Oh, another common one I forgot: When you go to a meet, the other person/people don't show, and when you ask them about it, they insist that they were there and that you were the one who didn't show. Yes, right, because we imagined going to that pub, waiting an hour and a half, sending you texts to see where you were, and getting no reply...

What you're describing is unfortunately accurate. It used to be relatively easy to meet singles and couples to play on here. Now, it's pretty much just catfishers and fakes. Most "couples" and many "females" are just men who want to fantasize and roleplay about seeing their wives with another guy. In most cases, there probably isn't a woman at all, or he is "still trying to talk her into it." (If you've ever met with a couple where the woman was "talked into it," you know what a bad idea that is.)

Often, the male will start off talking about his "wife," and then gradually transition to talking about just a one-on-one meet with no woman involved. Men using imaginary women to troll for dick is another very common occurrence. They're usually easy to spot, but will still waste your time if they can. Makes me wonder if it has ever worked on anyone.

And there are a lot that may or may not be real couples, but just want to waste time, or maybe they're sincere and just can't get their act together. Hemming and hawing, beating around the bush, making excuses, disappearing for a while and then reappearing and starting the process over...

I have met couples by myself (though it's been several years since I succeeded in finding a real one), and used to attempt to meet them with my partner. Most will never agree to a meet, but keep stringing you along. Or the conversation will seem to be going well, and then they'll just disappear, often deleting their profile. Or, as you said, make plans and then simply not show up.

I remember one really nice-seeming "couple" that we made plans to meet. Got the place ready, picked up the drinks they said they'd like, had some snacks ready... And for 3 hours they kept texting us that they were "almost there" and would see us in "about twenty minutes." When we finally called bullshit on "them" and said not to bother, "they" (by text) threw a fit, called us fakes, and bitched about us wasting "their" time.

Most weren't that elaborate. Most would just fail to show, with no explanation or apology, and then never reply again to any messages. In one weekend, we were blown off four times by people we'd made plans with (two couples, two single guys). In the three years that we had a profile together, we managed to meet ONE couple -- who turned out to have completely misrepresented themselves. And try planning a gangbang sometime, if you want disappointment. We tried a couple times. Would get seven or eight guys saying they would definitely be there. One time, one guy showed up. The other time, nobody did.

Another thing we used to get was the "now or never" people: People who would say, "I'm free now, let's hook up," but if we didn't want to drop everything and meet immediately, they weren't interested. If their profile looked good we'd say, "We can't right now, but let's plan for another time." The usual response from that type would be, "We don't like to plan, we like to be spontaneous." Even if we were free, given the number of times we'd been stood up, would we really be gullible enough to run out and meet complete strangers we knew nothing about?

So, yes, you've unfortunately joined the land of fakes, flakes, and liars. Many, if not most, of the people here (and particularly the "couples" ) just want to waste your time, getting some kind of weird kick out of trolling you. Don't take it personally, it's them, not you, that has the problem. Spot them as quickly as you can, move on, and hope you eventually find a few real ones.