Matchmaker Review
A review written by a former client.
Is Mark Lim a cheater and a con-artist or is he a trustworthy matchmaker?
Read my story involving my experience with Mark and True Love Vietnam Brides (Now True Love International Matchmaker). Then you can decide.
One has expectations from an agent, be it a lawyer, a real estate agent, or even a matchmaker. You expect them to be loyal, dutiful, practicing due diligence, honest, fair dealing, and someone willing to do the related work and research. In many occupations you’re legally bound to fulfill those expectations.
You can’t misrepresent or mislead someone.
After contacting and doing research on 2 Vietnamese match making services, I decided to choose Mark Lim’s service “True Love Vietnam Bride Matchmaker”. Being an elderly man with 20 years experience, I thought was important. Much of his promotional material said a lot to me.
After Googling his name and company, I only came across 2 articles. If that was all I saw in 20 years of business, I thought it was understandable. One red flag that I should have realized is that his social media names keep changing.
Currently one alternate name is True Love International Matchmaker associated with Dave Ho.
I paid Mark the deposit he asks for and told him that I wanted a beautiful 25 and older woman without children.
On many occasions I requested a mature woman. Mark replied to come to Singapore and he’d find me a bride. I made special arrangements to come to Asia for 2-3 months.
In Singapore I met Mark. He explained that I needed to pay him $1,000 on top of the $1,000 I already paid him. Then the remaining $2,000 when I meet him in Ho Chi Minh City. Mark presented me with a contract.
I agreed to his conditions and I stated again that I wanted a 25 and older woman without children. In fact, I even text him what I had wanted. To me a young woman would be less likely to want to settle down and have a family. Mark agreed to introduce me to women at the age range I had asked for.
I met Mark in Ho Chi Minh with another one of his clients, a retired Singaporean man.
The next day Mark had arranged many women to meet us at a restaurant. Unfortunately there was only 1 woman in her mid twenties. She was already designated for the Singaporean man. Most other women were young single mothers or women far too young. To my surprise, some were 16-17 years old!
The majority of the women Mark had posted on Facebook never came to the meeting.
At some point I sat down at a table with a few beautiful women to speak to. One of Mark’s agent Tran, was there with some girls.
I thought that one girl at the table named Thung, was very pretty. We quickly began talking. Mark approached while I was at the table to say that Thung was 18. Unfortunately 18 was too young for me.
To my disappointment there were no more women 25 and older coming later. When I told Mark about my disappointment, he replied that he would need an additional $1,000 for his agents to find me more women. Regretfully I paid him.
The next day Mark and I went to Tran’s business to meet more women. There were only 2 women at the location. One of the women was Thung. When I asked Mark about only 1 woman besides Thung being there, he shrugged.
Later I told my father about Thung being too young, he said I should get to know Thung. Since I was on a mission to get married, I told Mark that I would get to know Thung.
I went on a few dates with Thung. We only hugged and held hands when alone. Thung said in Vietnam it was frowned upon to show affection in public.
Another reason that I kept seeing Thung is the pressure I was under. I am in a foreign country and Thung's family is pushing me to marry Thung. Then she is crying to me while giving me a sad story of how she was abandoned as a child.
Mark announced Thung and I were married on Facebook, even though we were not married. Strangers kept congratulating me on our marriage.
Not long after, I found out that Thung couldn’t legally marry due to her true age. Soon Mark started asking me for more money. Mark only waived aside Thung’s status as if it were a technical issue. If I were to marry Thung, I’d have to wait months until she could marry.
After weeks abroad in Asia, I had to return home for a work emergency and to renew my Vietnamese visa. I planned to return to Vietnam a month later. After a few days at home, I learned that Mark had advertised Thung again for marriage.
I couldn’t believe that the matchmaker I paid would easily turn around and market the woman he set me up with to marry! Potentially collecting up to another $10,000 from some other man.
Mark gave me no explanation for what in my opinion was a conflict of interest. After posting that Thung was already married, you’d think he would be concerned what people would say.
If I was a matchmaker I’d contact my client showing sympathy for the sad news I was providing. I’d even offer to provide one free match with the idea that the client pay the full amount with a successful marriage. I didn’t receive any offer like that from Mark nor acknowledgement of my loss.
Part of the anger and sadness one feels from losing a fiancé, is due to time and money you put into the endeavor. Then there is the humiliation you receive when you have to tell your friends and family that your supposed fiancé disappeared. Of course there is the betrayal you feel from trusting people as well as the loss.
After reading my story, you may agree with my opinion that Mark is an unethical matchmaker who cares more about money than providing a fair and good service.
Had Mark initially introduced me to several women 25 and older like I asked, I wouldn’t be writing this if the engagement failed. As a result, I am astonished how unscrupulous I feel he was.
In fairness, I admit that sometimes Mark successfully matches clients. If you keep reading, apparently he often fails.
To my surprise, one day I received a text from one of Mark Lim’s other clients. His name was John.
At first I did not believe it. It must have been a scam or a trick. As he sent many messages, I realized that John was really a former customer of Mike.
John had asked me about my marriage to Thung and why did he see her picture on Mark's Facebook page again. I explained why.
John explained how he hired Mark twice to find him a bride and that he was considering paying Mark a third time to find him a bride. Between going to Vietnam and Mark’s fees, John had spent over $20,000. Now he wanted to know my opinion.
Apparently John had paid Mark prior to COVID to find him a bride. During the lockdown, his bride married someone else. Mark had posted pictures of John and his fiancé as a successful marriage even though it did not happen.
The second time Mark introduced John to a woman unsuitable for marriage.
I explained to John my thoughts regarding Mark. To me it seemed as if he was being taking advantage of.
From what I read in John's messages, other men told John of their complaints regarding working with Mark.
Since then, I have watched Mark’s posts. I’ve seen some very concerning things.
One example, is that I still see him advertising women too young for marriage. In some cases, if you match the date of birth with the date of the posted picture (circled), you’ll see how concerning this can be.
If you're a Westerner, you may not know a girl's age because you would think the first 2 digits of her date of birth was her birth month!
A shocking post came up in 2024. According to Mark’s post, some of Mark’s associates have asked his clients for extra money, when they shouldn't have.
I hope Mark had his clients’ money refunded. An ethical matchmaker and business man would fire that associate and even provide a credit/refund to his clients for money lost.
Some associates are Phung, Dave, Tina, and Roger.
Phung
Tina
Dave Ho
If Mark was associated with Amy (Ah Thu), I would be warry of his other associates.
I think it is a conflict of interest that he advertises his staff and their families for marriage.
If you liked Tina and yet things went wrong, who's side is Mark going to be on?
How well is Mark going support and represent you if you want to marry Tina?
As a business man, I do charitable things for customers who are having a difficult time.
I find win-win solutions and even work on credit to satisfy my clients. I’d rather have happy clients and maintain my reputation, than to take client’s money and make them feel cheated.
That seems to not be the case with Mark Lim. To me it appears that it is all about the money.
After hearing my story, you can decide if you want to work with Mark Lim and his associates.