I've been using Match.com on/off for about 3-4 years with varying degrees of success. My first experience with a woman came about when she contacted me first. We got along well emailing each other for a while until her "broken ankle" healed and a few days before our first date, I got unhinged and broke the date. Why? Because I was just about to be granted divorce and was psychologically NOT READY.
This caused her no end of upset (I don't blame her) and she will not write me to this day.
My advice to separateds/widow(ers)/newly divorced: DON"T USE DATING SERVICES UNTIL YOU ARE REALLY READY!

As to Match itself, I really do think it's a woman daters' market: they can pick and choose with total safety. The guy who complained that it's difficult for a genuine, but lonely guy is right; we guys get:

* viewed stats that inexplicably rise, but with NO profiles showing. Huh?
* women who look like supermodels viewing us, but whose profiles sometimes mysteriously vanish when you try to look at THEM! And you can't tell me that these gorgeous women "don't drink". What???
* women who live in other countries, for God's sake. And just how am I supposed to meet them for a drink when they live in Latvia, for example?

My payment experience with Match goes like this: yes, you're auto-renewed, but once your period ends, even though Match never lets you quit - just cancel your next period and hide your profile. You can always come back. And I've never been charged when I cancel.

Frankly, I've had better experiences IRL (in real life) but, let's face it, guys: even on a FREE dating site, if your profile sucks, if your attitude sucks (women KNOW), and if your LIFE sucks - well, you'll never get a date. Women can always smell a loser. But, gals -- so can we.