It is usually one of four things: a slow site or a poor connection, a wrong email and password, an account that was held and needs checking, or an old login from before the service changed hands. EliteSingles says the quickest test is to try a different device and see whether the problem follows you.
Slow or not loading: try a second device
If the site seems slow, EliteSingles says it is usually technical difficulties on its side, a poor internet connection, or a problem with your device. It tells you to try again later.
You can sort out which one it is in two minutes. Open the site on your phone using mobile data, then on a laptop using wifi. If it works on one and not the other, the fault is your device or your connection. If it fails everywhere, wait an hour and try again, because the trouble is on EliteSingles' end.
Do not keep tapping the same button. Every extra attempt tells you nothing new, and a failed login that repeats can look like a wrong password to you when it is really a bad connection.
A sign-in error
A sign-in error usually means the email and password combination is incorrect. EliteSingles says to use the password reset email option if retyping does not work.
Before you reset, check the obvious. Is the email the one you signed up with, not a work address or an older one? Is caps lock on? Did your phone autofill an old password?
A reset email can land in spam, so look there before you ask for another one.
"Verify your account" when you sign in
If you are asked to verify your account when you sign in, EliteSingles says your account may have been mistakenly held or suspended. It asks you to contact it so the case can be investigated.
Do not try to work around this by making a second account. Write to support, and give them the email on the account, what you saw on screen and roughly when it started. The fix is a message to support, not a new sign-up.
An old login that no longer exists
Some men find that a login that worked years ago now fails. EliteSingles says the site runs on a different account system from the previous operator's, and that data from the previous operator was not transferred.
In that case there is nothing to recover by resetting a password. EliteSingles tells you to create a fresh account. If you once paid, it says to contact support with proof of purchase, such as a receipt or a payment screenshot, so the case can be reviewed.
The website and the app share one account
EliteSingles has a website and an app, and they share the same account. That gives you a free diagnostic.
If the app will not let you in, try the same email and password on the website. If the website works, the account is fine and the app is the problem. Update the app, restart your phone and try again. If neither works, the account itself is the issue and the steps above apply.
What to send support
EliteSingles asks for a screenshot of the full page showing the issue. Take it before you write, and make sure the whole screen is in it, including any error text and the address bar if you are on the website.
Then write four lines. Your account email. What you were trying to do. What happened instead. Which device and browser or app you were using. That is enough for support to start, and it saves a round of back and forth.
Keep it calm and factual. A clear message with a screenshot gives support something to act on.
Do not let one of your dating apps decide your week
A broken login in the middle of a promising conversation is a real cost. A woman who was replying to you does not wait while you fight with a password.
a dating coach's rule for any dating app is to move a conversation off the app in a few messages and get a number. If you do that early, a bad day on the site does not touch your results. You are texting her directly, and the site is only where you found her.
Treat your time on any dating app as a test with numbers. Count the women you wrote to, the replies you got, and the dates you set. If a site eats an hour of your week with errors and gives you few replies, spend that hour on another dating app with more people near you.
The short version
Try a second device, check the email and password, read what the verify message asks, and remember that an old login may not exist anymore. Send support a full screenshot. And get the number of anyone you are talking to, so the site is never the only way to reach her.
Written by Matthew Stevens, Co-Founder & Head Coach. More than half a decade coaching men across the US and worldwide.
Everything here comes out of real coaching work: the approaches, dates, texts and profiles we go through with the men we coach.