Learn English – the difference among these sentences: “haven’t been” vs “aren’t” vs “weren’t” vs “hadn’t”

The way you are using your sentences they mean the same.

However, the past perfect

had been told

usually signifies something that has happened (and completed) in the more distant past than the simple past

was told

So

Originally, I had been told the house was brown, but then I was told it is actually yellow.

means you were first told the house was brown, and then later told it was yellow.

Your first sentence should be:

We are in love, and we have been for eight years. ["have been" is Present Perfect and it means an action (your falling in love with each other) began in the past and continues to the present (you both are still in love with each other)]

The second sentence should be:

We were in love for eight years. [were is past tense (I was, they were, we were,etc.) and the past tense means an action started and ended before now. After eight years, your love for each other ended.]