but these online sites are not the end all be all for dating. They really work best when you are just using them as a means to meeting new people and expanding your social skills.

It sounds like you may be putting a little too much into letting the site do the work for you. And as Red pointed out, you may be a little too rushed if you aren't getting responses back after asking to meet in person. People are cautious these days (esp. women) and meeting total strangers after talking online has to be handled slowly and carefully.

If you are literally sitting and waiting for the site to match you with the girl of your dreams based on an online profile and nothing more, you're not gonna be happy with the results.

It isn't baiting that some members aren't paying customers, but they do pad their memberships by letting people register and then placing them with both paid and non-paid members (and they never tell you which ones are which).

I never used Match, but I did try eHarmony, Yahoo Singles and a number of free sites like Plenty of Fish and OKCupid. You may want to try these free sites first, or sign up for eHarmony and use the cheap first month and then cancel the subscription, but leave your profile active, checking back on the free weekends they offer every other month or so. But the old saying about kissing a lot of toads is definitely true here.