• Global Penfriends

Global Penfriends

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Overview

Global Penfriends has a rating of 2.0 stars from 41 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Global Penfriends ranks 597th among Social Network sites.

  • Service
    20
  • Value
    19
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
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How would you rate Global Penfriends?
Top Positive Review

“Best website for long lasting friends or pen pals!”

Angel W.
6/9/21

It's a really good website! However, some people don't reply back when I say that I want to be pen pals/friends, maybe they're Internet bots. Other than that, I have made some long lasting friends, thank you global penfriends! Angel

Top Critical Review

“If I could give them 0 stars, I would.”

Kara M.
9/11/24

If I could give them "0" stars, I would. I had an account for about a year, no problem, made some nice friends that I chatted with online. For no reason, they shut my account down. They asked for verification with a utility bill, which I sent; a picture of me holding a sign that said "GPF" which I sent and then suspended my account anyway and still took money out of my account for the monthly membership. They grilled me about my use of a second email (which was an updated email for the account), but apparently still didn't believe I was who I said I was even after I jumped through all their hoops to verify my identity. I wouldn't care except I lost all my messages from my online friends that I had been chatting with for months. I should have downloaded them, but I never thought they would just pull them off like that. They were quite nasty to me and I would never use their site again. Awful business and awful customer service.

Reviews (41)

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penpal site (3)
Thumbnail of user karam335
1 review
1 helpful vote
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September 11th, 2024

If I could give them "0" stars, I would. I had an account for about a year, no problem, made some nice friends that I chatted with online. For no reason, they shut my account down. They asked for verification with a utility bill, which I sent; a picture of me holding a sign that said "GPF" which I sent and then suspended my account anyway and still took money out of my account for the monthly membership. They grilled me about my use of a second email (which was an updated email for the account), but apparently still didn't believe I was who I said I was even after I jumped through all their hoops to verify my identity. I wouldn't care except I lost all my messages from my online friends that I had been chatting with for months. I should have downloaded them, but I never thought they would just pull them off like that. They were quite nasty to me and I would never use their site again. Awful business and awful customer service.

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Value
Thumbnail of user mikea2401
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 17th, 2023
Verified purchase

I recently tried to subscribe as a black man originally from Europe, but currently residing in Africa, filled a profile (photos included), was able to login to the site, then later in the day when I tried to login: "The email or password is incorrect. Note we have updated the site. All users login with their email now."
Tells you everything to know. They didn't sent me any notice they deleted my profile. This is disgusting to the highest degree. To treat people like dirt like that just because of their skin color. What they did in secret to me and many other black people for sure, everybody in the world should know about this and boycott them!

Tip for consumers:
Shaddy "business". Nasty and racist admin and staff. Don't do the same mistake as I did.
Never subscribe there. They just don't care about their customers, especially about people of color.

Products used:
I was not able to login anymore so it was not possible to buy anything in this site anymore.

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Value
Thumbnail of user angelw134
1 review
9 helpful votes
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June 9th, 2021
Verified purchase

It's a really good website! However, some people don't reply back when I say that I want to be pen pals/friends, maybe they're Internet bots. Other than that, I have made some long lasting friends, thank you global penfriends!
Angel

Tip for consumers:
Maybe don't force the people on this site to reply to you, only if they want to be friends.

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Value
Thumbnail of user frankt883
1 review
4 helpful votes
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August 21st, 2022

They make it hard to be a free member and enjoy any services. They find ways to pressure you into paying which doesn't feel worth it. You'll find someone's profile that looks interesting, you'll go to write them and it'll say "20% of profiles are randomly blocked, please upgrade for unlimited access." But it seems like far more than 20% of profiles are blocked. Their interest isn't really in facilitating penpal friendships but just in getting paying subscribers. They should be more upfront about that and not tease users with the idea of a free site.

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Thumbnail of user ajp49
1 review
3 helpful votes
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July 5th, 2023

I wish I had seen the reviews of this site earlier. I am a medical professional and was interested in making a Spanish speaking pen pal to improve my rusty Spanish. They ask you to set an age range of people you're open to communicating with, so since it's supposed to be for making friends in other countries and not fir dating or hookups, I set the range for 21 and older. (I am in my 40s.) Next thing I know, they are writing me back implying that it is "unsafe" to set the age limit to over 21. Say what? I dont know if they are trying to present it as a penpal/friends site but actually running a dating site, or what, but along with the other comments who said this site was racist, they seem to be shady and dishonest about the kind of site they are running. Very odd.

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Value
Thumbnail of user katief268
1 review
28 helpful votes
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June 17th, 2020

I usually don't submit reviews but felt that in this day and age with all the uncensored websites around, its great to finally find a family. Content friendly site. I have never seen or met any unsavoury characters on Global Penfriends. Everyone I have met over the last few years have been so friendly and some have become what i hope will be lifelong friends! I joined as a free member for the first 2 years and eventually bought a membership to help sponsor the site and support their effort to keep a clean and safe website. You won't be disappointed with this club, their platform is obviously a labour of love.

Tip for consumers:
Try it out for free as they have a good offering - their motto is quality over quantity. I can vouch for that.

Products used:
Premium membership

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user jasont669
1 review
24 helpful votes
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April 23rd, 2020

I can't believe how bad this group discriminates against their members. The people you DO find aren't even real and their 5 Star reviews aren't authentic either. Save your private information and go somewhere else!

Thumbnail of user judej11
1 review
10 helpful votes
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June 12th, 2020

Well, the first thing is that I only got the two credits they gave in the beginning and both of them got spent sending a message to one person, so I think that it is a bug. And you don't know on what basis it gives out credits and so it sucks if you don't have premium.

Thumbnail of user tailork1
3 reviews
0 helpful votes
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February 2nd, 2023

It was nice to find this beautiful penpal service. It was simple to register and create a profile. Although the profile was a tad on the long side.

I searched and found an amazing amount of penpals that matched my criteria - then i sent a few messages and before i knew it - i had penpals. Soooo easy.

The site appears very safe. It has its own messaging system. I was looking for traditional penpals, so after a few weeks i just checked with my penpals if they would be interested swapping postal addresses. Its been fantastic. I just bought a bunch of penpal stationery - so now i can't wait to send off some more beautiful letters by post.

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Value
Thumbnail of user anonymousp1365
1 review
2 helpful votes
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July 10th, 2023

Global Pen Friends has been an amazing website. Registering is super easy, you just insert a few questions about yourself (Interests, What You're Looking for in a Pen Pal, etc). I joined in 2020 during Covid, and met so many people. When life got back to "Normal," I stopped using it. Fast forward to 2023, I joined again, and have so many pen pals (About 8-10), and I'm still pen pals with one I met in 2020! Overall, I could say so many nice things about this website, but it would take too long! I definitely recommend joining, as it's a safe website with many amazing people! :)

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Value
Thumbnail of user wilmaj24
3 reviews
13 helpful votes
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December 21st, 2020

I was very fortunate to discover Globalpenfriends.com - They gave me the opportunity to meet some fantastic international friends. Seems very safe and everyone I have met has been well mannered. A well run club. Thank you!

Thumbnail of user tammym922
1 review
21 helpful votes
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November 16th, 2020

I wanted to quickly jump on here and let others know that I received the most wonderful feedback from the GPF team. I was enquiring about why it took so long for my profile to be reviewed and approved - they responded that they were ensuring that all content including profiles were socially responsible to ensure the website was adding to society rather than detracting - Wow i thought. If only the bigger social sites out there had the same philosophy! Great site - great admins!

Thumbnail of user kodyh21
1 review
4 helpful votes
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October 2nd, 2022

I have been a member for over 7 months, and have yet to make a single friend. This site only allows you to send one message a day without paying. If you find someone you are interested in messaging, they will be randomly blocked, and then they will say "consider upgrading." GPF may not be as bad as Penpalworld, but its still pretty bad. No one wants to be your friend or learn a foreign language. The site is full of young women in their early 20's hoping to find a foreign prince charming, and full of dirty old perverts and scam artists. What a waste of time!

Thumbnail of user annettea127
1 review
22 helpful votes
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October 18th, 2020

I had high hopes of meeting friends on this site. Unfortunately, I met one person who was inappropriate and another who tried to scam me out of money. When I closed my account, due to this abuse, even offering to pay a partial amount and have them prorate a refund, all I got was nastiness. Stay far, far away from this site.

Thumbnail of user moosies
3 reviews
6 helpful votes
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November 2nd, 2022

I have been penpalling for my whole life and was happy to discover Global Penfriends about a decade ago.
The site was recently refreshed and its made my favourite site, even better!

I am usually a basic member but occasionally i will upgrade when i need to find new penpals. The basic offering is pretty good, you get to make a new contact every 12 hours and once you have made a contact - you can converse with them as much as you like.

The site is safe and i don't receive spam or middle aged men looking for a partner - i have set up my profile to ensure only females contact me - so perhaps this helps!

I have encouraged my grand children to check it out also - they love it also and have started sending real letters by post! It is so fantastic to see. With all the distractions of todays world - there is hope for our younger generation to find some quality communications.

Anyhow - i just love having penpals and was happy to share this wonderful site with others.

Tip for consumers:
Make sure you spend time doing a good profile and make the most of the preference settings.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user robo84
1 review
5 helpful votes
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December 24th, 2021

Global Penfriend rejected my membership because I included the following in part of my profile "I just joined the site and currently do not have credits for sending mail but once I do I plan to mail frequently. For now I can only send a smile."

Tip for consumers:
Be prepared to pay. Not a true "pal" site by any means IMO.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user spikes4
2 reviews
6 helpful votes
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January 7th, 2022

The facade here: real people, real connectivity
60% or more are fake profiles or dead accounts
Contacted say 30 potential hopefuls, maybe 1 response. You can see some people actually visited your profile but said nothing? Either they're treating this like it's a dating website or they're simply fake profiles giving you fake visits to your actual profile, which is pretty damned weird.
Their ultimate goal is to monetize but they try to religiously ensure you and others like you don't actually hook up unless you pay $$. I get it, but they don't actually know how to w/o being stupid or doing it all wrong (which feels like a scam ultimately and it pretty much is).
All the incentives to pay for a VIP account aren't actually any incentive at all.

Tip for consumers:
avoid time + energy not using this

Products used:
website

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user rikkie1
1 review
21 helpful votes
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May 25th, 2020

I have tried so many penpal clubs over the last 12 years or so and wanted to share this gem with others. Its free to register and they give out free credits to contact other members. I think the system works good as this site is free of scammers and advertisers which seem to plague many other sites. I felt comfortable enough to register my children on the site and now they have met some wonderful penpals also! If you do register your children, ensure you are monitoring communications whilst they are establishing their friendships - just to be on the safe sife. This is the internet after all.

This site is well established and is reliable. I am very thankful that it exists! Thank you Global Penfriends.

Tip for consumers:
Ensure you complete your profile well as the better your profile - the more interest you will get in your profile. Send lots of virtual smiles.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user jennyj140
1 review
28 helpful votes
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April 29th, 2020

I was looking for a international penpal site that was purely for making new friends. There are so many penpal sites related to dating - but I was only interested in friendship - Thank you Global Penfriends for providing a safe and friendly environment to find genuine friends. I now have 2 new friends from countries that I hope to visit one day and I couldn't be happier. They have been my ray of light during uncertain times.

Tip for consumers:
Make sure you take some time on your profile to get the best use of the site. Also - use the matchfinder which will send you new penpals as they join that fit your criteria

Products used:
Free Membership

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user md498
1 review
20 helpful votes
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August 25th, 2020

First of all, you write to the contact address they gave (*******@globalpenfriend.com), they will never ever answer.
They have deleted my account without notice and my photo is there. I asked them for explanation, I received nothing. I asked them I am concerned about my privacy because my photo is there, never received any answer.
Stay away from Globalpenfriends.com if you don't want headache and the most terrible service.

Thumbnail of user anan62
Ana N.
1 review
20 helpful votes
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May 23rd, 2020

It says it's a FREE site but it is only to a degree. If you don't want to pay for a "free" site this isn't for you. Some of the things that were once free are no longer. I was trying to send a message to a person asking to be penfriends and I received this message
-------------------------------------------------------------

CONTACT DENIED
This randomly selected profile is restricted to you.
20% of profiles are restricted to free members.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The member was not a paid "premium" member. I was denied for no reason.

Thumbnail of user barbarar1922
1 review
3 helpful votes
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January 29th, 2022

I sent in an application for my daughter in August 2021 and we have yet to hear anything. So much for my daughter having a pen pal from this site. Do not waste your money.

Tip for consumers:
Do not waste your money. 0 stars would be much more appropriate.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user gweno32
1 review
2 helpful votes
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November 19th, 2023

I was logged in as a free member because I am a student but it wasn't a school-led program, so I didn't have the funding to pay for the Premium subscription. I'd say it's a good website only if you pay for the Premium, which in my opinion is overpriced for this website. If you don't pay for Premium and you message one member, you have to wait 12 HOURS before you can message another. There are also these virtual smiles things you can send to kinda "wave hello" at the person you would potentially message, and you have to wait 12 hours in between sending THOSE as well. It's a good site but the free version is not good. I feel like I can't ever actually message any of my PenPals because of the wait time which defeats the whole purpose of me using the site. NOT GOOD.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user jp1257
2 reviews
8 helpful votes
  • Send Message
June 13th, 2022

First of all, I saw an article somewhere that said perhaps you could find a potential date on a penpal site. The first time I was signed up with this site, I tried doing just that. I had no problem with any administrator telling me otherwise. I was looking for a "potential" date but I wanted to make some friends. I know it's not a dating site but I didn't think I was doing any harm by putting the word "date" in my profile. What I came across was several, and I mean SEVERAL fake profiles of people that I had seen on other dating apps, so I knew they were all fake. I believe I complained to the company about this and of course, they did nothing. ----- Now, the second time I signed up, I guess I must have put the word date again because this time, they just went ahead and removed my entire profile without even telling me. Unbelievable. It would have been nice to inform me first before doing so, so that I could have just removed the word date. They didn't have to remove my profile like that but oh well, guess what? They're not hurting me by doing so. They just did me a FAVOR because I just read other reviews about how other people have also come across several fake scammers on that site as well. ---- Very very nasty behavior of the site administrators. ---- Oh, and the only reason I went back on this site in the first place was because I thought that maybe it would be different this time. I guess I was wrong. Never again would I even want to use this site; even if they asked me to come back on it. Obviously, they were not professional. Period.

Thumbnail of user leon95
1 review
2 helpful votes
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September 25th, 2023

Being a person of color seems to be a red flag in and of itself for the white European admin staff of GPF. Ironically, I used to have an account with them which I paid for monthly (and for several years). Eventually I left for a few years when I didn't have the time to maintain a presence there.

Anyway, I recently tried to re-join the site only to find that this time they just deleted my profile after their "approval period" (which by the way they claim takes 8 to 10 hours but in my case took four days). As another reviewer mentioned, there was no explanation, no email, no request for further information to prove I was who I said I was. Just an arbitrary decision by a random individual, presumably based on their own personal prejudice.

Whoever runs this site now has clearly developed biases based on the color of one's skin. I'll take my monthly subscription and pay to join one of the competitors instead. Just be aware that if your face doesn't fit, your application will be denied.

I recently heard about team of journalists prepping a piece in which they're trying to root out racial bias online and who submitted the profile of a blonde female. It was totally fictitious yet readily approved by the GPF administrators. I think this says everything you need to know about the types of people running this site and in my opinion it's time they were called out on their practice of racial profiling.

Tip for consumers:
Scammers do exist, but there needs to be a conversation about some of the assumptions made about exactly who a scammer is and what a scammer looks like. I imagine I'm far from the only person who has experienced bias and racism on sites like Global Penfriends. Unfortunately, as with the majority of social media companies, there appears to be no accountability.

Products used:
None

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