A dating site that actually gets you dates!

Or so purports the founders of “HowAboutWe.com.” The premise is that users post ideas for dates, then interested parties contact them to get together. It seems like a good way to actually get offline.

I came across this site a week ago when it was promoted in my Twitter timeline. I thought it sounded interesting and after completing a profile to sign up for the free level of service—the only way to have a look at the guys in my area—have since posted two ideas for dates. One at a local comic book store because I’ve always liked Batman and another to meet at a trendy restaurant to play a board game. I didn’t see any local guys whose date ideas I was interested in, however. Some sounded unsafe for a first date with a stranger – i.e. “getting outrageously drunk together” or going hiking in various desolate places. I’m interested in living beyond a first date, you know?

I’ve received nine “messages” since I signed up; eight were “intrigues,” which is a way to indicate you would be interested in doing that activity with the particular person (if you like someone’s date idea but aren’t interested in doing it with them, you can repost it which lets other people know that’s something you’d like to do). I also received a notification that someone wants to directly ask me out.

Now for someone who has ceaselessly stated that they prefer meeting someone based on common interests, this seemed like the jackpot. But, there’s a catch: in order to respond to intrigues or being asked out, you have to upgrade to the paid version of the site. Rates are as follows:

1 year – upfront $95.88 payment (works out to $7.99/mo.)

6 months – upfront $59.94 payment ($9.99/mo.)

3 months – upfront $38.97 payment ($12.99/mo.) Most popular plan.

1 month – $21.99 payment

Memberships automatically default to auto-renewal at the end of the period but there’s an option to turn that off.

The other catch is that in order to successfully message back and forth (hint: back and forth) to get safety information and exchange contact info, the other party must also be a paid member (in order for them to respond to your response that you like their date or accept their intrigue). So this greatly limits the pool of people you can actually get offline with. I have no idea if any of the guys who responded to my date idea or directly asked me out are paid members and could respond if I responded to them.

There’s a supposed 100% “offline” guarantee, that if you pay for service but never actually go on a date, they will refund you your money. I have no idea how they would validate this but it is there.

All in all, for the present time I am going to sit tight until more local guys join the site and based on their profiles or date ideas, seem like guys I’d be interested in. With the holidays coming up I have to be cautious with finances. However, for some of you other ladies, this might be exactly what you need. Let us know if you sign up!