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Valenti MatchMaking Reviews 2025: Cost, How it Works, and More!

If you’re single, you know how daunting the current dating scene is. With situationships and casual flings on the rise again, it’s tough out there for anyone looking for a long-term, committed relationship. If you’ve read any of our other blogs, you know the issues with dating apps and understand that they really aren’t a solution for finding love. In fact, a recent study by the Pew Research Center found that over 35% of adults who use dating apps not only fail to find a relationship, but experience declining mental health.

So, what are singles doing to find love? You guessed it: professional Matchmaking services. Matchmaking is an industry older than marriage itself, so it’s certainly stood the test of time. Matchmaking has evolved over the centuries to blend traditional practices with modern applications. As dating apps have failed singles, our age-old industry is set to take center stage in the dating scene.

That said, not all Matchmaking firms are legitimate. As an established firm and leaders in the industry, we know a good Matchmaker from a bad one. Tons of firms make big promises to their clients, but you probably know that Matchmaking has a bad reputation because most firms can’t deliver. We’re taking the time to review the biggest Matchmakers in the US to helps singles make more informed decisions about which Matchmaker is the right option for them.

If you’re searching for a Matchmaker, you’ve probably come across Valenti Matchmaking. Their one of the oldest international firms and have been featured in major media outlets, for better or for worse, for over three decades. Valenti promises a luxury, exclusive, and discreet method to find true love, but do their past clients agree with those claims? We’ve gathered all Valenti MatchMaking reviews, how their model works, the cost, and more to help you determine if they’re your best choice.

What is Valenti MatchMaking?

Valenti MatchMaking is a luxury, international Matchmaking firm that specializes in connecting “picky” singles looking for long-term, serious relationships, according to their website. Valenti was founded in 1990 by Irene Valenti, and the firm is known in the industry for its personalized and discreet approach. Valenti mainly caters to high-net-worth singles like white-collar professionals, entrepreneurs, and public figures, but it does seem they have less pricey membership options as well.

Their Matchmaking process is a combination of traditional, European Matchmaking and modern Matchmaking styles. Unlike most luxury Matchmakers, it seems that each Valenti client is assigned a small team of Matchmakers instead of one dedicated professional. They are headquartered in Rancho Santa Fe, California, but serves clients across the globe.

 

Who Owns Valenti MatchMaking?

Valenti MatchMaking gets their company name from their founder, Irene Valenti. Before founding Valenti Matchmaking in 1990, Irene’s career was mainly in marketing and business development for a few family-owned businesses. Irene attributes her initial interest in Matchmaking to her father, as he matched her siblings and herself to their partners. Her career background combined with the significance of Matchmaking in her personal life is ultimately what spurred the launch of Valenti Matchmaking.

Irene then moved from Canada to California to open her flagship Matchmaking office. She later used her name to open the Valenti Foundation, a non-profit organization aiming to give back to the global community, and Valenti Equestrian Club, a horse boarding and training facility in Rancho Santa Fe, California. More recently, Irene was set on publishing a book and becoming a best-selling author, however, it seems the book has been delayed or she has decided not to publish.

 

How Does Valenti MatchMaking Work?

If you’re looking into Valenti MatchMaking, your first step should be to book a 15-minute complimentary consultation with their team. It’s strongly advised that you complete their questionnaire before your call so their team can understand more about your background and relationship goals. After your first call, you’ll be invited to a more detailed profiling and assessment interview that’s typically 60-90 minutes. This longer interview can be done either via video call or in-person.

The second interview will dive deeper into your personality, lifestyle, and aspirations to ensure they have suitable match candidates for you. If they believe you’re a good fit for their model, you’ll be invited to join their member base. If you decide to join, it’s unclear whether you’ll work with one dedicated Matchmaker or a small team. We also can’t find much information on their timeline for your match search and when you’ll start receiving match.

Valenti does offer a concierge service, including date planning, selecting venues, arranging transportation, and coordinating dining. As a client, you’ll also be entitled to ongoing support from their team, and are supposed to meet with the Matchmakers at least monthly to review your matches and your progress.

 

Valenti MatchMaking Reviews 2025

Valenti MatchMaking Reviews on Yelp

Unfortunately for Valenti MatchMaking, most Yelp reviewers don’t think highly of their client experience. Currently, they have a 2.2 out of 5-star rating with 13 total reviews. Valenti has claimed their Yelp page, so we can be fairly certain that all reviews are about this business and not mistaken for another service.

The most positive reviews say that they had an excellent experience using Valenti and all of their matches were much higher caliber than what you’d expect on traditional dating apps. The most negative reviews call Valenti “absolutely the worst ever”, and say that every match they received was either married or a paid actor.

 

Valenti MatchMaking Reviews on the BBB

Valenti MatchMaking is not accredited on the BBB, and we’d guess that’s because they have a negative reputation on the platform. Valenti is currently rated at 1 out of 5 stars, but they only have 3 total reviews.

Valenti has no positive reviews on the BBB. Their negative reviews all left them a 1-star rating, and generally share the same feedback. All three reviewers call Valenti a scam, and one even says that they never received a single match in their 2 years of membership.

 

Valenti MatchMaking Reviews on Google

Luckily for them, Valenti boasts a much better reputation on Google. They are rated at 4.8 out of 5 stars with 37 total reviews, however, it’s worth noting that most reviews are 8-10 years old.

Their most positive reviews say that they enjoyed their matches and felt compatible with each, and also praise Valenti’s Matchmaking team. Their most negative reviews again mention feeling scammed, and say that they’ve never met a Valenti client who was happy with their membership.

 

Valenti MatchMaking Reviews on Reddit

We weren’t able to find a ton of information about Valenti MatchMaking on Reddit, but this site is more for social media than reviews. We did find one comment that mentions Valenti, but the community response says more about Valenti than the comment itself.

One Redditor commented on a thread about another Matchmaking company. They shared a bit about their experience working with Valenti, and said that their fees would “blow people’s minds”. This comment alone isn’t very telling, but this Redditor received tons of downvotes on their comment. They made another comment accusing Valenti of creating multiple Reddit accounts to downvote their comment.

 

Valenti MatchMaking Complaints and Lawsuits

As we’ve mentioned in other articles in our series, most major Matchmakers have at least one complaint. The truth is that no one can make two people fall in love, and even Matchmakers make mistakes. One complaint or minor lawsuit isn’t substantial enough to write off the firm as a whole, but when a company has multiple serious lawsuits or complaints, we start to see glaring red flags.

Unfortunately, Valenti is past that threshold. Currently, they’ve been the defendants for three major lawsuits and at least 30 other small suits, and have received one official complaint on the BBB, which case also ended up in small claims court.

Their one BBB complaint says that they did not receive a single match from Valenti until 4 months into their membership, and that match was entirely incompatible. The client made an internal complaint, and the Valenti team extended the client’s membership another 6 months. Even during this extended membership, the client only received one more match who was again incompatible. When the client made a second complaint, they never received a response, thus the client took their case to small claims court and won.

Valenti eventually responded to the complaint, however, their rebuttal was pretty vague. They simply stated that the client signed and paid for membership on October 4th, 2021, but the client later decide to to back out of their membership. Valenti then reimbursed the client on August 24th, 2023. That reply leaves us with more questions than answers, though.

Valenti’s first major lawsuit back in 2008 was filed by three of their former clients. Elaine Duffens, Sandra Marnell, and Sandy Shaulis, alleged that Valenti was defrauding their clients and were intentionally using misleading language in their contracts. According to the former clients, Valenti’s contracts had an illegal arbitration clause; essentially, Valenti’s contracts at the time said no client could sue them. They also claimed that Valenti did not intend to actually match their clients with suitable romantic interests.

Valenti tried to compel arbitration, or have the suit dismissed, but the presiding judge denied her  request because her arbitration agreement was, in fact, illegal, fraudulently induced, and violated dating-service statutes. Duffens, Marnell, and Shaulis all received a full refund from Valenti, and the the suit was taken into arbitration, a form of civil mediation.

Valenti’s second lawsuit in 2012 was initiated by Fran Dalton, another former client, but reveal a much bigger web of lawsuits. According to Dalton, she was very much supported and guided during the sales process, but one she paid the membership fee, nearly all contact with Valenti ended. Dalton says that she waited over 6 months to receive a match, and her one match was completely incompatible. Accordingly, Dalton tried multiple times to filed an internal complaint with the company, but was unable to get in contract with them.

She sought legal action through Elaine Heine, an attorney who claims she’s represented at least 28 other clients against Valenti since 2003. However, court documents reveal that at least 31 other clients filed suits against Valenti during this timeframe. Unsurprisingly, the editor of this article also says that Valenti threatened to sue them if this story ever aired. We weren’t able to find any information on the outcome of this suit, but we assume that Dalton received a refund.

Finally, the last major lawsuit Valenti has faced was in August of 2022 against Mary Davis. In the suit, Davis claims that she paid over $75,000 to Valenti for a 2-year unlimited Matchmaking service, but she was just introduced to 4 men in a year. Davis tried to vie for a refund internally, but was denied. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find any information on the outcome of this suit, so we can only hope that this complaint was fairly resolved.

We want to make clear that these lawsuits we’ve included are not the only legal battles Valenti has faced. In fact, they filed for bankruptcy shortly after their lawsuit by Dalton, presumably because of their mounting legal fees and lack of new clients. It’s unclear how they came back from their bankruptcy, but we do know they’re still in operation today.

 

Is Valenti MatchMaking Legit or a Scam?

Based on their lawsuits, client reviews, complaints, lack of transparency about their model, and overall brand reputation, it’s difficult to say if Valenti is legitimate. Quite honestly, Valenti has had more lawsuits than just about any other firm we’ve reviewed. As leaders in the industry, we do understand that things like minor lawsuits happen to good Matchmakers, but with the sheer number of lawsuits Valenti has faced, we cannot ethically vouch for the quality of their services.

 

Valenti MatchMaking Cost

Unsurprisingly, Valenti MatchMaking doesn’t list their membership fees on their website. We were able to find bits and pieces of information based on client reviews, but if you’re interested in their services, it’s best to schedule a consultation directly with their team to find out their pricing structure.

We did discover that Valenti Matchmaking operates on a customized retainer basis, with at least half of their fees contingent upon the client’s success in finding a compatible match. Their success fees can be as high as $50,000. As far as their base fee, it seems to range anywhere from $10,000 to $130,000 based on real client reviews. Unfortunately, that’s all the information we were able to locate.

 

Valenti MatchMaking Success Rate

Thankfully, Valenti does share a bit of information about their success rate on their website. Valenti claims to have a 90% marriage success rate, however, that rates is based on clients they’ve matched who have gotten married. Their “success rate” only reflects the percentage of their marriage matches who are still together, not what percentage of their clients actually find relationships through their services.

 

Is Valenti MatchMaking Worth It?

It’s not our place to say whether Valenti is the right Matchmaker for you. Really, it depends on your relationship goals, budget, and match search preferences. Valenti seems to have faced most of their legal issues in the US, so they could be a good option for someone outside the country or someone wanting an international match search. Their concierge services are a great option for singles who want to leave the hassle of planning and scheduling dates to their Matchmaker, too.

That said, if you’re concerned about their many lawsuits and use social proof like client reviews to make decisions, there are tons of other Matchmakers to consider before Valenti. Because they aren’t transparent about their pricing structure, it’s hard for us to make recommendations based on budget. Based on client reviews, it seems Valenti is a high-ticket model, so this may not be the best service for anyone working on a tight budget, either.

 

Need More Guidance on Which Matchmaker to Choose?

Valenti MatchMaking positions their brand as a high-end, luxury Matchmaking service that aims to help successful professionals find a lasting relationship. Valenti is known for their exclusivity, concierge services, and being one of the oldest firms in the industry. However, Valenti has quite a few marks against them in terms of client complaints, lawsuits, and negative reviews, so we encourage you to do thorough research before joining their membership.

If you don’t have a strict budget, are wanting an international match search and date planning, and aren’t phased by their legal battles, Valenti could be a good option for you. On the other hand, if Valenti’s history of lawsuits and client complaints concern you, you should consider other Matchmakers before joining them.

If you want a dedicated, highly responsive Matchmaker who prioritizes confidentiality, quality over quantity, and client experience, LUMA is ready to guide you on your journey to find true love. Our luxury Matchmaking services are customized to your unique preferences, ensuring your best possible chances for success.


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