Doc:
Again, I’m pretty sure they encourage checking before the first meeting.
Also, if we assume the average cost of a first date (rental car, gas,tolls?, drinks) is about $75, it is not clear that it is more efficient to do the date.
The average cost of processing a request is pretty low. It does not usually involve additional testing, and if we assume they will both eventually call, the additional testing will be done anyway.
To complete the analysis, we would need to know the percentage of matches which are incompatible. I think it is pretty low, which helps your case- since most first dates will not be thus wasted.
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In any event, my experience is that not checking beforehand can lead to very needless stress, and also a ridiculous formality of “checking the numbers”. As I once told a girl, “When we have a relationship, I’m not going to express that by hinting, I’m going to say, ‘I like you, we have a relationship'”.