Ashley Madison Review
Editor’s note: When we asked Brad to review of Ashley Madison to include in our collection of online dating and social media sites, we were not aware of the infidelity niche aspect (In Boston, AshleyMadison.com’s ad campaign promoted the site with the motto: Life is short. Have an affair). Let’s just say it’s not the kind of site that you and your significant other can sit down and browse together. We don’t endorse it and recommend looking at some of the other online matching sites such as our reviews of eHarmony, which I like a lot better. Make your own decision. Thanks for educating us Brad.
Ashley Madison kind of sounds like a porn star name, and this online dating service actually does lean more that direction than many of the others. It specializes in affairs for married or attached people, which has gotten the attention of numerous publications. While plenty of people think this kind of service is unethical, there’s no denying the popularity of such practices. Rest assured, reader, that my first-hand knowledge that follows was done entirely for your benefit. I don’t wish to get in trouble with my “attachment.”
There are over 1.7 million members at Ashley Madison, and almost all of them are there to date outside of the relationship. The service makes it absolutely clear that it exists for just that reason. Still, you will find a few singles looking for relationships with other singles, but who would want to hook up with them, since it’s obvious they can’t follow directions?
Signing up can be extremely quick, since you only have to fill out about ten questions related to your location, physical characteristics, and relationship information. However, you have the option of filling out a more detailed profile that includes descriptions of your interests, your perfect match, and your “intimate interests.” You have the capability to add a profile photo, but you’ll find that the nature of this matching service makes profiles with photos fairly rare. It all adds up to Ashley Madison functioning like the Yahoo Personals of the polyamorous.
Members can get quite specific in their profiles with an interest checklist of over fifty preferences ranging from scented candles to tattoos. Some members also have a “private showcase” that may include photos you wouldn’t want your grandma to see. Other members must be invited to view them.
Ashley Madison offers a lot of help for members who want to make discretion a high priority. Members can turn off their profiles at any time, and they can also set things up so they appear offline even when they are actually online. In case you are about to get caught with your hand in the cookie jar, there is a panic button that will whisk you away to a movie trailer website. Good luck hitting it in time, though, as the button is awfully tiny.
Mischief and discretion come at a premium with Ashley Madison, so expect to pay two or three times the cost of cheaper online dating sites like Date.com or Perfectmatch.com. There is no monthly subscription price; instead members pay for credits, with the cheapest option being 100 credits for $55. That will buy you 5 hours of instant messaging time or 20 emails to new matches. The ultimate package costs $360 and covers six months of unlimited emailing and 750 credits (which equates to more than 37 hours of instant messaging time). Members can also choose to transfer credits to other members.
Other features you’ll find on the site include a tips section, where Ashley Madison offers advice for successful encounters. The online matchmaker seems to have thought of everything a new member could want in the way of help, even providing a “Dictionary of Acronyms & Emoticons” and a chart listing the most popular days and times for members to be on the site.
Ashley Madison also includes some cost-cutting features such as the ability to respond to a paid member’s email for free. There is also the unique option to send a collect instant message.
Be sure to thoroughly understand the consequences that can come from using the Ashley Madison online matching service. It can’t be emphasized enough that this is not just another online personals site. That being said, if some excitement outside of your current relationship doesn’t clash with your values, Ashley Madison can offer you a well-organized center for finding just what you’re looking for.
July 30th, 2009
Ashley Madison is a glorified chat room at best and probably run and operated by chatters. Women looking for men are swamped with e-mails almost immediately. If your a good chatter you can rise above the ranks and chat with a lonely women posting 10 year old pictures of herself when she was 30 lbs thinner. Some genus ex chatter came up with the idea of how to get chatters to pay for chatting, the men get to bid for the attention of women and the women get to be pedistlised and dotted upon by groveling males and both parties get to pay for it…..pure genus
August 16th, 2009
Ashley Madison is pretty much a pipe dream for men who are hoping they can find an alternative to the obvious rules of nature.
you will realize this truth quickly.
Most of the women’s ads on AM are false profiles wich serve as bait for the man who wants to believe there are millions of married women dying to have sex with him.
False ads account for about 95+% of the ads.
Of the remaining less than 10% that are not false ads, about half are from professional escorts.
The remaining legitimate ads are from real wives who are fat, old, unsightly. no wonder they need to pay a website to find someone who would want to touch them.
the simple fact of life is that a a hot woman that you would want, doesn’t need hlep finding a man. an attractive woman is offered free sex everyday of her life.
the point is the website works hard to get your money. all those fake ads are constantly hitting you up for chat, try to get you engage in email exchange, and send collect emails all of which will run through your credits pretty quickly as you are charged for contact, not by the month.
a pretty good scam that preys on men’s fatal weakness.
LET THE BUYER BEWARE!
August 18th, 2009
I tried out this website about 6 months ago and it did not work at all. Its not worth paying 55 bucks for something you can burn through credits in a one weeks time. If you decide to go through with it anyway, you will waste your money. Your better off going about it the old fashion way.
August 20th, 2009
This site is a waste of time more than it is a waste of money. The ratio of men to women is way too high, most of the women are unattractive and half the women are just browsing and get cold feet. The only difference with Craigslist? CL is free!
November 2nd, 2009
This is the most disturbing website I’ve ever heard of. I’m watching this couple on the Tyra show and am wondering, what is our society coming to when there’s a website devoted to helping people cheat on their spouses? This is disgusting and people need to respect the marriages they enter into. No wonder our country’s divorce rates are through the roof.
November 23rd, 2009
I think its ridiculous! Its for spouses to get online because, their not happy with their home lives. If you want something more, Be honest with your spouse rather than go behind their back and have an affair. Its peoples emotions you all are playing with. I find it discusting! Its like, you obviously are too big of a jerk to be honest so, you go about it the other way. People that get on here, dont care about no one else but themselves. They dont think about the families that can be broken. I wonder what ever happened to “Death do us part”? I think the people are sick and should be honest!
Think about what your doing!
January 13th, 2010
The AM website works. I’ve patronized several dating sites and it is the only one that led to successful relationships. Even so, it can be rough. Dating is about rejection. Moving the venue from a bar to a website doesn’t make it easier. In fact, if you’re the kind of person who is better in person, or isn’t comfortable writing, e-dating could put you at a distinct disadvantage. In the problematic morass of relationship websites, AM is far better than most.
February 27th, 2010
Website grabs as much money as they can every step of the way. Accepting collect message is different from sending a message to that same contact,so you pay twice. Watch out when sending a message, it is marked as priority by default so you’ll pay double unless you turn it off each time. After granting private key to show case, you have no record because history of sent messages is only 20, so you need to purchase the history to know to which contact you granted the keys. Don’t waste your money, start going out and meeting women in person, it costs nothing. If you are afraid of rejection, go to the next town, be a gentleman and start talking to women. If you get rejected, no big deal, you know that you probably won’t meet them ever again. So what’s the big deal.
March 16th, 2010
ITS A SCAM! For men especially! Don’t join –they’ll take your money and string your around with NO RESULTS. Spend that same money on women you meet on business trips, much (much!) better results. Think about it: the people making these comments aren’t pushing to another site –we’re pointing out that this website is just bad (I’d be much more suspicious of its anonymous online defenders!). Don’t let yourself think “oh, maybe they’re wrong and I’ll be lucky”… how do you think they get their money? When guys let their junk think for them (which we’re often waaay too guilty of, myself included). You’ve been warned.
March 26th, 2010
OK – If there is one thing that I have over all of you offering perspective on Ashley Madison it is this. I have lived enough years to know the cost and pain of marriage break ups due to cheating spouses. I have lived with and married a woman that I was absolutely 100% faithful to during our time together. I also know that no life is lived when a persons sex life is not alive with lust, love and passion. Here is the answer to the problem – Be open and honest with your partner about your needs. If these do not exist in your marriage and your partner will not respond in a manner that is producing the desired outcome then seek assistance with there knowledge. You do not have to be specific a to whom your seeing or where or how just that you are. Swinging has become a very open way in which to keep your sex lives charged and your home life in tact.
Really does anyone have sex with the same person for a lifetime and feel the same fireworks they had when the first met? I think not! Live your life without regrets.
April 19th, 2010
Ashley Madison does work for a woman. I am an attractive educated woman who was looking to spice up my life. I got to have that fantasy guy that I always dreamed of with NSA.
From a woman’s point of view it is not a scam. I had recieved numerous hits from tons of men. If it did not work for a guy maybe they need to look in the mirror and be honest and say “gee am I as handsome as I make myself out to be?” maybe that is why it does not work for alot of guys.
April 29th, 2010
A SCAM . Period. Double the price to send a message. You pay to be able to open up your mail. You pay to see photos that have been send to you and that are showing a woman doing the dishes!!! And you never get back a reply from any one, from any winks etc…. Most women on the sites are too good to be true. In my opinion they are false nicks that have been put online to attract gullible guys. And you don’t get very far with your first nearly $100 of credits!..PLEASE avoid at all cost. And never count on their online help to answer any questions you might have. You will receive an emaila confriming that AM has recieve your message, but you will never hear back from them again! A SCAM….The guy who founded this must be laughing his way to the bank!!! And don’t belive the occassional male or female who pretends it does work. They are probably affiliated with AM
May 2nd, 2010
The site is a scam. Wake up and don’t waste your money. They got me – very misleading… employees pose as women, etc. don’t be a sucker.
May 4th, 2010
Wow, surprised at the negative reaction on this site. First, I experienced no scam on Ashley Madison, I did find a great mistress that I’ve been seeing for a few months now. The Traveling Man feature works…used it a few times before visiting a new city and had a “successful encounter” each time. I have now deleted my account since I have a “regular” mistress who has the ability to travel with me, but will sign back up in a heartbeat if things go sour!
July 5th, 2010
AM is a total ripoff for guys. They have fake profiles and also females who are paid to create profiles and generate traffic on the site. Of course it will work for females. Any guy who has ever sat down at a bar knows how that dynamic works in favor of the female. I personally have sent out over 400 messages and receeived one positive reply and that one didn’t turn out to be anything sucessful. Save your money and go have a beer. You will have better luck.
July 18th, 2010
Thought I would add a little to the pile of reviews. For a woman, this site is golden. Sign up and you will instantly be smacked by a tidal wave of men, all itching to get it on with you. A girlfriend of mine recommended this site to me (one that I used to hook up with a long time ago). On her first weekend of having her profile up (with no profile pic and no description whatsoever), she was bombarded with over 400 winks, picture keys and emails!
For the guys….I wouldn’t go anywhere near this site! First, you can see what you’re up against. For a woman to find you, she has to wade through a of shit, and I do mean a TON. The ratio of men to women is severely lopsided to the point where I bet you would win the Powerball before you have any chance of developing a relationship with a married woman. Spam and fake profiles run rampant as well (say no to the “receive collect messages” option!).
This site is just like any hook up sites out there….Fling, Adult Friend Finder….all the same. Don’t bother! Pour all your time, money and energy into improving yourself….learn to play an instrument….women love that;)….spend some more time in the gym. If that’s not your thing, try your luck on Craigslist or Plentyoffish.com. At least they’re free.
September 29th, 2010
The comments here have pretty much nailed it. The Ashley Madison “Agency” is a SCAM! After tossing a few hundred dollars down the drain, it dawned on me–too slowly–that I was sending emails to women who either don’t exist or are no longer connected to this site. It’s a joke. STAY AWAY!
AdultFriendFinder is a little better.
October 20th, 2010
Ashely Madison IS: Marketing Genius
Ashely Madison is NOT what you think it is.
Check out who owns these domains. All of them are actually REGISTERED by the company they’re supposed to be “bashing”. Check out the REGISTRANT addresses, then go find AM’s address… they are the same.
ashleymadisonscams.com
ashleymadisonscam.net
ashleymadisonreviews.net
ashleymadisonprofiles.net
ashleyscam.net
ashleymadisonfraud.com
ashleymadisoncheating.com
A company that puts THIS much effort into making sure real reviews of their site get drowned out is without a shadow of a doubt, hiding something.
For those unfamiliar with domain registration – look up “whois ashleymadison.com ” on google, then compare to some of the ones from the list above. Go see for yourself.
November 6th, 2010
I have to say I’m not getting pd by am. As a female I did find friend, one person chatted w/ several males but if u are a female u will get lots of male attention, not all good looking or young looking but beware for the females if u are looking for a emotional thing u may nor find it here there is a few players like to hook up with several girls, and it is strictly about fantasy sex for them. So If u are looking fir love then try something else. As fir the males I’m not too sure how it works out for all of them I xo know how it worked out fir the guy I met, and I’m pretty looking girl not I think.
November 24th, 2010
I’m male, I tried it and it was a big disappointment. “Marketing Genius” proved a point I was suspecting, and I bet a few remarks here are as fake as those websites.
I’m better-looking than average and can write well, posted a great pic (verified by real females) and got a few nibbles from semi-attractive women who just stopped communicating with me after the first contact. The hottest ones never responded at all- there’s only a few of them and I suspect the comments here are correct- they are likely bombarded.
Men-stay away. Women- maybe.
January 17th, 2011
Ashley Madison is a scam! My experience was at first hopeful, then frustrated the pissed at the realization of what’s going on there. After contacting them and complaining about fees I didn’t agree to they agreed to refund my money. Their system is based on over charging and hoping most people won’t contest it or won’t notice.
Meanwhile, no people people at all responded to me (a fit, 5′-11″, professional who has had no problem attrating women in the past) even though many women expressed interest. Go figure, Can you say “I smell a rat”?
January 25th, 2011
well what I can say is: I spent 100 usd with no good results, the site shows the ratio 7 guys 3 women so that is the reality so I received 4 responses that after my second message never were answered. I supposed the site also is manipulated, since is the way to push you at the beginning to buy more credits.
I think is a good site for wowen since they are in the store of guys and a lot of option to take for free since the guys pay everything
I saw a comment of a girl that mentioned come on you need to do it is to see you in a mirror. well well I can say that I am not Brad Pitt guy but I am 6’ white tanned athletic body 5 times a week work out, at my 35 yr old I have the same weight of my 18 yr old, with tremendous success before married and I did have not an answer so the truth is 100 guys for 10 girls.
If you are persistent, I mean open to spend money and patient you can have a girl soon or later or you can go to a night club for better results
January 25th, 2011
I wouldn’t call this a scam – it’s just a website that takes already stacked odds against men in the dating scene and makes them even worse. I’ll confess to a number of affairs that have started the old fashioned way (meeting a girl in person), through craigslist, and through adult friend finder. The old fashioned way is best, because you know what you are getting and you know that she liked something about you. Craigslist is the most efficient, but the results are very mixed. CL is better than before about protecting from spam, but you will still get a lot of bs responses – be very careful! Make sure the person sounds like a real person. Talk on the phone before meeting (there are some sorry men who pose as hot women to try to meet and then try to convince you that you really wanted to be with a man!). Adult friend finder can work, but it will cost you and the real people on there are a very small percentage of the profiles shown and mostly older women or couples. Still, none of these options costs even remotely what AM apparently costs. I would really avoid it as a man since you are given so little info about the “women” before you pay to email them. On AFF, you can pretty instantly tell the fake profiles by looking at them. Here’s my guide to spotting fakes on AFF or CL(or probably AM):
On AFF, whatever program spammers are using (or, as I suspect, the AFF people stack the site with fake hottie profiles) actually puts quotes around their “tagline” – so you can always find the fakes just by the quotes around the tagline.
The username is weird – like a name or sexual thing followed by random numbers, e.g., sexymomma37563 – um, no one real makes up user names like this unless its their birth year or something.
The picture is a young hottie. Young hotties don’t use these sites to find men. They get drunk at bars.
The picture has the woman and a friend in it. NO woman would put up her friends picture along side hers for this purpose.
The “woman” asks you to verify or check her profile on another site to get her number or something – don’t EVER click on one of these other sites. “She” will often even say she’s doing this to avoid spam!
The “woman’s” email is totally unresponsive to your ad or email or is so vague “I love hot sex and kittens!” that it could be sent to anyone.
These are all easy things to look for as a filter, so don’t give up hope. You can meet some losers on these sites, but you can truly also meet some amazing people. Good luck.
February 1st, 2011
All of these sites are a scam for guys. They sucker guys in and they pay for it. AM, AFF, and especially craigslist are LOADED with spammers & scammers. Occasionally you’ll find a real human in the mix (CL is especially bad at this) but most of the ads are automated spam. I don’t know why these sites cant filter this crap out. Probably because it makes their subscriber figures look better. AFF is bad too. I found a photo of a friend of mine on one of their bait profiles! She was furious about it. They took a photo that she used on Hot Or Not. AM, AFF, CL, etc are great if you’re a perfectly sculpted guy with an 8″ tool that wants to wine & dine an overweight 40 year old soccer mom. Lots of “BBW” girls with unrealistic expectations, but they will score because there are 10 guys for every girl. Girls always have their pick of the litter – even the ugly girls.
February 20th, 2011
Ashley Madison is the worst of dating sites,,,total waste of money and time
February 20th, 2011
it screwed me by charging me without my knowledge,,,,although I clicked on the right buttons it switched and charged me anyways,,,,,,,I just deleted my file in disgust and let them enjoy the $89 ….for that I will tell everyone what a bunch of thieves they are,
as for the women,.,,mostly ugly frustrated hacks posting old pictures
February 27th, 2011
If you create a profile on AshleyMadison.com they will charge you $19 if you decide to stop using their service and want to delete it later. Otherwise you can only “inactivate” it– but they will keep all of your history and photos on file. This is apparently a brand new policy. By the way, they also claim the right to use any photo you post in your profile on their site, anywhere and for any purpose. So if you post those nude photos of yourself, don’t be surprised if they show up someplace else! Read the fine print in the user agreement, they state this very clearly.
March 16th, 2011
The abundance of Ashley Madison related websites are fake as well. There are numerous “testimonial” websites which are set-up to entice men to sign up for AM.
Your money is better spent elsewhere…
March 16th, 2011
I think your site is disgusting you should be ashamed it breaks marriages up and will never cheat
March 21st, 2011
So not only can you have an affair behind your husband’s back, you can waste all of his money too… on a dating website!
April 2nd, 2011
AM is complete bunk, at least for guys. I think most of the female profiles are “dead” because people just abandon them when they find out they can’t have them removed from the site without paying up an additional $19. If your a female, you’ll get tons of attention and lots of pictures of genitals. So, if you’re a female, and wish to subject yourself to this – and these types of sleazeballs – then go ahead. If you’re a guy, your chances of hooking up with a legit female (meaning not a prostitute) are extremely remote.
April 3rd, 2011
I’ve been on AM for a week. While I did in fact meet up with a really hot housewife that wanted to get back at her husband, i do believe that any female with a public photo is a paid revenue generator for AM, as i am 0 for 4 in getting those people to reply to me after they send me a collect message. I believe the site is mostly a scam, but it still does have the potential to work, but you’ve got to be a decent looking guy and you also can’t be a boorish nimrod.
April 6th, 2011
AM is a complete utter scam.
The profiles are 100% fake and the posters here who say it works are paid by AM to come to sites like these and say it works.
I got to a point where I even told one woman on AM that she was fake. She was a white chick (supposedly) and had a nice glamour shot. I purposefully wrote to her to see her reaction. Where as other women never even responded, this one responded IMMEDIATELY after I said her profile was fake.
The even bigger give away was that her written English was full of spelling and grammatical errors….a clear indication that it was a hired person sitting behind a computer responding to emails. What utter BS.
Another woman turned out to be a live chat phoney.
This site should be closed down…it’s a mafia racket.
June 16th, 2011
So I went on a date with a girl who I believe is paid by Ashley Madison to go on dates. I think this is how it works, no ones real
October 16th, 2011
The website worked for me. I am an attractive female who is pretty much ignored by my spouse. I won’ t leave because we have a child together. It took me 8 months to find what I was looking for on the website. We have been seeing each other for almost a year. It is easy to judge others, but I will never let my child grow up with divorced parents. It is what it is.
November 8th, 2011
It’s a con for men; it’s just set up for women, there are no real women on there and they receive so many mails they can pick and choose. A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY PLEASE STAY OFF THIS SITE ESP MEN. COMPLETE CON TRICK