ADJUSTED EXPECTATIONS
“Cupid Inc.” (by Amy Wallace, Jan. 16), about Jeffrey Ullman, omitted any mention of the high-pressure tactics that Great Expectations uses on prospective customers.
My “informational” appointment with a “counselor” a few years ago was anything but pleasant. It was a nightmare hour of arm-twisting, guilt trips and sleaze spent with a predator working on commission.
Ultimately, I met my wife through friends.
STAN BROTHERS
Los Angeles
Ullman and Great Expectations have sent me those direct-mail questionnaires, too. Several hundred thousand single Angelenos like me cannot purchase his services because we are gay or lesbian. The Great Expectations forms provide no place to indicate that one is searching for a soul mate of the same sex.
Although I’ve returned Great Expectations postcards after writing in the margins that I am gay, no one from Ullman’s service has ever responded to my queries. Surely a man who boasts that he’s “going to marry America” should realize that he’s missing out on at least 10% of the market.
I guess one can have great expectations of his service so long as one is heterosexual and does not expect the whole truth.
ADAM ROSS
Los Angeles
Wallace’s article brought to mind our own experiences when we served, briefly, as the advertising agency for Great Expectations.
After browbeating my staff until one member actually broke into tears, Ullman telephoned my partner and me, sneering: “I have some good news and some bad news for you. First, you people are no longer the advertising agency for Great Expectations.”
“And what,” my partner inquired, “is the bad news?”
ROB FRANKEL, PRESIDENT
FRANKEL AND ANDERSON
Encino
As a friend of Ullman, I felt that your article was both fair and accurate. As a personal profile, however, it didn’t mention that he is one of the most generous human beings around. Ullman truly cares about his friends, and he is one person I wouldn’t hesitate to call for help--anytime, no matter what the circumstances.
LEONARD A. ROBBINS
Calabasas
I hope that your cover story about Ullman will discourage singles from joining Great Expectations and wasting their money in support of this pompous individual.
I joined Great Expectations in Orange County and was told that the organization is “very selective” about the “quality single people” it allows to be members. After having seen some of the members, I believe that the only screening done is to verify that each applicant’s check won’t bounce.
DIANNE MILLER
Anaheim
I joined Great Expectations in 1988 and chose my husband three months later. We married in 1989 and have blended five children from our previous marriages into a very successful union--not an easy thing to do. We, like thousands of other happy “success-story” couples, stand behind both the concept of Great Expectations and its gutsy founder, Jeffrey Ullman.
I’m now national director of success stories for Great Expectations in Encino, but I’m writing of my own volition to say that Wallace’s article was biased. I was especially put off by the label “Love God From Hell.” Ullman is far from mean-spirited. Sometimes tactless, but aren’t we all?
Was it really necessary to bring in all the negativity regarding his family? All families have some skeletons in the closet.
I found it odd that most people quoted in the article were from the past. I wish Wallace had taken the time to incorporate some of the thousands of success stories from all over the country. Interviews of current associates and employees would have provided plenty of positives to give the article balance.
ZANDRIA BERNHARDT
Westlake Village
