Sites like Craiglist, Padmapper or Roomie Match are a common alternative for looking for a buddy to share the room with. Living with a roommate is more convenient for a certain kind of people because it has its advantages. But it is provided that the roommate you now split the personal space with is adequate, and you have met on a reliable source. The website we will regard today is another online community that promises to help people meet their perfect match for sharing the living area and provides possibilities both for those who seek to rent or lease an apartment or a room. So, let's go on to some Roomster reviews to find out whether this particular platform is legitimate.
This intentional social network for seeking roommates or renting apartments claims to be the largest on an estate market, beating even Craiglist and boasting of more than 16 years of experience. Roomster was found on the 27th of September 2003 and its headquarters was initially situated in New York.
You can find Roommate on LinkedIn where the company unites 40 employees or read about their startup on Crunchbase. Although, today it has obviously grown out of the status of a simple "startup." At this point we would not say that Roomster is a scam, the founding company seems to be official and legitimate.
It resembles the social networks we are so used to. The service may connect your account on Roomster to other media like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. Creating an account is free, and after you sign in, you get access to other profiles, stalking has never been easier! While you are on a free account, you can post photos and receive messages from other paid users, but to respond and connect your social network, you will have to switch to an upgraded account. The free trial is not provided, so you may buy a paid version lasting 5 days for about $8, 10 days for $17 or one month for $25.
Because the service is paid, you would think that it can boast of perfect work and nothing to be worried about. However, beautiful interface and interesting features, like the very concept of connecting profiles to other social media and the possibility to communicate, end the list of the Roomster’s pros. Of course, one more convenient plus is that the service is connected to PayPal and supports payments made by card. Except for these positive aspects, the site doesn't provide many other features worth attention. Actually, the focus switches to its negative sides. Because the site is paid, and it is a tempting prize for scammers seeking users with money. A lot of profiles and advertisements are inactive if people decide not to continue their subscription or are fake, and fraudsters hide behind them. So, you should remember this fact and stay on alert. What is more, the upgrade of a subscription is automatic.
The customer service leaves much to be desired. Users claim that the policy of the website neither protects from scammers nor answers the arising questions. Answers seem to be formulated by bots and do not include any important information. Getting to a conversation with a real customer support worker is practically impossible, so it means if you face any issues concerning being scammed by other users or dealing with technical problems, you will be left without an adequate response. Is Roomster safe in terms of policy? It seems that the answer is negative.
Although the site boasts of having more than 4 million real users, this number is overrated, to be true. Because many of the profiles are inactive to the date or obviously contain fake information used by scammers.
Another Roomster scam you should take into consideration is that the site itself baits users to pay for the premium subscription using fake profiles and then automatically continues taking money from your card once you connect it to the account. Users say that the platform trapped them by sending a large number of messages and creating an illusion of high activity among the community. After they signed in for a paid version, their popularity reduced, and the site did not appear as attractive as before. The messages were, most likely, generated by the bots or employees.
Some of the other Roomster scams are concerned with privacy issues. Users complained that after they connected their social media to the platform, some of their feed and private interests were revealed. Even data and info set as not visible to the vast circle of people and aimed at the private group of friends were somehow transferred to the Roomster profile, and other users were able to see posts hidden on the Facebook page itself.
To shed light on the most popular opinions of Roomster, we have conducted our own research and tried to create an account there. The first thing that greets every new user is the pop-up window stating the terms of use of the site. And if you read it carefully, it contains information about the automatic renewing of the paid subscription. As we have already told, the site supports PayPal, so it is easy and convenient to pay. This also means that you are not sharing your personal credit card details because from now, PayPal is responsible for protecting your data. Any other actions that you perform with your personal details on the site, including passing them on to scammers, is only your fault and doesn't fall under the site's policy.
When you proceed to buy a paid subscription, the pop-up window appears for the second time. In this regard, the site fully copes with its obligation to warn its users about any hidden payments (which are in fact quite obvious). After signing up, the confirmation letter will be sent to your email.
Overall the platform reminds of other services of a similar purpose but has a more sophisticated interface. Of course, you have paid (or will pay) to receive this quality and convenient-to-use feed of profiles and users' photos.
To be true, unless you upgrade to a paid subscription, your answer rate will be low. The site forces its users to switch to premium features. But for this, it provides interactivity and openness. For example, practically all profiles contain phone numbers, actual physical details of people and their emails. You are encouraged to contact the owner of the post directly, and this feature itself is worth the money.
Based on reviews and our own opinion, is Roomster a scam site? No, we would not say so. But is Roomster worth it as a site for seeking roomies? It is up to you to decide. There are more platforms showing better results and providing users with better convenience in terms of looking for an apartment. The company behind it is legitimate, but you should pay for the quality. The majority of the features are provided only for the paid users, and those who cannot afford to spend money on upgrading to a premium version will probably choose to use free similar services. The interface and functionality of the Roomster are excellent and worth every penny, so the issue lies in your readiness to pay to get access to vaster possibilities.