Frequently asked questions
Are your services free?
Membership in our network is free of charge. Creating a profile, searching our database and sending messages is completely free.
When you open an incoming message you have to pay for its translation. This will require credits (see below). The cost starts from 50 cents per incoming message. Please note that translations are made manually by the team of our professional interpreters. We do not allow the use of any automated online service such as Google Translate or any other third-party translation services.
How do I purchase credits?
The best way to purchase credits is with a credit card (we accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover). Log in to your profile and go to Buy Credits to instantly purchase credits online, or go here to view all available payment options.
How much do credits cost?
Depending on the amount purchased, credits are sold at the following prices (per 1 credit):
100+ credits: $1
55-99 credits: $1.09
20-54 credits: $2
If I pay by credit card, what will the statement say?
It will show as "1st International”, possibly with a phone number and/or some abbreviations, for example, "1st Int'l NTW" or "1ST INTERNATIONAL".
How much to open a letter?
The price can range from 0.5 to 20 credits, depending on how active they are on the website, and how much traffic they get from other members.
How do I contact someone directly?
You can ask for a member's contact information after opening 15 paid letters from them. You are entitled to a refund for the opened letters if a member refuses to disclose their contact information after you have opened 15 paid letters from them. Sending personal contact information through our messaging system is prohibited, except to members whose contact information you have already received from us. We do not allow contact between members outside the website before they have officially exchanged contact information. If you are contacted elsewhere by someone claiming to be from our website, please, be cautious, as this could be a scam attempt.
What do I find under Requested Contacts?
The Requested Contacts page (which can be accessed from the Member Menu on the left side of your control panel) lists your requests for other members' contact information and the contact details that you have received.
Do you offer any discounts?
After opening 15 paid messages from a member, you can request to have the price of their letters lowered to 5 credits.
In case the contact information does not include an email address, the price can be further reduced to 1 credit per letter.
How do I view a member's private pictures?
To request access to a member's private pictures, click the “Submit request” button that appears when you are trying to view a private picture. You will be notified if the member grants you access. Alternatively, you can write to the member and ask them to send you the password.
What do I get by being on somebody's friend list?
Friends automatically get access to each other's private photos. To add someone as a friend, click “Friend member” on the Custom Menu in their profile. If they accept your friend request, you will appear on each other's friend lists. Your friend list is public. To remove someone from your friend list, go to Communicator, find the Friend Members section, tick off the member(s) you want to remove from the list and click the “Delete from friend list” button.
Can I talk to a member on the phone?
You can order an interpreted phone call, which costs 1.8 credits per minute. Phone calls should be booked at least 24 hours in advance by phone, email, or in the support chat. Please take into account the time difference. Exchange of contact information during the call is not allowed, unless you have previously received the member's contact information.
Can I have a video call with a member?
Yes, you can book an interpreted video call by email support@1st-international.com or by phone (USA +1 630-593-2483). Video calls should be booked at least 24 hours in advance. The service costs 2.5 credits per minute, with a minimum charge of 25 credits. Exchange of contact information during the call is not allowed, unless you have previously received the member's contact information.
Profiles that have been additionally verified by our staff, or that we have received feedback on from other members, have a trust level. Positive feedback adds to the trust level, while negative feedback lowers it (the feedback is, of course, verified before the decision to alter the trust level is made). A trust level of 100% means that we have are positive that the personbehind the profile is real, and all their communications originate from themselves. That is not to say that anyone with a trust level below 100% is fake or dishonest, although you should be wary of profiles with a trust level of 40% or less. Note that the absence of a trust level is not the same as a low trust level.
Are there scammers on your website?
Our moderators reject suspicious profiles and and monitor the activity of site members. Unfortunately, due to the large number of profiles, it is impossible to filter out all scammers. Therefore we urge our members to be on their guard and notify us of anything suspicious.
The toll-free number listed on your site is not working.
If you are outside the continental US, you cannot use the US toll-free numbers. This includes our toll-free main and fax numbers. Outside of the continental US may or may not include Canada, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. For example some of our customers in Canada are able to call us on our toll free number, but others can't. If that's the case, please use our regular (toll) numbers or contact us via live chat free 24 hours a day.
I haven't received a response to my email.
Most likely, your email provider has blocked the delivery of our email to you, because of its anti-spam policies. Sadly, many email providers, especially those like hotmail, yahoo, and AOL are blocking a lot of legitimate email messages because they suspect them to be spam. With today's enormous volume of SPAM on the Internet, email providers have to take steps to protect their users from huge amounts of unsolicited emails. They use automatic filters or rules by which they sort out messages into 3 categories: ones that should be delivered, ones that get deleted, and a category "in between" for those messages that end up in your "Bulk mail", "Junk mail" or similar folder. We never send unsolicited messages to anyone, yet some of our emails to our customers get blocked. If it does not help or you believe that's not the problem, contact us by phone or online chat and and we will be happy to help you. If you haven't received a response to your question via email, fist thing to do would be to check your "Bulk mail", "Junk mail" or similar folder. If it's there, please click "It's not spam" or similar button in your email program.
I have messaged other members and received no replies.
First of all, log in to your account and check your messages. Note that the members do not reply directly to your email, their messages are stored in your account. However, you should receive notifications from us about every message/response received. If you are not receiving them, please read the answer above to make sure you are receiving emails from us. If there are still no messages in your Inbox, make sure that you have a picture in your profile, and it is correctly displayed. Profiles without pictures get almost no replies. If you still get no response to more than 3 messages, let us know, and we will try to find out what's going on.
The system says I can't send a message because I have unopened mail from this member.
To protect the privacy of our members and to prevent spam, our system does not allow users to send a message to a member from whom you have 2 or more unopened messages. If you want to send thema message, you need to go back to your Communicator and open mail from them first. If you have accidentally deleted those unopened messages, please contact the administrator.
Why was my profile rejected?
If your profile was rejected, it must have violated some of our rules or seemed suspicious to our moderators. There are several things you can do to ensure your profile is not rejected next time:
- Post a picture. It must be a picture of yourself, with your face clearly visible. No nudity or private contact information on photos is allowed.
- Write a longer description. A profile with no description (or a meaningless or obscene one) will be rejected.
- Enter your private contact information (such as email, phone number) only in the respective fields.
- Choose the country in which you are located at the time. If you normally live somewhere else, you can indicate that in your description.
- Provide your phone number.