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Parship UK is suited to people looking for a long-term relationship and who would like to leave the searching to someone else. The Parship system recommends matches to its members based on their compatibility score.
Parship originates in Germany and is one of the most popular matchmaking sites in that country. They also have a site dedicated to Brits called uk.parship.com (Parship UK). Parship UK offers the same basic system as the other European websites.
Formula Based Matching
Parship uses their own formula-based approach to matchmaking. This means taking a fairly long compatibility test - much like eHarmony's. This might seem a little clinical but the experts tell us that this is the best way to find people who're truly compatible with you.
The test helps to determine each member's personality type. Once complete, profiles of suggested matches will be sent to you as they turn up. You have the option to look closer at your matches, or ignore them.
As with eHarmomy you can further refine the search scope to some extent to give definite preferences to things such as height, age range and smoking habits. If you have some dating "show stoppers", I suggest you complete this section on your profile carefully.
Will there be a Spark?
As a prospective member you should keep in mind that like eHarmony, the underlying philosophy of Parship is to suggest matches based on who statistically would make a good "romantic couple".
If you prefer to take the "driving seat", or you have a dislike of lengthy personality questionnaires I suggest going somewhere like Match.com.
As with eHarmony, the relevance of your suggested matches will depend on how accurately you complete your personality questionnaire. In order to get the most out of this approach, you need to allow sufficient time to complete this section carefully, and to upload at least one good quality recent photograph.
On the plus side, with this approach it is then possible to sit back and wait for suitable matches to come along.
Everything Requires Payment
Access for non-paying members is severely restricted. The matchmaking system can be used (minus some advanced options) and it's possible to send ice-breakers. However emails can't be sent or opened until you upgrade to premium. Photos are also blurred-out to non paying members.
Parship offers a great tutorial, a lengthy description of what they offer, many success stories and a free Parship test to begin. However, they don't allow you to browse before you sign up. So, if you create a free profile, you can search around and see if they have what you want before you decide on becoming a premier member.
Creating a basic profile will take a few minutes as they have several questions they want answered as well as the compatibility test. By and large Parship is very easy to navigate and to get started on. They are very open with their mission and determined to help singles in Europe find their mate.
jsMarch 12th, 2020
Avoid
TomPoortvlietNovember 21st, 2019
Useless
AnonOctober 5th, 2010
Useless
Despite many letters and calls to their office they insisted the payment they took was valid and that I had to cancel the subscription myself even though THEY had suspended my profile through inactivity. They offered me a 30% goodwill gesture as if it were my fault. I refused. I contacted my bank and they refunded my payment pending evidence from both sides. I will of course show them the "your account is suspended" email from Parship, so am confident of winning.
Avoid this company at all costs! People like this give the Internet a bad name. We can put poor websites down to our poor choice for using them, but there's no excusing immoral and unethical billing practices be the site great, or as in this case, POOR.
MiriamFebruary 18th, 2010
Recommended
On the third date I hit gold, it was an instant attraction. I had finally met someone of integrity, honesty, warmth, wit, was fun to be with, sexy, uncomplicated.
We have been dating for two months and it just keeps getting better. We are 74% compatible and that is about the perfect number. PARSHIP has worked magic, to find somebody in only 4 dates and in only 2 weeks of being a member that is pretty amazing.
MiriamFebruary 17th, 2010
Above average
William_1775February 15th, 2010
Above average
I joined Parship after my wife had walked out on me and our two kids. I'd always thought our marriage was pretty good, but suddenly my life basically felt like one big mess. I was having to carry on running my building business and also do the housework, the cooking and do my best to be both mum and dad to the kids. This went on for a year before some friends who'd seen Parship advertised on TV told me I should give it a go.
After I'd done my profile I immediately got messages from two women. It was pretty exciting to talk to them on the phone. One of them was Kate. She also lived in Manchester, so we arranged to meet in a bar in town the next day. I was impressed when Kate walked in. She had a lot of style, and she turned up to be a very good listener. It was the first time in ages that I felt I was talking to someone who understood me. To tell the truth I poured out my heart to her a bit, but she took it all on board and even gave me some good advice. By the end of the date I knew I wanted to see her again. We enjoy each other's company and her kids and my kids seem to have hit it off. Kate's a very supportive person and I feel that I've got my life under control again.
claudiaFebruary 7th, 2010
Above average
JulesDecember 10th, 2009
Above average
I would say some sites make it easy for you to choose a partner on height or build, but I do feel that the dates here do match me better. It depends on whether you see your ideal partner as being a busty blonde over 5ft 9in or someone who has a similar outlook on many aspects of life and personality.
I haven't had issues with speed of site, the blurry photos is a good idea because it makes it less of a meat market.
I have met a very nice date through this site and I hope it develops.
Richard_1534November 14th, 2009
Useless
When I did meet up with my contacts, they were all very good, however there were several others that I did not meet as they appeared way off the mark.
Despite not having many technical problems myself, most of those I was in contact with did have problems and found customer services to be very poor at getting things sorted.
However, overall, despite a few minor irritations, eg, site sometimes running slow and a couple of occasions when I was unable to gain access, I personally had a relatively good experience. And then my renewal came up...
I had a similar experience to Debbie above. I was not told how much it would cost and that the renewal would be significantly more than the original cost until I received an invoice email stating the transaction had already had gone through. They have an automatic renewal policy for subscriptions but they don't e-mail to say that it is about to expire. The cancellation policy (when you find it) is confusing and you have to cancel the day before your last day of membership rather than the last day as you might intuitively expect.
Before the auto renewal I had been thinking I would probably extend to a 3 month membership but wanted to delay my renewal till after I came back from a holiday during which time I could not use the service. I emailed them on the last day of my membership to see if this could be done, however each of the responses back from their customer services department were quite frankly insulting as they simply copied and pasted multiple irrelevant terms sections from the site rather than dealing with my actual enquiry. I was not originally looking to cancel with them but my experience with their customer service department has meant that I now have, and in the process have had to accept the loss of a month's paid membership which I could not use.
It was very apparent that they are quick and efficient when it comes to getting your money, but they do not care at all about their customers. It is a shame - if they sorted out their various technical problems and gave a monkey's about their customers, then they could make this into quite a good site, but I have left them now and will not be going back.
RogerMarch 30th, 2010
Useless
TessOctober 5th, 2009
Below average
I also didn't like the fact that others can see if you've visited their profile (and vice versa).
Having said all that, I thought the pricing structure was reasonable IF you had some luck on the site: the friend who put me onto them is marrying someone lovely she met on Parship, so it's not all doom and gloom. I just think it's more down to the luck of the draw than their pseudo-scientific approach would indicate.