Skip. Skip,  And did I mention, SKIP?!?  I am a decent looking female (read: normal body weight, average height...ok, I'm average...)  I decided last week to try to find a few dates on Craigslist...I'm not looking for anything awesome or mind-blowing, just a beer in a bar and a taco at a truck would be cool...anyways, I responded to some ads on CL personals, and wrote one of my own.  CL ghosted it...I have no idea why.  I wrote another one.  Same story.  CL ghosts everything I try to do on CL for some bizarre reason, it may be that I'm originally from "back East" and they're picking that up somehow, even though I'm posting out in L.A.  I have no idea, but it's intensely frustrating  Wrote another one, ghosted...and you can't try to put the same general ad up again, there's some kind of block built into CL for it...so I created a new email account and tried again...but for the personals they require your number, and when I typed the number in, they informed me that I can't create a new profile with the same damn phone number within 80 days, or something godawful like that.

So of all of the guys I responded to, a couple replied back...do not,  I repeat, DO NOT reply to a male's ad posted with no pic.  You are wasting your damn time.  When you finally get that pic, you'll wish you never did.  But I did get a few responses...from people who just wanted to email incessantly...or even if they get your number....text message incessantly.  Two guys actually called, and didn't just fade into the ether that is CL personals...I talked to one for an hour and a half...seemed promising, he sent me a bunch of pics, looked decent...and then...he disappeared off the face of the earth.  Ok.  Just looking for coffee or something here, and why did you waste my damn time talking to me if you never had any intention of even grabbing a slice of pizza for crying out loud? Thanks.  

Actually had the misfortune of meeting the last guy. Pictures do NOT tell a thousand words, by the way.  All of the pictures he sent me, and I even saw a video, made him look cute, scruffy, sexy in kind of a hip way...he sounded awesome on the phone...awesome....crackin jokes and being all cool and social...we met up one evening and when I saw him standing there I almost turned the damn car around...not that I'm super-picky, mind you...but let's just say, he's photogenic.  VERY photogenic.  In person he was SMALL (they all are on that damn site) , VERY small, with a little, weird face that photographs REALLY well...doesn't exactly look awesome.  His hands were dirty, he had really odd mannerisms,  and the pics had been taken so long ago that he had since bleached his hair completely, then it had grown out a few inches...sheesh.  We went to a local bar, and he ordered a coke.  On me.  SKIP SKIP SKIP.  Not that I'm a huge drinker, but I just felt that there'd been some bs in communication here...I mean, why are we meeting up to go to a bar if I'm gonna buy you a damn soda??  Anyways, being the kind lady that I am, we hung out and chatted...he was a cool enough guy, I supposed, but all I'm saying is that I could have walked into the bar we were in and gone home with ten other guys that would have been much more my type...(read: taller than me in my chucks. sorry.)  I wasted my time, my breath, a few bucks, and now THIS guy is incessantly text messaging me...!!!  

SKIP THIS DAMN SITE FOR DATING!!!!  Sell your bookshelves on there, that's about all it's good for. Negative stars.

Damit , that total sucks for you.  I should have been the guy.  Going the bar was such a waste of time.   Its better to go to see a cirque du soliel Show & fancy diner later.   From your bad experience story if i use CL, i will not make the mistake as this guy.  I will make sure the girl have a wonderful time & fun. 

Most of the guys on CL are a waste of time... selfish jerks who only want sex. I tried it for a short while and gave up ... I have sworn off of CL dating. As a woman, you should NOT give out your number to a guy you haven't met; this goes double for CL. If they can't understand this, I don't even bother with them. Block your number until you meet them and feel you want to continue a connection with them. This makes it easier to eliminate the phone stalkers.

Some good places to meet women are bookstores, grocery stores, social functions, singles clubs, through friends, bar pickups, health clubs, fitness centers, coffee shops...and the list goes on. It usually happens by accident however and is unplanned.

It is sad to see that the fake rate is so high.

 CL personals is the biggest joke.......a lot of the men on there are married and just looking to cheat.   

I've been a long time reader of the personals section of CL, mainly for my own shameless entertainment. Some of the stuff on there is really outrageous and I'm not the type to be sensitive about these kinds of things. A couple months ago I decided to try to post some ads in casual encounters only to discover that there is a phone verification process involved that does not accept prepaid cell numbers or any VOIP systems such as Skype. So basically you are forced to use real personal info in order to post. I decided not to risk it and just answered ads. Out of the 40-50 ads to date answered, about 1/3 if them got a reply. From that margin I set up playdates with three different men on separate days. Activities ranged from raw sex to peeka-boo. As they slowly started to bail on me for one excuse after another, I filled in their time slot with another cooperative guy only to have them back out on me as well. Photos and honesty had been present 100% of the time (at least on my part), however 11 men decided at the last moment that a casual encounter with a stranger was actually not something they felt comfortable with. So keep in mind, even with the small odds you find someone real and willing on CL, 99.98% of the time, they will turn out to be a flake.

Mostly prostitutes!

CL seems to have gone downhill, which is a great shame. I've met some good people there over the years, but nowadays I'll post something on a whim and be surprised if anyone legit responds. (I posted at least a dozen times last year, which resulted in two decent dates). So it isnæt entirely a waste of time, but aside from the simplicity and the fact it is free, there are other places you could be spending your time, like perhaps Match.com.

I know there are real people out there who respond to the ads, but there is just so much spam nowadays. Your best best with CL if probably to post your own ad if you are a very good writer, and hope that  a few legit people bite. It's probably easier for women to meet guys here than vice versa, but the women also have to wade through a lot of emails from guys who are just out to get laid or whatever. Caveat Emptor.