I’m Saito, the column writer ♪
I’m with Seattle on this one.
I thought, “Wow, they’re really nickel-and-diming it.”
Just like at an auction, I think it reflects the limit of what they can offer—and the conflict they’re dealing with.
I’m Maezawa from the president’s office, and I’ll answer as well.
> At Universe, was the transportation allowance for a meal date from ¥5,000?
For a first date, it’s set at ¥5,000–¥10,000.
If the man chooses to give ¥20,000 or ¥30,000 as a gesture of goodwill, that’s entirely up to him, so it’s fine to accept it.
However, it’s against the rules for the woman to say, “I’d like ¥20,000” or “I’d like ¥30,000.”
That said, free-form dating is a separate matter. For example, if he says, “Why don’t we go out for drinks after dinner?” and she replies, “I’d like another ¥10,000 for that” (¥20,000 total), that isn’t a problem under the rules.
Still, most women will accompany a man for drinks for just the standard ¥5,000–¥10,000, so even if it’s allowed under the rules, he may not be happy about it.
In any case, it’s usually either ¥5,000 or ¥10,000, so I didn’t realize some people ask for ¥7,000.
Since that’s unusual, if we looked into it internally, we could probably quickly identify who the man is. (But there’d be no point, so we won’t.)
> Is this what a letter date is usually like?
I don’t think it’s specifically because it’s a letter date. This man seems like the type who would say the same thing even with a direct arrangement.
He’s probably someone who came over from a dating app, so he’s using Universe Club according to app-style conventions.
Of course, if other women keep turning him down, he may eventually realize that his allowance is too low—but these things can be difficult.
I’m in Seattle.
It’s not that a letter date is necessarily a bad idea; it sounds more like you didn’t discuss things thoroughly enough beforehand. If you’d agreed on everything before going to the hotel, there probably wouldn’t have been any wasted time.
So you met a second time without deciding whether you’d actually go to a hotel? In that case, it was pretty much bound to turn out this way.
One after another.
¥7,000 isn’t against the rules, but they’re definitely lowballing you. lol
Is transportation money for the first meeting also required with a letter date?
I thought the allowance for dinner itself was something you negotiated from the start. After all, the letter date itself is just the setup, and you’re free to decide whether or not to meet in person.
Marika
I’m date◎yume, a male member.
I haven’t tried a letter date yet, but it seems like you could discuss and confirm various things before meeting in person, which might help prevent mismatches like this one.
That said, nothing beats meeting and talking face-to-face, of course（笑）
Let’s be more mindful next time…
I’m a papa (a male supporter) who gives an allowance of 100,000 yen or more, and I sometimes use Letter Date too.
There are also Type A girls I’ll give 100,000 yen for a dinner date.
Just a loser guy.
I’m Kazu, a male member.
According to Universe Club’s membership terms, the transportation allowance is between ¥5,000 and ¥10,000.
It’s not that letter dates are generally like that—that particular man was simply like that.
