Classmates.com Sued After Guy Realizes His Classmates Weren't Really Looking For Him

from the that-would-be-called-false-advertising dept

Wed, Nov 12th 2008 7:32am — Mike Masnick

You may recall that Classmates.com was a website that first showed up in the 90s, and tried to do what Friendster and Facebook were later able to do. The problem was that Classmates.com's business model was to charge users for many of its features, including actually connecting with and contacting your classmates -- things that more recent social networks have always allowed for free. However, if you ever used Classmates.com for anything, you've probably been spammed with emails for years, each one claiming that your classmates are looking for you, or had recently viewed your profile. Nearly every email sent by the company (and they seem to come about once a week) has some enticing subject line that tries to suggest that something is happening with your profile and you're missing out if you don't upgrade to a premium account.

I've always ignored these emails, figuring that if any of my former high school classmates really wants to contact me, there are plenty of ways to do so that don't require me to pay up -- and naturally assumed that Classmates.com was exaggerating what was happening on the site. Some folks, however, believed the emails and upgraded. And, now, one of those who upgraded his account to see which classmates were trying to contact him, discovered (surprise, surprise) that Classmates.com was lying to him. His classmates weren't trying to contact him via the site, and so he's now suing the company for deceptive advertising, and demanding that the company refund subscription fees for everyone who was similarly duped.

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Filed Under: class action, truth in advertising
Companies: classmates.com

100 Comments

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Lucretious, 12 Nov 2008 @ 7:38am

Some singles sites do this as well (match.com is the exception, they are legit). Sign up for a free account and put up a profile. Less than an hour later your inbox is getting bombed with "interested parties" which turns out to be the site itself trying to get you to sign up for a paid account.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:02am

Re:
I too can attest that Match.com (and their sister site Chemistry.com) don't falsely inform you of an "interested party."

Of course that by no means actually means the person will pay attention and notice you noticed them right back!

Myspace.com does this as well, saying there are "new friend requests" and there will be "0 new requests" and a giant ad for Match.com though...
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Steve R. (profile), 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:05am

The IQ Question Thingy
One of the irritating come-ons is the IQ question. I answered it for the novelty. The next screen was the come-on and they never even disclosed if I answered the question correctly or not. I have been a basket case ever since.

Like the poll "Which Internet Concern Worries You The Most?" Maybe TechDirt,as a novelty feature, could have a wall-of-shame poll for the most irritating disingenuous adds.

Now if we can rid ourselves of those pesky Netflix ads.
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Matt, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:06am

Is this site even relevant anymore?
With sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, is this site even relevant anymore? I was able to get back in touch with my classmates (the ones I liked anyway) though facebook and it was easy, and more importantly, free.
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Chris Charabaruk (profile), 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:15am

Finally, someone does this...
High time someone finally decided to take that site to court. But as Matt says, does anyone even bother with Classmates.com anymore? I don't even see their messages anymore, having blocked them out as spammers, and with practically everyone (but not their pets or imaginary friends) on Facebook anyway, for free, I can't imagine anyone but the most weak-minded actually putting any time and effort into that site.
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Yakko Warner, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:17am

No love lost
I signed up for a "free" account at Classmates.com years ago, but I very quickly decided I wouldn't spend a lot of time on that site when I discovered how many of their features were locked away if your account was only free and not paid. Not to mention the popups. I'm married, and I'm reasonably sure I entered that on my profile, yet I kept getting hit with popups encouraging me to join the Classmates Dating site.

I've gotten emails saying someone has signed my Classmates guestbook, but guess what? You have to pay to see who signed it. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that the "mystery signer" is really Classmates.com itself, congratulating me on signing up for the service.
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CVPunk, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:19am

Re: Re:
never had that happen with Myspace.
there are people who create spam accounts to get you to check out their porn site though.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Noah Buddy, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:26am

Other problems
I had a similar run in with Roommates.com

I was looking for a roommate, they would send me e-mail's almost daily about new mail. Finally I paid up (I was desperate for a roommate) and found that about 3/4 of the "mail" wasn't even there and the rest was from some scammer. Maybe I should think about suing.
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Mike, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:30am

Good Luck!
I hope he wins, I hate companies that use deceptive practices... I hope it costs them plenty.
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interval, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:33am

I did some contract work for a site like this but was geared more for the adult contact genre. The system had an automated reply/contact system (via cron) that batch processed replies and letters from "interested parties" late at night, and the owners even hired a girl to reply to the hundreds of first contact letters from all the men that sent them (the system had a male/female subscriber ratio of roughly 1000 to 1 or so.)

I remember them sitting around laughing in surprise as they read a letter from a pair of subscribers who had actually met on this system and ended up getting married.
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Roxxxie (profile), 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:33am

Re: Re: Re:
I agree with this. This is a great site to have a discussion. How fun. I also love taking pictures. Do you want to see my pictures that Techdirt wouldn't allow on the site? Click here-->just kidding :)
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Tracker1, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:39am

roomates.com
@noah i've actually successfully used roomates.com a couple of times. though the first time I did receive a couple sign back up emails a few months later... but this last time, no contact after I clossed out my acct.

As to the email notifications, dunno if they get nuked after the other party closes their acct, so that may have been it.
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Ganbo, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:54am

Classmates
Good for him....Classmates has always been a pain in the @ss with spam and always trying to get "upgrades" for $2.67/day....

PLUS, there is a ton of advertising on the site and pop-ups, etc....why should I pay to see ads?
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Erv Server, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:58am

I get email weekly saying someone signed my guestbook on Classmates. Though tempted to payup and have a looksee I suspected something was up
[ link to this | view in thread ]
bob, 12 Nov 2008 @ 8:59am

I say the scam
I saw the scam back when it first came out.
Plus like I was not popular in high school and I know it was bull.
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Virtual Impax, 12 Nov 2008 @ 9:00am

Accountability and Advertising
“The most powerful element in advertising is the truth” - unfortunately, when you have a sucky product it's hard to tell the truth.

Let's hope the courts give Classmates.com a lesson in the value of authenticity in advertising.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Nov 2008 @ 9:03am

Re: Re:
I wouldn't be so sure about Match.com being totally legit. That said, I do have friends who are happily married after meeting on the site. Years ago I had an unpaid account on Match.com, after a while I got a fairly detailed email of interest from a young match in my area. I broke down and signed up for a paid membership only to find out that the account I got the initial message from was no longer a valid account.

Now there is no way for me to say what really happened, but I thought to myself, what a great little scam they have going there.
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Anonymous Coward #42, 12 Nov 2008 @ 9:29am

Deception
I was about to say that this guy is whacked in the head for suing a service for not delivering, when there's no way they can control who does or doesn't use the service. However, if they told him that somebody was trying to contact him in order to get him to upgrade, and there really wasn't anybody, then yes, they deserve to be sued, because they outright lied. That's false advertising, plain and simple.

I would hate to see a company I own (and I don't own any companies, for the record) go under due to the competition being better than me, but I would never attempt to use false advertising to try to support a failing business plan. Not only is it morally and ethically wrong, but somebody's bound to figure it out sooner or later, and when they do, your reputation goes right into the sewer, which is clearly what's happening here.
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Elaine, 12 Nov 2008 @ 9:31am

they got me
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Nov 2008 @ 9:34am

I believe the legal term is fraud in the inducement. If the seller presents you information that influences your decision to buy and that information is false or misleading then you have grounds to sue. I hope the case gets class action status and Classmates.com get sued into oblivion.
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Also annoyed by this crap, 12 Nov 2008 @ 10:18am

I hope this is successful and affects other scam companies
I also really get pissed off by all the "ZOMG you're visitor #1949241 and you won an iPod!" or "You have *3* new messages. Click here to see them now!"

There's a difference between lame boasting which technically isn't provably lying, and claims which are blatantly false. The latter should be forbidden and punished.
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Carla from Cheers, 12 Nov 2008 @ 10:30am

Funny. I signed up for a free account with Classmatescom, and this was 8 or 10 years ago. Ever since then, email from the company comes to one of my junk email accounts - a free Yahoo email account that I've always kept open.

It's impossible for the emails they send me to be legit, since I'm registered using my married name, and a school I attended once in my life for about 3 months. Nobody's looking for me based on the parameters I entered into the Classmates.com system, but they still taunt me with false emails that can't possibly be true.

I think it's really stupid to sue a company for something like this. Who cares? Get a life.
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Josh, 12 Nov 2008 @ 10:52am

Re: Is this site even relevant anymore?
probably not, but as mentioned in previous posts this case has implications on any site (personals, roommate finders, etc...) that charge people to connect with each other and fraudulently entices them to do so.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
fprintf, 12 Nov 2008 @ 11:39am

Same here, facebook hasn't been much better
Perhaps it is the year that I graduated, making me and my classmates more curmudgeonly (1985) but I have not found a ton of my former friends on Facebook. So I suspect that the many emails I have received, particularly in the past 12 months, of folks signing my guestbook are false advertising.

I thought it suspect at the time, but there have been a few times when I have been tempted to pay up just to see who was trying to get in touch. I am hoping my new Facebook profile will be more successful in reaching the one or two friends I can't seem to locate any more. I did find an old crush and she is hotter now than when she declined to go to the amusement park with me @ age 17.
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Sea Man, 12 Nov 2008 @ 11:48am

Re: Re:
MySpace doesn't do that. What happens is you get a friend request by the spammer, then the email goes out to you, then the spammer is caught and their friend request canceled by the time you get to view your request.

I don't agree (and never have) with Classmates.com's strategy, but let's stay on topic, and not drag everyone through the mud here.
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tbrooks, 12 Nov 2008 @ 11:50am

classmate.con
i have received more people contacting me than people in my graduating class
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DavidB, 12 Nov 2008 @ 12:16pm

Re: classmate.con
My experience has been similar. There were 405 people in my graduating class. I KNOW I've received far more emails than that from them. And of the 405, there surely weren't more than 20 or 30 that I would have considered "friends" who would want to contact me now, almost 30 years later!
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Nov 2008 @ 12:44pm

Re: The IQ Question Thingy
I'm just glad I haven't seen an X-10 ad in a while!
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Anon Cow, 12 Nov 2008 @ 1:19pm

Alternative Headline: "High School Loser That Everybody Ignored Sues Classmates.com For Reminding Him That He Is Now A Middle-aged Loser That Everybody Ignores."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 12 Nov 2008 @ 1:41pm

i met my hubby on match.com :) never had any problem with them at all.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Matt, 12 Nov 2008 @ 1:58pm

Re: Match.com
Some dating sites even go so far as to put deceptive fake profiles of attractive girls in major cities just to bulster their search results and get you to pay for the subscription and send a message that will never lead to anything. I wonder if they have people to have fake conversations too?

I read a while back about some dating site (I wish I remember which one) actually had models that they would send out on some dates meant to go nowhere just to keep people paying their fees every month. What a scam.
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lordmorgul, 12 Nov 2008 @ 2:32pm

Re: Re: Match.com
This would be hard to believe without the service being absurdly expensive (think in the range of high-end escorts...) because models being sent out on dates is not something you could sustain on a low paid subscription fee.
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Nitro, 12 Nov 2008 @ 2:36pm

Re: to Carla from cheers
I think it would be funny if you bought a DVD player from a retailer, opened the box, and found a VCR. Then, when you try to take it back, they tell you to get a life.
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Eldakka, 12 Nov 2008 @ 5:10pm

Re: Re: Re: Match.com
It is quite sustainable.

Don't forget that most models are not of the $50k+ a catwalk show variety (a la Elle McPherson, Kathie Ireland, Claudia Schiffer etc etc). Most models are of the "hire a pretty waitress for a special event" variety. E.g. opening a new store with free nibbly's served by cute waiter/waitress. Or an instore promotion. Or advertising clothes for a local newspaper or smaller chain stores etc. Most of those (say 95% of the model industry) get on the order of $100-$300/hour.

So, once a month per, say, 1,000 subscribers (@$19.95/month thats $19,950/month), you hire one of these models for a 2-4 hour date (dinner only, movie only, or maybe if real lucky dinner and a movie) ($200-$1200 depending on length of date and price of model). At the end of the date they give a polite "thanks for the nice evening but I'm not interested" response. The person who got the date posts on the site that "had a date with a real hottie, he/she wasn't interested but they do have hotties on this site".

Job done.
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Twinrova, 13 Nov 2008 @ 4:18am

Let's hope the jury isn't a bunch of idiots and wins one for the team!
This is a lawsuit I can easily support. The guy's not out to get millions, but simply a return in fees to everyone.

Kudos. With more lawsuits like this that are legitimate, the more big business may make changes to do the right thing.

Hoping for a win on this one, as it will set precedence for ALL sites doing this!

GO MEAT!
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Broke_Daddy, 13 Nov 2008 @ 10:19am

Keep on Suing
Don't stop there. Go for Reunion.com too. All these sites do is provide fodder for the spammers.
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Joe User, 13 Nov 2008 @ 10:41am

Not really fond of Classmates
A few years ago I actually had a gold account and use it to successfully contact a few people. Some of us are still in touch. Before my gold membership ended I altered my profile to provide enough hints to people looking for me about a web site that I could be contacted at (the site filters out emails and web site info).

This trick has actually worked well over the years and I haven't paid for a membership since.
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cj, 13 Nov 2008 @ 12:28pm

I have a friend from high school who doesn't have a myspace or facebook page, but he does have a profile on classmates so one day I figured I'd pony up for the shortest membership to see if I could get back in touch with him. The guestbook signing thing works like this: If you look at someone's profile it "signs" their guestbook automatically unless you check a box saying you want clasmates.com to remove the signature. So when you get those emails someone did actually go on your page, but there's no guarantee that they were actually trying to get in touch with you and not just seeing if you got fat or divorced or some other curiousity about classmates or that in fact they weren't looking for someone else with the same name as you. I hope he wins.
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Greg Thomas, 15 Nov 2008 @ 7:43pm

Re: No love lost
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Dismas Redhorse, 23 Nov 2008 @ 8:40am

RIPPED OFF WITH FAKE VISITORS BY CLASSMATES
Classmates got me too
I intend to sue
DR
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DSA, 25 Nov 2008 @ 6:00pm

Re: classmates.con
I signed up years ago for the free account only to become highly annoyed by the "you are one step away from (not gold, but insanity)" BS. A few years later, I had a couple of old hometown friends contact me through classmates. I was able to get in touch with them without upgrading. But then my email was bombarded with classmates.con claiming I had several signatures in my guestbook so eventually, I upgraded to see what all the hoopla was about. I discovered that the guestbook isn't a guestbook at all but rather a profile visit where visitors may checkmark a selection that lets me know they visited. That's all. No messages and not even any indication they wanted to write or talk to me.

What I've concluded is that classmates.con is a big marketing scam, a major spammer, and based on recent experiences with my old friends and classmates I've contacted through the site, sometimes there's a good reason why we all go our separate ways, rarely to be seen or heard from again.
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NANNETTE O'REILLY, 2 Dec 2008 @ 4:43pm

CLASSMATES IS A BIG SCAM AND BLOCK E-MAILS
I RECENTLY WENT ON CLASSMATES.COM JUST TO CHECK IT OUT AND AS SOON AS I ENTERED MY E-MAIL THEY HIGHLIGHT IT AND BLOCK
ALL E-MAILS FROM COMMING TO MY COMPUTER. THEY ON A DAILY BASIS SEND ME E-MAILS SAYING SOMEONE IS LOOKING FOR ME AND
DON'T I WANT TO KNOW WHO? WELL IF I DID DON'T YOU THINK I WOULD PAY FOR IT AND EVEN THOSE WHO ARE PAYING FOR THIS SERVICE ARE BEING BLOCKED FROM SENDING THERE E-MAILS TO THOSE OF US WHO ARE NOT GOING TO SUCKED INTO THIER SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND IF THEY ARE BLOCKING PAYING CUSTOMERS
E-MAIL HOW THEY GET AWAY WITH THIS I DON'T KNOW. SINCERELY-
NANNETTE O'REILLY
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Dec 2008 @ 7:31pm

god i hope classmates.com goes under.
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Patsy, 29 Dec 2008 @ 9:37am

classmates.com
I have gotten e-mails from classmates.com for a while yet. Any body who would like to contact me knows how to get a hold of me. I usually delete the ones from classmates.com. I received on today 12-29-08 saying 4 people has viewed my profile. there is nothing on my profile to view.
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Kathleen, 3 Jan 2009 @ 2:31pm

Classmates
Were my classmates from 1973 looking for me????

I ignored this ad for months....after deciding to click on...I found that my high school admirer was looking for me so as many other including my long time best friend and only friend that I shared my sandwich with WAS looking for me....and since then we have talked by phone and are reuniting.......they really were looking for this shy young lady who thought no one remembered or liked..
Thank you class mates and this is not paid for or a politcal announcemnet for them

it is just a person who people were REALLY looking for!
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Francine, 14 Jan 2009 @ 5:16pm

I have come to the conclusion that there is a dark side to reunionss. Fine if its a long lost good friend but you may be remembering just the good. If someone wants to find someone they can just do it on their own. I found my friend on google when I ended up with a work assignment in our hometown and we did connect. It was good and bad. He tried to play his old jealousy game with me that he pulled as teenagers but I would have none of it. I ended our reunion and left town after my work project was done.
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Lex, 16 Jan 2009 @ 11:03am

Misleading and just wrong!!
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Lois McRill, 20 Jan 2009 @ 6:23pm

classmates.com
I subscribed, thinking this would be a help to me. However, after realizing this to be a scam, I requested cancellation of my membership and refund of my money. Have had no response. Can you help me in getting a refund?
Thanks!
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jan 2009 @ 1:18pm

Tricked by Classmates.com
I am very furious with the trickiness which the classmates.com lures to into their website and can't really do what they say they can...not true and they keep billing for things that you did not even asked for...watch out for them...and you try to get into their website you to get information and you can't even get there because of upgrading but they are still charging you for things they have not done to you...
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Jan 2009 @ 6:22am

classmates.com
I've come in contact with one friend and actually exchanged emails with her, but quite honestly I hate classmates.com. They should show you who "signed" your guest book and if you want to contact them then charge for that. They try to hook you and once they have you, you're there for recurring payments unless you remember to cancel.
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Sarah, 30 Jan 2009 @ 9:57am

framed by classmates!
I had a narcissistic ex-best friend spread rumors that I made a fake classmates profile of her and was emailing all her classmates and that I had paid $40 some-odd dollars to do so. Clearly, I had nothing to do with that and think it is funny that perhaps these classmates were getting messages saying this person was trying to contact them when it was really classmates.com sending the messages and I was being blamed for it!!
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RAMBO, 4 Feb 2009 @ 7:32am

Re: them
they stole over 20000million peploes money & never let QUALXSERV DO ANY WORK ON YOR HARDDRIVE
[ link to this | view in thread ]
fister, 18 Mar 2009 @ 9:45am

classmates being sued
Thats awsome news.I just got my first computer and was thinking about going there because my friend did it 4 me once and I Thought it was so cool.I am suspisious like dude though and think most sites out there are doing the same shit.THANKS
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2009 @ 5:17am

Classmates.com is a rip-off
I think its even worse now. I took the "someone signed your guestbook" bait and bought a $29.00 Gold membership. But apparently the person who "signed" my guestbook only visited my profile. So when I signed into my guestbook, they received an email that "someone signed" their "guestbook". Subsequently, they paid the $29.00 to discover that I was the person who signed their guestbook...... but I never did. I only visited their profile. So Classmates duped both me and my old friend into paying memberships resulting from activity that should have been annonymous. Classmates.com is obsolete and hopefully the judge shuts them down.
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Doug, 26 Apr 2009 @ 2:49pm

classmates.com
this company riped me off saying that someone from school had sent me a email to read it i needed to join, i did for $17.00 for 4 months my card was charged twice that day. now i want to be removed from the site do not want to be charged anymore to keep my account the trouble is they wont show you on the site how to discontinue my subscription this really tees me off. i guess i will have to cancel my card and get a new one issued. they should be shut down they know they rip the public off. if anyones knows a way to cancel this crap let me know. thanks
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Cole Henson, 11 May 2009 @ 7:54am

Charges from classmates
How can I get on board with the suit? I can not get them to stop charging my account.
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Connie Nitterright -Ballew, 29 May 2009 @ 5:39pm

RIPPED OFF
I joined classmates.com and joined the Gold membership and now I cant get anyone on the site and they took my money.Please contact by e mail and let me know whats going on,if you know. THANK YOU Connie Nitterright Ballew
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zella billington, 14 Jun 2009 @ 11:15pm

Re: Fraud
You are RIGHT !
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WENDEEDOH, 22 Jun 2009 @ 7:21am

CLASSMATES.COM IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT JOIN AND CERTAINLY DON'T PAY THEM ANYTHING!!!! THEY AUTOMATICALLY RENEW YOUR MEMEBERSHIP WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION.I AGREED TO PAY ONE FEE AND NOW THEY KEEP CHARGING MY CARD!!!!
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jean barton, 8 Aug 2009 @ 3:34pm

renewed membership without mt permission
CLASSMATES.COM IS A SCAM!!!! i just found another 15.00 taken out of my bank account without my permission.what can we do to get them shut down? does anyone know how to cancel this membership? if so let me know please. i am on a fixed income and cant afford this. i am going to report this to ripoff reports.com
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robert ryan, 25 Aug 2009 @ 11:42am

Classmates.com
I agree they're always sending me "alerts" that so and so was trying to contact me'',or see who signed your guestbook this week-only to discover that I can go on a singles cruise. There is always an attempt to get you to spend more money. I got in touch w/ a few of my friends from high school-but I'm much more satisfied w/ Facebook and it's free!
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robert ryan, 25 Aug 2009 @ 11:44am

Classmates.com
I agree they're always sending me "alerts" that so and so was trying to contact me'',or see who signed your guestbook this week-only to discover that I can go on a singles cruise. There is always an attempt to get you to spend more money. I got in touch w/ a few of my friends from high school-but I'm much more satisfied w/ Facebook and it's free!
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Jacqueline Markham, 23 Sep 2009 @ 9:52am

How to stop E-mail from classmates.com
I have been trying to stop the E-mail from classmates.com for quite a while and still receive it. Some times it even causes problems with my computer. Any hints? Jackie
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Lisa Stern, 6 Oct 2009 @ 7:23am

To exit from classmates.com
I'm sorry, I have to go now.It wasn't workable. I can't trust them. Thank you!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Shawny, 20 Oct 2009 @ 4:48pm

First thought is always right
I just got scammed today. Thank God it was only for 15 dollars. When I signed up for the free membership I too started receiving alot of emails saying someone is looking for me or signed my guestbook. Since I signed others that I knew I believed it was them trying to get in touch with me. My first thought is this is a scam. Who goes on Classmates.com that often for me to receive emails that quickly. I kept telling myself not to do it but I am desperately searching for my best friend in high school so I took the chance.....and lost! Of course, none of the people that signed my guestbook have names that are even vaguely familiar. And, not surprisingly, none of them had pictures or even information up on their profiles. This was so very bogus! I guess if they get enough people like me just dropping 15 dollars they really don't care if it is real or not. I could have eaten breakfast all week at work for $15. Hopefully, there will be some kind of class action suit or something. Count me in!
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Andrew, 17 Nov 2009 @ 12:51pm

here is a link with some info on them
lets start sending them spam,phone # fax #
more info on the jackasses

http://www.ip-adress.com/whois/www.classmates.com
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Andrew, 17 Nov 2009 @ 1:32pm

here is a link with some info on them
lets start sending them spam,phone # fax #
more info on the jackasses

http://www.ip-adress.com/whois/www.classmates.com
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dwayne Harris, 3 Jan 2010 @ 11:50am

I must admit I was duped into joining. But after several months of people opening my guestbook and not recognizing any of them I became suspicious. Furthermore, I noticed that out of all my classmates that allegedly joined, there were no pictures of them. My opinion that it was a scam was verified by seeing that there were several names from my '82 class that never attended my school. I am in the process of canceling my account but finding it quite difficult.
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Richard Drew, 5 Jan 2010 @ 8:54am

Re: Finally, someone does this...
I am up to my neck fed up with classmates. Their "reunion" page won't let me put in info, it just goes away and then they don't let you put in a phone# or contact info on the site either. They billed me several times after my year was up without me having given ok to renew. I am trying to get people together from 2 HS's and it's been arduous to set up not having a yearbook for one of the schools, facebook isn't much good if people have married names and you can't always remember all the names of those you'd like to find. I'd be happy to join any movement to sue the bastards.
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Johnny Contreras, 9 May 2010 @ 8:25pm

funds withdrawn without my permission
I just found out that classmates withrew funds from my acct without my permission. I have sent them an email but the more posted complaints I read the more I realize that this is a scam. What can I do to get my $$ refunded.
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dot Gray, 14 May 2010 @ 9:14am

Classmates.com
I tried to get in touch with some high school friends in my class. They said I had 1 signature of someone trying to get in touch with me but the name was so blurred it was not readable. It always kicked to the page where they wanted you to enroll, spend money, without knowing what/who you'd get...probable someone I never heard or seen and the money is nonrefundable. If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, feels like a duck and quacks like a duck,,,it is a duck. THIS IS A SHAM !!!!
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zella Billington, 16 May 2010 @ 2:53pm

Re: classmates
Yes Itoo Get the Someone signed your book Yesterday ,,.Only to find it was someone Over A MONTH AGO. I Will not re subscribe Again !!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jun 2010 @ 2:43pm

Wish I'd read this first
I've ignored Classmates' come-on e-mails "you have received X guestbook signatures this month/upgrade to see them" for years. However, I finally succumbed to the $9.95 promo rate.

The mysterious guestbook signatures simply reveal several repeat visits from people I don't know. They appear to be from my school but not my graduating class. A few visits several years ago are from classmates organizing a reunion who have already contacted me.

None of the recent visitors left messages for me, contrary to what Classmates' e-mails implied by referring to them as "signatures". They should be required to call them "visits." Anything else is fraudulent.
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The Founder, 17 Jun 2010 @ 7:30pm

should be free!
That's why at www.rent-a-boyfriend.com we don't do crap like that and we also don't sell ur info: u log in and have fun!
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Mike S., 3 Jun 2011 @ 6:06am

Classmates underhanded business practices.
Without notice or authorization, Classmates.com charged my credit card an increased membership fee of $39.00 from the previous one of $9.95. Furthermore, the three "signatures" I have in my guestbook are from people whose names I don't recognize. One was even from a "Class of" which was five years before mine. Since the Classmate's fees are non-refundable, I decided to let the full year run out without the intention of renewing my subscription.
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_H_A_C_K_E_R_, 31 Aug 2011 @ 11:50am

Really
i love it i hope this starts a domino affect and every deceptive advertising site gets sued... finally someone stood up... Hackers/Unite..
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martha h, 2 Oct 2011 @ 4:51pm

classmates fees
I am very disgusted! I was not informed that the payment i made a year ago to this classmates.com would be AUTOMATIC EVERY YEAR and even more they increased the fee WITHOUT TELLING YOU!!! I was surprised to receive a debit for $39 when it was only $20 last year.

I just cancelled! Do not subscribe its a waste of money
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Ben, 6 Jan 2012 @ 3:36pm

I think they're doing fake emails again. I got this one:

"___!?! It's ____ from way back when...If you read his (sic), email me back...I'd love to touch bases w/ you again..."

Have you guys seen this one too? I'm not going to contact the person who sent this to me in order to verify. After I cancelled my account and deleted my profile, the rep said her records indicated it was authentic, but I don't believe her.
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Jim White, 17 Jan 2013 @ 5:35am

Please take me off you're list.
I've had enough and do not want to be
a part of this, so Please Please take me
off your list!
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BILLL GOTTSCHALK, 18 Aug 2013 @ 9:39am

classmates ripoff
STEVE S. - classmates will automatically renew your subscriptin at the end off the year unless you tell them to cancel it.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2013 @ 6:17pm

I figured this was some kind of scam & I find it is, after reading some of your replies
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jack amose, 31 Oct 2013 @ 12:41pm

a good spell caster
My Name is jack amose ..I never believed in Love Spells or Magics until I met this special spell caster when i contact this man called Gracerelationshipspell@gmail.com Execute some business..He is really powerful..My wife divorce me with no reason for almost 6 years and i tried all i could to have her back cos i really love her so much but all my effort did not work out.. we met at our early age at the college and we both have feelings for each other and we got married happily for 5 years with no kid and she woke up one morning and she told me she�s going on a divorce..i thought it was a joke and when she came back from work she tender to me a divorce letter and she packed all her loads from my house..i ran mad and i tried all i could to have her back but all did not work out..i was lonely for almost 6 years�So when i told the spell caster what happened he said he will help me and he asked for her full name and her picture..i gave him that..At first i was skeptical but i gave it a try cos have tried so many spell casters and there is no solution�so when he finished with the readings,he got back to me that she�s with a man and that man is the reason why she left me�The spell caster said he will help me with a spell that will surely bring her back.but i never believe all this�he told me i will see a positive result within 3 days..3 days later,she called me herself and came to me apologizing and she told me she will come back to me..I cant believe this,it was like a dream cos i never believe this will work out after trying many spell casters and there is no solution..The spell caster is so powerful and after that he helped me with a pregnancy spell and my wife got pregnant a month later..we are now happy been together again and with lovely kid..This spell caster has really changed my life and i will forever thankful to him..he has helped many friends too with similar problem too and they are happy and thankful to him..This man is indeed the most powerful spell caster have ever experienced in life..Am Posting this to the Forum in case there is anyone who has similar problem and still looking for a way out..you can reach him here:Gracerelationshipspell@gmail.com... CONTACT THIS GREAT AND POWERFUL SPELL CASTER CALLED priest grace... HIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS :Gracerelationshipspell@gmail.com... CONTACT HIM NOW AND BE FAST ABOUT IT SO HE CAN ALSO ATTEND TO YOU BECAUSE THE EARLIER YOU CONTACT HIM NOW THE BETTER FOR YOU TO GET QUICK SOLUTION TO ALL YOUR PROBLEMS...
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J Birchwood, 17 Nov 2013 @ 9:36am

Best free alumni sites
The best alternatives (all free) that I've found are: Facebook.com groups, Tree52.com and ClassReport.org.
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blimberg, 6 Jan 2014 @ 6:38am

I admit I was skeptical about magic spells. For me i thought love spell was a movie thing though but I was ready to try anything to get my husband back, which this spell priestessshadi@gmail.com did for me, I've appreciated the fact that she solved my relationship issue in a perfect way, mail her if you need help to get your lover back.
her email again is priestessshadi@gmail.com

blimberg
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Apr 2014 @ 3:03pm

Re: classmates.com
Classmates is a big rip-off. They automatically renew your membership and block your sign-in. They give me the message that my password is invalid but continue to send me notices that someone has visited my account. Even after contacting them, nothing is done and they refuse to refund any money when I can' get into the website.
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Maurice H, 30 Apr 2014 @ 8:09am

Re: Finally, someone does this...
I don't people are "weak minded" because they want to connect with old friends or classmates. The problem is sites like Classmates taking advantage of decent people who want to recollect. I have not joined, as there are very few people I want to see from 50 years ago, but there are others who want to, so don't fault them for wanting to go back in time.
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Louise, 23 May 2014 @ 3:49am

BIG scam
They keep sending these aswell but get my first name wrong. I even reply and ask who the f*** is linda? But i still get these emails i wish i could block them

shale8663@gmail.com
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Anonymous, 24 Jun 2014 @ 8:47am

ClassMates. Com
From what I read, there are some negative comments about Classmates.com which are true. But you have to remember this that Classmates is a business just like any other business out to make money. They have to market their product in such a way in order to survive as a company even though they might use deceptive practices at times to do so once in awhile to attract your attention. You have to be smart enough to know the difference to know what is true and what is not true. If you want to try to find an High School Friend from the Past, it is Great Tool to use! I have seen actual real personal photographs and stories of people that I actually knew about when I went to high school forty seven years ago. The photographs that appeared on line and some of the stories did actually came from my old High School friends. There was no way that Classmates could got a hold of some of these stories on their own. The graduating Class List they had from my old High School was very real and the names on them were real. There are people out there today in this world who like me are really looking for a lot of old friends to reconnect with after so many years. Some friends of mine might want to reconnect because they feel lonely or depressed and want to be remembered in life. It is a great tool to build up their self esteem, for depression hurts that mind, body and the spirit. Classmates is definitely a Social Media Networking Site. They also might want to know how well their old friends really made out in life after so many years. I have wisdom, even though I am in my mid 60s, I still have a heart and remember all the good times and bad and all of my High School friends as well, the good and the bad. How often I thought of them and wished how nice it would be if I could talk to them just once more after 47 years. Here is one way you can protect yourself from getting ripped off on your Credit card by Classmates and not have to worry about anything. When you sign up to classmates for a certain amount of membership time for an All Access Pass, choose the mail in option and lock in the amount that you want to pay for by sending a US Postal Money Order by mail. Print out the on line application for membership and pay for it with a USPS Money Order by mail. It is safe and the USPS will prosecute anyone who uses their money order for Fraudulent reasons. It is safe, if for some reason it gets lost or stolen, you will get your money back. Keep the USPS Bill of Sale and the Money Order tear off Receipt as proof of purchase and turn it back in at the post office in case of problems. On Classmates, you pay for the lenght of time that you want your membership pass to continue, 3 months, 1 yr or 2 years. Then if you want to renew it again, do so by doing the same thing all over again. If not you are out nothing. Sometimes you have to take a calculated risk in life depending how bad that you want to reach out to talk to or contact someone. So you might have to wait a week to 10 days to get your membership active - Big Deal! You will get on CM eventually ,so be patient and wait. You will protect your own credit card since they do not have access to it.
In my old high school days, some people have looked down upon me as being an under achiever and really thought that I would never amount to anything. My self esteem at that point in time was low. The problem is that they never really knew me very well of what I was capable of in doing or achieving in my life. I really persevered to get up in the world. Forty seven years later, I have graduated from two distinguished Universities and one community college(twice) after leaving high school. I am eligible from a Catholic University for Graduate School to pursue a Masters Degree if so desire since I have a very high 3.67 G.P.A. I have left a valid profile, sincerely truthfull stories and pictures on CM and I have had number of valid hits from people who actually I went to school with me and who remembered me well. I have invited several people to respond, but sometimes on account of personal reasons they may not. To insure integrity in my stories on classmates, I have installed visual cues of events that actually happened to me in High School which the majority of people knew about and remembered. The real life pictures along with my personal blog on classmates told my true story as well. People from my past reading my stories will know whether I am real or not. I guess the best satisfaction that I could get is if I can just make some one person smile from my past (especially the girls) who remebered me so as to brighten up their day. I have seen people respond on classmates to my personal requests that I have asked them for to post their stories and pictures. I know that they are legitimate from the pictures they have posted. I often wondered how many people I may have really inspired when they read my stories. It seems like this old guy who may have felt like a loser in high school in the 1960s because some people looked down upon him as a loser, did quite well as a winner in real life. The Sin of Pride can be a real threat and problem for it can destroy friendships. Often times I like tone down my stories a bit so that so that I do not try to make some of my friends feel bad. I am out to win my High School friends over by respect and by not trying to judge anyone. My purpose is to win friends and not to lose any friends by making them feel bad. You Reap what you Sow. Life is too Short to Hold Grudges against anyone. May the God Bless all of my Friends, both Good and Bad Alike! Thank You for Reading my Blog.
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mad man, 16 Jan 2015 @ 10:02am

classmatescom
took me 10 years to get these people off of my credit card.

How disreputable!
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Joseph D. Costello, 13 Jan 2016 @ 8:20am

Complaint
I started with classmates several months ago. It was free then. Then, I felt it was time to subscribe, so I did for a three month period. None of the promises of theirs came through. When I try to use the newer services, dollar signs pop up and it tells me tat I must pay MUCH MORE for these services. It also, 100% of the time pops up at 5 or so digit code that I must type in. I do, and 100% of the time it says I punched in the wrong WHEN I HAVE NOT!!
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jeremy toffle, 9 Mar 2017 @ 1:01am

well
what site isnt a scam these days? even nytimes, and wall street journal (with its boring articles) tries to get you to pay for their content
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Jan, 17 Mar 2017 @ 6:25am

classmates
They keep sending me notifications that my classmates are contacting me. Every single name is not in my yearbook and I don't recognize any of them. They're always slightly misspelled. Thank goodness I just went for 3 month trial to see how they operate. One supposed contact was from a class 6 years before mine and said I had contacted him. I just delete their notification now until my subscription runs out. What a great concept just adulterated for a quick buck.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Mar 2017 @ 11:35am

How do we block someone.
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Against the Grain, 3 Nov 2017 @ 6:41am

No problems
Am I really the exception? I have not had any issues with Classmates and I like it. I get emails when someone has viewed my profile. On occasion I get one of those emails, but like me, I think sometimes you view someones profile but quickly remove your visit, so it won't show up when you go to see who looked. I think that is what is happening to some of you. A lot of people are Not on Facebook that Are on Classmates and it is a fun way to peek at some old high school kids you may and may not remember. I think it is worth the small fee I pay.
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Joseph Bennett, 20 Jun 2018 @ 12:19pm

Emails
I have not upgraded and have gotten a lot of emails saying someone viewed my profile. Well I find out that it shows certain people doing it everyday. I am a little paranoid cause someone is trying to ruin my life so to see this bothers me. What is so interesting on my profile. Are there explicit photos that I did not give permission to or what. Not sure what happen but now I fon’t Even get updates anymore which is fine except we are planning a high school reunion so I need them again.
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Mary Miller, 10 Sep 2018 @ 6:05pm

Classmates at it again
I managed to get off of classmates a long time ago, after they just kept upping the costs for me to find out "who" if anyone was looking for me. Enter my 40th anniversary. Now I am getting CALLS from them demanding that I must be 'so excited' for me. No, in fairness, I am not. I asked to be placed on the do not call list, over 2 weeks ago, and they called again today. I may have to file a suit. Look, not everyone has 'wonderful' high school memories and not everyone 'hung' with people in their grade. If anything most people hung either with a year ahead or behind, which is what I did. So going and seeing people of my 'grade' is moot for me, anyway. I am pretty angry with Classmates.
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phillip d Anthony, 2 Apr 2019 @ 5:14pm

cancellation of member ship
Cancel all ties with your product,product's.
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Sepposam, 12 Jul 2019 @ 4:02pm

I was just a victim of this. I received an email from classmates that a classmate had sent a message.

I joined and replied, but have heard nothing. Obviously, it was a scam and I intend to contact them to get a refund for my trial membership.
I blocked them on Paypal so they cannot do an automatic renewal but will seek a refund of my initial payment. I'll be contacting the Wisconsin Attorney General's office. If you are in Wisconsin, I'd suggest you do the same.
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Emily Gary, 27 Mar 2020 @ 11:17pm

Albatoscana
My name is Emily Gary, am from Atlanta Georgia, now a house owner in Italy dew to the help of a friend Selena Lucas, just want too say thanks.
Italy House Hunting is a subsidiary of Alba Toscana Immobiliare, which acts as an intermediary in the purchase process of your house in Italy.
Italy House Hunting offers its services in English, German, Dutch and French. Buy your dream house in Italy now, together with an experienced
English speaking Real Estate Agent, which is recognised in Italy.

Alba Toscana Immobiliare

Contact Person: Kris Mahieu

Vicolo Cieco, 2 (corner with Via Pola)
58023 - Giuncarico (GR)

GPS: 42.90544 N 10.99264 E

Cell phone: +39 392 2580254

Fax +39 0566 88370

Email: albatoscana1@gmail.com
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Cynthia, 20 Apr 2020 @ 5:12am

Classmates.com law suit ?????
I was one of those suckers that got sucked in twice just to join. I couldn't get any info about my class reunion or anything else. Recently after signing up I couldn't find any info so i talked/text someone (I think help/support, not sure) and was told that everyone has an account and when you sign up you get a different account. I still couldn't find anything. All I would get is emails saying someone was looking for me or checked out my site. When trying to see this I would get prompted to upgrade. I would get frustrated and go back another time cause maybe I did something wrong. Finally I understand computers a little more. Now I know I wasn't doing anything wrong. A classmate told me all info I need was on facebook. It's amazing how many people i have connected with since. And I am working with my classmates to set up/prepare for our 40th reunion. Thank you CRM - NH
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