Complaints

This profile includes complaints for A Foreign Affair's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  A Foreign Affair

  7320 N Dreamy Draw Dr Ste 200 Phoenix, AZ 85020-5362

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  A Foreign Affair

  7227 N. 16th Street #240 Phoenix, AZ 85020-5239

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/31/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  3 bad experiences regarding letters. 1st member responded and said she was taken. 2nd letter to member was responded with a pic of member that looked like a lady boy. No way the pic i got was the same on site. 3rd letter today was a good cordial letter. Only downfall is that the girl is going to ********** in april as a foreign exchange student. Why is she on the site if she leaving. Makes zero sense to me. But she said she can see meet me in march 2023 for a tour. Disappointed with letters. I cant comment on tours. But how can someone feel confident purchasing the package for tour after 3 bad experiences??? If someone is looking for a serious relationship and something changes they should inform the agency. Keep in mind each letter sent and received is $10 each.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/03/2023

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention.  I have spoken with the client, nice gentleman, and it appears to simply be a misunderstanding.  He is very new to the service, after speaking with him he now has a clear understanding of how it works.  In the first instance, the woman was honest with him and told him she recently met someone (on this platform)and did not feel right to continue with him.  That is exactly how it should work, better than her leading him on wasting time, money, etc.  The second case,the photo appears to be from the woman, not a very good photo but it is clearly her.  Women will send multiple photos some better than others, which provides a better idea of their overall appearance other than just the few profile photos.  There is also nothing wrong with the woman who is in ******** now but soon will be coming to the States.  She offered to meet there and if it worked out they could continue once she arrived in the States.  Most men would desire that since she already has a visa.  These are real women with real lifes, they can and do move from time to time.  Now that we have spoken I believe he has a better understanding of the service and may go on a tour to meet many of these wonderful women. We highly advise meeting in person over just correspondence,we offer various ways to do that with both group and individual packages.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/06/2023

  There was just an issue that was fully not AFA fault.  I had a great conversation with ******************* from corporate and he was extremely helpful.  We both have a better expectation of the letters and actually attending a tour.  We concluded that the tour would ultimately be the option and meeting the members in person. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/19/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This International Dating Site is a Worldwide Scam. There are charges for every type of contact with extraordinary in-person fees should the participant choose to actually attend a in-country "party". You cannot receive real life contact information. The female profiles are bogus - my one contact (if it was real) was 7 years dated as confirmed by an FA employee. The e-mail solicitations are fake and created/submitted by FA employees, not female contacts. The pictures are almost certainly false and dated. You can note the same "props" and also photo shopped profiles.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/23/2022

  ****** spent a total of $19.98 to correspond with one woman.  One concern was that she was not real since he was told by our staff that her profile was 7 years old. Very few men travel to meet so many never have a chance to meet.  Her profile was active for several years, has gone on dates and done skype calls, at times it was inactive when in a relationship and then would activate again.  He could have done a video call or met in person.  A meeting is $95.00 not an "extraordinary" cost. He requested a refund, the last E-mail we sent indicated we were happy to do so but needed to know the issue, we never received a reply to our follow up E-mail, so they thought he was fine.  We have processed the full refund of $19.98.  This is International Dating, different than domestic dating.  One important distinction is IMBRA (International Marriage Broker Regulation Act), a Federal Law which,among other things, restricts the way in which singles can exchange contact info.  We require several checks before placing a profile,including Government ID.  We also hold in person meetings with thousands of women profiled each year. That would be impossible if profiles were not real.  As site states the women can and often are assisted with sending Introduction letters as an indication of possible interest.  If you would rather not receive introduction letters you can easily disable the function and write first, or do not write at all and meet in person.  There are several ways to meet and obtain real life contact information, including Group tours where you can meet hundreds of different women, and exchange contact information with as many as you like, (at no additional cost) as well as Club and one on one introductions.  We facilitate hundreds of in person meetings each month.  We regret we were unable to assist ****** in his search and sincerely hope that he finds another service he feels comfortable with.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/24/2022

   This "international dating site" A Foreign Affair (AFA) charges for, controls, and likely inserts a staff member in every form of contact. At a minimum this manipulation for maximum financial return is a modified pyramid scheme.  *** marketing is extremely "clever" and many "hopeful" people are vulnerable. *** BBB has a history of complaints about AFA. I was not financially impacted.
  
  I wrote one letter and it was intercepted by A Foreign Affair employee and edited. *** response was likely entirely written by A Foreign Affair employee who scolded me for sending my e-mail address. ( see below sentences in quotes)
  
  I do not use social media, ****** and I do not see your contact details, the site blocked them. Maybe you do not know BUT the site blocks any contacts that you put into the letters, there are rules. Writing the contact details in the letters is against the rules

   

  Further, each female profile is professionally photographed and likely photo-retouched.*** women are very attractive and mostly in their 30's/ 40's - there is no diversity or cross section of women. As admitted by A Foreign Affair, the photos may be 7 years old or older.

  ***se profiles of eligible women mostly represent the very same message stated slightly differently, what I would capsulize as "boilerplate".

   

   

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 11/25/2022

  Its unfortunate ****** did not have a good experience, as tens of thousands of men and women have over the last 27 years.  Part of the issue may be ****** never really used the service except for a single refunded letter.  He could have done a skype call or simply met face to face. We have no idea what Pyramid is, we simply provide several services for singles and comply with State and Federal Laws.  Last month we conducted one of our many group tours in Cebu where 8 couples become engaged! We have a tour now in ****** where hundreds of men and women will meet and exchange contact info, develop relationships/friendships.  We must follow Federal Law, IMBRA, as the site states, we will always edit out contact info until IMBRA is satisfied, if not we face a 5 year prison sentence/fines.  The couple will also not be able to process a Fiancee visa.  The ** Consulate General inspected our offices and congratulated us on IMBRA compliance.  We are very diverse with women from multiple counties, cultures, appearance and age.  Men and women may be on the site for several years.  Our staff volunteered that the profile was placed 7 years ago in an effort to help, it is not a secret, you can tell how long any profile has been on the site by the ** number.  The profile was placed 7 years ago, not necessarily the photos.  Women and men often update photos which may have been the case. We have had men on the site, off and on, for over 20 years, that does not mean they are not serious. Men and women often try to place their best foot forward and will place glamour shots,again as stated.  If you ever meet or skype with someone you feel there is an issue with photos just let us know.  Of course the BBB has a history of complaints about any active company.  If you check you find only 10 in the last 3 years, all minor and most resolved.  That is a fantastic record especially given we are a dating and travel company.  We regret we could not assist ****** and **** he finds success.