DENVER -- Several members of Life Styles Club 1, Ltd. in Denver claim the dating club manager made promises he never delivered.

For clients of Life Styles Club 1, Ltd. it all starts with a postcard stuck in a car door or windshield. The postcard is an "invitation" to "meet your match" and participate in "activities - travel -- sports -- dating."

Several dissatisfied members of the Life Styles Club dating club shared their experiences, but asked to be identified only by their first names.

"He said there was dinners, movies, skiing, outdoor activities, boating, stuff like that," said Cathy.

Cathy is one of several people who said the manager of the Life Styles Club, Ron Caven, misled and even lied to them.

"As far as I know, there haven't been any events for five years," she said.

On the contract she and Caven signed, it shows Cathy paid extra for activities and travel when she joined Life Styles Club 1, Ltd., in November 2007.

"I paid $3,795," she said.

To date, the activities schedule she said Caven promised to send her has never arrived and she said she has never been to an activity or event. That is not her only complaint about Life Styles Club.

"The first week, he (Caven) was supposed to have guys call me and I had to repeatedly call him to ask where all these guys were," Cathy said.

She said when a few men did finally call, they were outside the specifications she had indicated on the dating profiles she filled out for Caven.

She has another concern.

"He charges women more," she said.

Cathy said the men she spoke with told her they paid considerably less than she did for their memberships.

Another club member , identified as "Wayne", is one of the men she spoke with. When asked how much he paid for his membership, Wayne recalled, "Between $800 and $1,200, I would say."

Wayne said he had not been active in Life Styles Club for years when Caven contacted him last fall.

"He just called me out of the blue at work and asked me if I was still single," Wayne said. "Does he just have a shortage of guys in my age group? It just seemed kinda odd."

Wayne said there used to be activities when he joined the club in the late 1990s and even saved some of the old newsletters.

"We went jet skiing. I went to a Rockies game," he said.

But he said that stopped in about 2003.

When asked how much she paid, another member named Carol said, "$2,295 and I have had no dates."

Carol's contract, signed by Caven, also showed she paid considerably more than Wayne for her membership. She has also asked for her money back and said she feels cheated.

"After three weeks, I had no phone calls. After five weeks, I had no phone calls," she said.

Carol said she finally did get that first phone call, but still no dates. She took a close look at her contract.

"It says upon your first referral you can't get anything back," Carol said.

Carol said she realized she paid more than $2,000 for nothing more than one phone call.

"Is that right?" asked Wayne.

When he learned of the wording in the contracts recently signed by several members, he saw his unexpected call from Caven in a whole new light.

He said it made him feel "kind of like I was being used in a way."

Sherrie Nunn said Caven promised her a large pool of prescreened men when she joined Life Styles Club in 2003, but he did not deliver.

"I paid $4,200," Nunn said. "I felt like he had decieved me and that he was deceiving other people so I filed a case through small claims court."

Nunn said when she got in front of a judge, Caven had changed the name of the company.

So, she refiled her case again, suing under the new name, and again, she said Caven changed the name of the company.

Finally, Nunn said a judge convinced her to let it go.

A prospective client took along a hidden camera when she went to meet Caven at a Denver area Village Inn. Caven called the prospective client an hour before the meeting and said he could not make it and was sending a member named Kurt Allen.

During the meeting, the prospect asked the man she thought was Kurt Allen, "When did you join?" He said, "I've been in probably six years." Later, club members identified the man at that meeting as Caven.

During the meeting Caven admitted to some complaints against Life Styles Club with the Better Business Bureau.

"Thirteen or 14 complaints in 17 years," he said.

He offered the prospect what he called a "discount" on the price to join the club.

She repeated the offer, "So, $5,295. You're giving me a $500 discount. So it's $4,795?"

When confronted by the Call7 Investigators, Caven again identified himself as Kurt Allen before ducking into a store in a strip mall to avoid answering questions on camera. When reached by cell phone inside the store, Caven continued to refuse repeated attempts to conduct an on-camera interview either on the spot or at a location of his choice.

When asked when the club's last activity was, Caven could not give a date. When asked if he charges women different prices than men to join, he said that is "crazy."

Caven did not answer questions about how many members the club has or where the money he charges actually goes.

The Better Business Bureau said currently Life Styles Club has five complaints, two are pending.

BBB spokeswoman Susan Liehe said the dating service industry is one they struggle with.

"Is it a pattern to say they over-promise and under-deliver? Yes," Liehe said.

When looking over the Life Styles complaints the Call7 Investigators obtained, Liehe said, "This is substantially worse than most I've seen."

Caven faxed a hand-written response to the Call7 Investigators about their investigation of Life Styles Club.

In it, he said, "We have fought against dishonesty and no service in this industry for 17 years."

He also said, "Almost all of your complaints are from people who expected something to happen too fast."

Regarding the claim that women pay more than men to join, Caven said, "That is just not true."

The Call7 Investigators spoke to a total of five women who paid more, thousands more in some cases, than the men they interviewed.

If you have a complaint about this business, please send information to the Colorado Attorney General's Office. Mail it to Nate Strauch, Colo. Attorney General's Office, 1525 Sherman St., Denver, 80203 or fax it to Nate Strauch at 303-866-4745.

BBB Records Of Other Local Dating Clubs:

Great Expectations, not a BBB member, opened August 1988. The BBB processed a total of 16 complaints about this company in the last 36 months. Of the total of 16 complaints closed in 36 months, 6 were closed in the last year. Based on BBB files, this company has a satisfactory record with the BBB. This means a company has been in business for at least 12 months, and properly addressed matters referred by the BBB. The company does not have an unusual volume of complaints, or any government actions involving its marketplace conduct.

It's Just Lunch, BBB Member since May 2006, 1 resolved complaint. Satisfactory Rating.

Kris Kenny Connections, BBB member since Sept. 2002, 1 resolved complaint. Satisfactory Rating.

Dinner for Six, not a BBB member, company opened 1994, no complaints. Satisfactory rating.

The Right One, opened 2001, not a BBB member. The BBB processed a total of 31 complaints about this company in the last 36 months. Of the total of 31 complaints closed in 36 months, 10 were closed in the last year. Satisfactory rating.

Dating Service Tips

When considering a dating service, industry experts recommend the following:

1. Research the company thoroughly. Find out if there any complaints on file with the Colorado Attorney General (www.ago.state.co.us/consumer_protection), the Better Business Bureau (www.search.bbb.org) or other consumer protection agencies such as www.ConsumerAffairs.com

2. Be suspicious of any company that makes unbelievable claims of success or promises true love.

3. Ask if you can speak to current and former members about their experiences.

4. Ask the company to document the number of active members it has on file, the ratio of men to women, and the number of clients who meet your specific criteria. What does the company do if no clients meet your criteria? How does the dating service match you with other singles? Do they require you to complete a profile? How do they use that information to match you? Does it follow up with clients after dates?

5. Find out how much personal information the company shares about you with prospective dates. How does it protect your privacy? Make sure it doesn't reveal your real name, address, or other identifying information that could put you in jeopardy financially or personally.

6. How does the company protect your safety? Does it do background checks on its clients? If it says yes, ask for proof. If it says no, ask how it protects its clients. "We don't do background checks because all of our clients are professionals," is not good enough.

7. Some services will let you join on a trial basis if you ask. If you do this, make sure the terms of the agreement include how to cancel the service after the trial period ends, and the conditions to continue the service if you choose to do so.

8. Do not sign the contract until you have read and understand all the terms and conditions. Don't allow yourself to be rushed. Make sure that all of the services (such as travel or other activities) are included in the written agreement. Any verbal promises, such as a certain number of dates in a certain time period, should also be in the contract. In most cases, once the contract is signed, it is final.

9. Clarify the cancellation procedures before you join. If you are paying a one-time fee, ask for the conditions under which you can cancel your membership, and the refund policy. If you are paying on a monthly basis find out if your membership is automatically renewed. Mark your calendar so you'll be sure not to miss any key cancellation deadlines. Request the cancellation in writing, send the letter return receipt requested and keep a copy of your letter and the receipt. Follow up with the company to ensure the cancellation was honored.

10. Pay with a credit card so you can dispute the charge if you're not happy with the service.