CougarLife - Review
Conclusion: CougarLife, the largest portal for young men and mature women in South Africa, has proven that such dating sites can work, despite some of the negative reviews about the user-friendliness of the site itself. CougarLife has proven itself to be a proof of concept for cougars and toyboys.
CougarLife at a glance:
Advantages
- Mature, confident women who are at their peak of sexuality
- Young men who are open to and looking for unique experiences
- Sociable cougars and toyboys
- 7 million members worldwide and counting
Disadvantages
- It is an auto-renewing subscription based site
- The user friendliness needs some work and could be improve upon
Our recommendation for more success
The best (and quickest) way to find success on this site is to begin talking to other members and getting involved in the community. If you are concerned about the cost, try going with the free trial option to start out.
CougarLife numbers
Success ratio
- 100 contact requests in our test profile
- 24 resulting conversations
- 2 out of 10 requests get an answer.
Contact ratio CougarLife
Member statistics
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What is Cougar-Dating?
Cougars are mature women, usually over the age of 30, who know what they want, sexually speaking. They are often fun-loving and looking to get back into the swing of things at their age.
Often, these women are not recognized due to their age. Their maturity gives them a self-confident air. They want to live their lives in the open and avoid giving up their freedom by becoming just another housewife. Thus, they look to younger men to help them live out their erotic fantasies and as an outlet for their passions.
The main thing they are interested in, however, is eroticism and sex. They want to meet with their toyboys for a night out on the town. These women want to show off their latest conquest to their friends. They want to avoid being put into a box by societal norms or being forced to conform. They have no problem paying bills for their toyboys if it suits their needs and lifestyle.
Cougars seek to establish an autonomous sort of freedom within society for themselves. Their children have already left the nest, the divorce is finalized, and their careers are taking off. Now they want to concentrate on the fantasies and desires that they have without giving up that freedom. Toyboys are the fastest way to accomplish that.
1. CougarLife review: summary
Wikipedia defines the term “cougar” as “a slang term referring to older women seeking relationships or sexual relations with considerably younger men.”
In this situation, both of the people benefit.
- “Cougars“ are able to find the adventurous young men that they want.
- “Toyboys” are able to find the older, attractive women who want to share their experiences.
CougarLife Test Results Summary
2. CougarLife Practical Test
The practical test is, by far, the most important aspect of the review. During the practical test, we assume the roles of women and men who are using the site. A profile is created through which we can test the usability of the site thoroughly and realistically. A male and a female test profile are created. We then test all of the features of the site, the operation of the customer service, and the members themselves. Through this test, we are able to determine the advantages and disadvantages of what the site offers.
2.1 First Impressions of CougarLife
First impressions show the site to be well designed, professional, and legitimate. The only issue is that there is a lack of information about how the platform functions. The FAQ explains a bit of this, but not much is offered in the way of detailed instructions. The media section can help with this because it includes a PDF document outlining the purpose of the site.
Picture: Cougar Life registration page
This document also contains some interesting statistics about the female members of CougarLife. According to the document, all of the women on the site are single. Over half of them are divorced, with the remaining majority being unmarried and around 2% of them being widowed. The average age of the cougars is 39 years, while the median age for the toyboys is around 29.
To quote Sabrina Rymarowics, the spokeswoman for CougarLife:
“CougarLife was built on the fact that nowadays, there are many successful, confident and independent single-women who don't have a problem to start an affair or relationship with a significantly younger man.”
One major issue is that no pricing information is provided prior to registration. That is a common practice in the industry, but it is still extremely frustrating. This is definitely a minus.
2.2 Contact-Test On CougarLife
The purpose of the contact test is to help determine how the members on the site interact with each other. Obviously, this test helps determine how useful the site will actually be for members. This is, in some ways, one of the test results which has the highest effect on the final score and rating of the site.
>> passive contact requests: 6
- standard greetings: 3
- personal messages: 3
>> active contact requests: 50
- standard greetings: 5
- to which positive replies received: 1
- personal messages: 45
- to which positive replies received: 17
Success rate: 24 from 100 points
(premium membership)
6 contact requests plus 18 positive responses to contact attempts
How does the contact test work?
- The test takes place over a period of one month (30 days from the creation of the premium membership profile)
- During this period, the number of successful contacts is counted.
- 50 contact attempts (messages/greetings) will be made and up to 50 will be counted if received.
- Incoming (passive) contact attempts are automatically counted as a successful contact.
- Outgoing (active) contact attempts only count as a successful contact if a positive response (a response that encourages you to continue the conversation) follows.
- A maximum of 50 points can be awarded for successful incoming contacts, and 50 for successful outgoing contacts.
- The result is denoted as x out of 100 points. For example: 78 successful contacts out of 100 attempts results in a score of 78/100.
2.3 Conclusion: Cougar Life Practice Evaluation and Experiences
3. Functions and Profiles on CougarLife
3.1 Profile Quality on CougarLife
Registration on the site is very easy. When you make your account you select whether you want a cougar or a toyboy along with their age. Then you pick your city, input your personal data, and you are off and running. You can also complete a login through Facebook, but this option is certainly not for everyone.
Profile Tips:
- You will want to have as many pictures as you can on your profile. This will increase your ability to connect with others, as it makes you look more legitimate to them. It helps you gain their trust.
- The better you have filled out your profile, the better your chances of getting matches and contacts with members on the site.
Picture: The more questions you answer, the better your chances to meet interesting cougars
Privacy
One of the hallmarks of any good dating site is their privacy policy. You want to (usually) avoid the chance that your profile could be discovered by people you work with or know in your day to day life. We recommend that you review the policy and make any changes you need to make at “My Profile” > “Privacy”.
Picture: Our recommendation for privacy settings on Cougar Life
Your profile will also have a unique spot where you can store private pictures. These are not seen by other members until you provide them with permission (through the use of a “key” which is unique to you). When you receive viewing permissions the person you accept it from will also be given one for your images as well. This is a function which you may want to consider disabling.
Picture: Share picture with selected users on Cougar Life
Fake Profiles
Generally, the profile quality on the site is great. There were, however, a few profiles which we found that seemed a bit suspect. They could have been either fake, defunct, or a scam. Overall, CougarLife does not have any more of these types of profiles than any other dating site. You can easily avoid these as they are fairly easy to spot.
The problem with CougarLife is that they do not automatically or manually check profiles at all. They should be consistently going through and pruning their userbase to eliminate fake or scam profiles. They do not do that. Overall Rating: Needs a lot of improvement!
One of the best ways to spot a fake profile is to check and see if the profile is premium or not. Usually these will be legitimate because of the extra costs associated.
Animators
One thing to note about this site is that animators are utilized in the portal. Animators are people who create a fictitious profile so that they can provide some entertainment to the users. CougarLife is able to control these through the use of a system known as Cougar CS. It is a bit difficult to figure out which of these are fake or not. Try to be on the lookout. They will send messages and gifts to you on occasion, but it is not possible to meet them. You can opt against being contacted to avoid this, but it can cause issues for some users.
The best way to avoid these animators is either to make a premium account, which protects you from being contacted, or to state somewhere in your profile that you wish to not be contacted.
3.2 Search Functions On CougarLife
The search function is the bread and butter of the site. It is the way by which you are able to find new members. Matches would show up consistently during our tests and we could then refine what we were using to get a stable list of profiles. Overall Rating: Very good!
Picture: adjust your search settings
There are some other things that you want to consider when you are searching, and the site provides you with the ability to select these options. Here are some of the best ones that we used:
- User has pictures
- User has private pictures
- Currently online
- Ready to chat
- New members
- Only strangers
- Wants a date today
These will assist you in weeding out any profiles that you are not interested in.
Picture: Search results on Cougar Life South Africa
You can also factor looks into your searches, including physique, eye and hair color, and others. This also includes languages spoken.
Once you find someone interesting in your search, all you have to do is simply click on it and you will be taken to their profile so you can see their images and information. Next, you can get active and contact them.
Picture: An interesting profile of a lady on Cougar Life South Africa
3.3 Communication Functions On CougarLife
On CougarLife, there are five or six ways to contact others.
Picture: Several ways to communicate
Writing a message
This is the most common way of messaging someone on the site. Here are some advantages:
- No need for the member to be online when you message
- You can refer to your profile and to their profile directly
Combinations of invitations, gifts, and messages can also be sent via message.
Picture: Send virtual gifts on Cougar Life South Africa
Starting A Chat
Assuming the person that you want to talk to is online, there is a chat function on the site which you can use to quickly get to know them.
Sending a Flirt
A flirt is a standard type of greeting with a message. It isn’t useful and can come across as lazy. Here is the full text: “Hey, have a look at my profile and let me know if you are interested in having a contact”.
Sending a Gift
This is a benefit which has questionable usefulness. You can send gifts and presents. Virtual gifts and presents. They are only images. In our test, we were not really able to do a whole lot. Some people are very receptive to the idea though.
Request to unlock private pictures
If you send this request by itself, don’t expect much. It can happen, but it is unlikely. This should be combined with some of the other types of messages that you can send so that you can get to know them first.
VIP-Message
VIP messages go straight to the top of the inbox of the person that you are sending them to and they remain there. This makes sure the message can get some attention from the person you are trying to reach.
Picture: Cougar Life profiles with clear messages
Picture: We have contacted many cougars within a few days
3.4 CougarLife Features And Profile Conclusion
4. CougarLife's User-Friendliness
Though the site provides a FAQ for users to help find the answers to common questions, it is not very helpful. Overall Rating: Needs improvement!
Testing of dating sites always includes information about the customer service itself. On this site, a contact form is provided in addition to a telephone number. This seems positive. It is not, however. The telephone number is fake and you can’t reach anyone when you call it.
The contact form, however, does send you to a customer support representative, though they take a very long time to get back to you. Overall Rating: Bad!
4.2 Cancelling CougarLife
If you have a premium membership, be aware of the automatic renewal. This is common practice in the industry, but that does not make it any better.
Tip: Once you hook up with enough cougars or toyboys, remember to cancel your membership so you don’t keep getting charged for it.
The site makes it fairly difficult to cancel the membership once you have it. With that being said, here is the information you need to get that done quickly and efficiently:
#1. As it states inside the Terms of the site, the only way to cancel is via telephone. The number they provide is located in the US and the service hours are also based on US time zones.
Telephone number in the USA: 001 866 665 1507
From 9:00 am to 7:00 pm (Eastern Time)
#2. In order to make sure your membership gets cancelled, you should cancel it via email as well, here is a good message to send:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am hereby utilizing my right to revoke and cancel the premium membership that I have. If you do not accept, I am confirming the call I had already made to cancel via phone.
Please confirm in writing.
My email address is: xxx
My pseudonym: xxx
Kind regards
Send to support@cougarlife.com and legal@cougarlife.com. Done!
Reminder: When you cancel you have to make sure you give them your nickname on the site along with the address that you used when you registered.
Most users have no problems when they are cancelling via phone or email. Information and experiences of other users can be found online. We just like to be on the safe side.
The site has to get a minus point for the US phone number and time zone in the cancellation process.
4.3 CougarLife's Operation And Design
The operation of the site has no problems. All of the functions are either self-explanatory or made clear relatively quickly. Control is in your hands. Some loading errors were present on individual profiles which affected the experience, but not enough to damage the site as a whole.
4.4 CougarLife's Mobile Use / CougarLife App
There is an app which is offered for the site as well if you are on mobile. This allows you to flirt when you are on the go. It has a great design and is a good alternative to using the site itself. It can be downloaded on Android or iOS.
4.5 CougarLife User-Friendliness Conclusion
5. Price-Performance Ratio
5.1 CougarLife's Prices and Costs
CougarLife is pretty much the same as all of the others. Premium accounts are going to auto-renew if they aren’t cancelled, which is a bad thing. Cancellation has to be made at least 3 days prior to the ending of the term.
If you do not have a premium membership then you can try it out without spending any money with a guest account. You cannot use that account to actually flirt with anyone or meet people. A premium membership is required for all of that. The site has to make an income, so this is a forgivable part of the process.
Picture: Only as a premium member you are allowed to chat with other cougar life members
What does CougarLife cost?
For women, membership on the site is free. The only thing that costs is sending messages or gifts, both of which must be purchased ahead of time.
If men want to use the site to send or receive messages, then they have to have a premium account and they may need to purchase extra credits as well.
- Reading and writing messages (necessary)
- Listing in the top search results (good)
- Highlighted position within search results (good)
- Recommendations for new cougars good)
- Premium member indication (useful)
- 6 hour first time access for new cougars (bonus)
CougarLife Price: R325 per month
CougarLife price: R225 per month
CougarLife price: R99 per month
One-off charge: R30
Picture: Cougar Life pricing in South Africa
5.2. CougarLife Price-Performance Ratio
The site is not on the cheap side, that’s for sure. But the services are good for what you pay. If you are willing to accept some of the problems that arise with customer friendliness and customer service, it is a great site and can give you a lot of value. Especially considering the fact that this is the most popular cougar dating site in South Africa. Overall Rating: Okay!
CougarLife summary
Evaluated by: Dating-Navigator.co.za
Last update:
Overall rating: 8 / 10
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