MyLife

"Reunion.com" redirects here. For other uses, see Reunion (disambiguation).

For other uses of My Life, see My Life.

Reunion.com

Commercial?	Yes
Type of site	Social network
Registration	Required
Owner	Privately held
Created by	Jeffrey Tinsley
Alexa rank	2,409 (December 2012)

MyLife.com is a website founded by Internet entrepreneur Jeffrey Tinsley. Originally launched in 2002 as Reunion.com, the company began with the acquisition of highschoolalumni.com and PlanetAlumni.com. The website claims to help its 60 million registered members aggregate their email and social networking accounts in one place, find personal and work connections they’re missing, and manage their web presence. The site’s products include: Social Dashboard, People Search, Who’s Searching for You®, Public Record Remover and QuickMatch Singles.

In August 2007, Reunion.com claimed to be the 6th top social networking site with 28 million users, growing by nearly 1 million new members each month, mostly in the United States and Canada.

Quantcast estimates MyLife has 1.2 million monthly unique U.S. visits. By comparison, Facebook has 143 million monthly visits. Alexa's global traffic rank for MyLife is 2,409; its US rank is 582; and its daily global traffic has declined by 21% in the last three months.

On April 30, 2007 Reunion.com announced that it had signed an agreement with Wink to provide Wink's people profiles (from on-line social networks and other sources on the web) to Reunion's members. Then on August 20, 2007 Reunion.com announced an agreement with ZoomInfo to provide ZoomInfo's business related people profiles to Reunion.com members.

News

MyLife has received press coverage for social media usage studies, including a 2012 survey conducted by Harris Interactive for MyLife that showed nearly 2 out of 3 U.S. adults who use social media have a “Fear of Missing Out” on important news, updates and events if they are not carefully following their feeds.

Privacy

Although member privacy is protected through a blind relay e-mail system that prevents e-mail addresses and contact information from being revealed, it is possible to allow Reunion to access email addresses stored on a computer upon registration. These e-mail addresses were at one time used to solicit more members, but this practice has since ceased. Public record information is also displayed such as names, addresses and associated family members, with the intent of facilitating new connections among its members.

At one time, upon requesting removal of your information the company would block your IP address from returning any searches. People would receive an error that stated "Http/1.1 Service Unavailable," but your information was still visible to any other user that searched for your name. This issue has been remedied and all profile removals are now completed per users’ requests.

Removal requests

You can contact them via phone by calling toll-free at (888) 704-1900.) Their hours of phone support are: Monday – Friday 6:00 AM – 9:00 PM (PT) Saturday – Sunday 6:00 AM – 6:00 PM (PT)

email: removalrequests(at)mylife(.com) or support(at)mylife(.com)

E-mail Spoofing

People who subscribe to MyLife.com may allow MyLife to access all email addresses stored in their free e-mail accounts. At one time, these were used to solicit more members under their name by altering the sender address and other parts of the email header to appear as though the email originated from the person who subscribed.This practice has resulted in lawsuits against the company. This practice has since ceased.

Ownership

MyLife, Inc. is privately owned. The original investors, making a total investment of $1.4 Million in angel financing, included Jeffrey Tinsley, former founder and CEO of GreatDomains.com and current CEO of Reunion.com; Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Demand Media and the former Chairman of MySpace; and Andy Mazzarella, CEO of eForce Media and former CFO of iMall.

Financing

On April 16, 2007, the company announced that it received $25 Million in venture funding from Oak Investment Partners in the largest series A venture financing in a social networking company to date. The percent ownership stake that Oak received for their investment has not been reported.

Business model

The company’s business model is based on user-generated content and revenue from paid subscriptions and advertising sales. 90% of the firm's revenue is from paid subscriptions.

Better Business Bureau

In late 2008, complaints from customers not resolved in a satisfactory manner caused the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau to rate Reunion.com 'F.’ After changing many of its policies and practices, the company's rating as of June 2012 is 'A-.'

This company practices what the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau (BBB) calls "negative option cancellation". In this sales strategy, customers agree to pay for services unless they cancel within a specified period of time. Members are required to cancel prior to the initial anniversary date to avoid continuing annual charges to their credit cards which can be done at any time.

The BBB was concerned that the company used misleading advertising practices by e-mailing customers advising them that people 'may' be searching for them, and offers them to become paid members to find the identity of any people that may search for them in the future. In its FAQ section, the MyLife.com site describes this feature as follows: "'Who's Searching For You' will reveal the listed names of the specific users who have performed a search using your first and last (current or maiden) names and your age range within 5 years of your listed date of birth and is still saved in their Search History'.

By late 2010, the rating had gone to 'A+,' and the following summary and analysis of customer complaints and company responses was given:

“

Complainants generally allege that the company automatically renews memberships and debits accounts. Some customers report signing up for the service based on a low monthly rate but are charged for a non-refundable yearly or a lesser term subscription up-front. In some cases, complainants are dissatisfied that their information is posted on the company’s website and request its removal. The company generally responds by providing refunds and states that accounts are set to auto-renew at the end of the subscription term, unless the customer disables the auto-renew feature before the renewal is processed. In response to the amount of the charges, they state that customers signed up for a term account with a monthly subscription rate billed up-front for the entire term and is listed in several places on the order page. The company promptly removes profiles when requested and also states that the information was gathered from public sources.

”

Less than a year later, the rating again went to 'F' and the company's accreditation was revoked, with the following factors cited as reasons:

• BBB Accreditation was revoked because business failed to honor its accreditation agreement with BBB
• 1185 complaint(s) filed against business
• Business has failed to resolve underlying cause(s) of a pattern of complaints
• Advertising issue(s) found by BBB

The advertising issue was explained by the BBB as follows:

“

On June 20, 2011, we wrote to this company asking them to modify their website disclosures to more clearly advertise the cost of their services. Customers generally complain that they are charged for the annual membership fee rather than the monthly amount displayed on the webpage. The current offer does not display an asterisk to alert the member of additional conditions associated with the price offer. The asterisk that is on the webpage is not in close proximity to the price offer, and is in microscopic print on a gray background using gray font. We believe that the information referenced by asterisks should be clearly and prominently disclosed. The explanation of the asterisks is below the pricing information and is obviously confusing to consumers as delineated by the complaints we receive. The company submitted a response on July 13, 2011. The company generally disagrees with the BBB that their pricing methods are deceptive, and feels that the disclosures the BBB felt were questionable adequately convey the terms and conditions of the offer.

”

To submit a complaint to the Better Business Bureau use the address of 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1500 Los Angeles, CA 90025 or 2118 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1008 Santa Monica, CA 90403 or you may select "Headquarters" on the BBB website.

Lawsuits, complaints

Class-action lawsuit

A consolidated class-action lawsuit was filed against MyLife.com in February of 2011. "[O]ne victim cited in the complaint allegedly registered as 'sfsf sdgfsdgs,' then received an email from MyLife.com saying that seven people were searching for 'sfsf sdgfsdgs.'"

In August of 2011, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken refused to dismiss the case. "Judge Wilken also allowed claims of unlawful, unfair or fraudulent conduct under California's Unfair Competition Law for the same reasons she allowed the CLRA [California's Consumers Legal Remedies Act] claims to stand."

"One of the two plaintiffs in the California lawsuit, John Clerkin, signed up for one month of service for $21.95. Once he learned he didn’t know any of the people looking for him, he tried to cancel and discovered he’d been billed $155.40 instead. He claims in the suit that MyLife refunded him $104.55 but refused to return the remaining $50.85."

Washington State AG lawsuit

"Concerned that MyLife.com’s advertisements violated Washington state’s Consumer Protection Act prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office began an investigation in 2011. ... State officials say MyLife.com chose to resolve the investigation by agreeing to enter into an 'assurance of discontinuance...' ... The company also agrees to pay $28,000 in attorneys’ costs and fees."

Consumer feedback

"Online complaint forums such as Complaints Board, Ripoff Report and Consumer Ally are filled with frustrating stories by consumers who describe the site as “a total scam” and “a rip-off.” YouTube even has videos reviewing how the site works, luring potential member into parting with their financial information for a questionable database (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAosamXDINQ)."

Other customers who have found MyLife useful for reuniting with distant relatives, lost loves and old friends, praise the site using phrases such as, “MyLife completed my life.”

External links

• How to cancel your MyLife.com subscription?
• "How do I delete/remove my account?" MyLife.com, via LivePerson
• "Just Say 'No' to MyLife.com," Tech – for Everyone
• "How to: Cancel MyLife," CancelWizard.com