misconstrued. All advertising by members must comply with the codes and standards set by the Advertising Standards Authority and the ITC and Radio Authority, and with the requirements of any legislation currently in force. It must be realistic and avoid arousing expectations that cannot be fulfilled.

2. Advertisements must not contain the words ‘guarantee’ or ‘guaranteed’ unless the full terms of such undertakings as well as the remedial action open to a customer are either clearly set out in the advertisement or are available to the customer in writing before any monies are paid.

3. The price quoted shall be the price at which the client can participate fully in a member’s services. Members must therefore quote the relevant price for their service, plus any additional charge that may reasonably arise (including VAT). If the quoted price excludes any part of the service, such exclusions must be clearly specified.

Handling Complaints

1. Members of the Association must ensure that effective and immediate action is taken to achieve just settlement of a complaint. To this end there will be an easily identifiable and accessible arrangement for the reception and handling of complaints from clients.

2. All members should maintain an analysis of justified complaints in relation to any of the provisions of the Code of Practice and should take action based on this information to improve their service to the client.

3. When complaints are raised through a third party (e.g. Trading Standards Officer or a Citizens Advice Bureau), willing guidance must be given to that body and every attempt should be made to re-establish direct communication with the complaining client and to reach a satisfactory settlement with them.

4. In the event that a complaint is not resolved, members of the Association must make it clear to clients that they have the right to refer the complaint to the Association.

5. Members will give every assistance to the Association whilst it is investigating a complaint.

6. Where the A.B.I.A. considers the conciliation procedure has failed to resolve the dispute it will give the member company 14 days’ notice of this decision, in which time the company may take steps to resolve the issue. In the absence of its being resolved within that period the A.B.I.A. will inform the client of their right to seek resolution of their complaint under special low-cost arbitration arrangements administered by the independent arbitrators. This independently run scheme, however, is not suitable for more complex disputes; the arbitrators or the A.B.I.A. can advise on whether or not a case is appropriate. Under these arrangements, arbitration will normally be on the basis of documents only. The award of such arbitration is final, legally binding and enforceable. The client will be advised also that they can, alternatively, take legal action through the courts.

Compliance with the Code of Practice

1. Regular random checks are made by Officers of the Association on members to ensure that literature given to the public confirms to the Code
and does not use language or arguments, which might well lead to unrealistic expectations on behalf of the prospective clients.

2. All complaints, or other incidents involving non-compliance with the Code, are recorded and examined by a Sub-Committee of the Council, which
consists of a majority of independent persons co-opted to the Council. They are empowered to censure member agencies for non-compliance, to
direct compliance and, if necessary, to terminate the member agency’s membership of the Association.

3. An analysis of all complaints under the Code shall be made on an annual basis.