The ACCC is taking eHarmony to court, alleging the dating site breached Australian consumer law through misleading statements about pricing and membership terms.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said its case relates to alleged misleading representations by eHarmony, including in relation to statements that it offered ‘free dating’, the automatic renewal of memberships, the failure to display accurate prices, and statements about ‘one month’ memberships and early cancellation options.
It alleges eHarmony deprived users of the chance to make an informed choice about whether to join its dating service and how much to spend in doing so.
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said she was particularly concerned as many people that use dating apps may be more at risk from misleading or manipulative selling practices than they would be in other, less personal transactions.
In a statement, the ACCC alleges eHarmony engaged in misleading conduct when customers signed up to paid premium memberships, which may have given consumers the false impression that the subscription period for its premium membership was only for an initial six, 12, or 24 months, when the subscription actually automatically renewed, in some cases at prices hundreds of dollars higher than the initial subscription.
The watchdog said eHarmony did not prominently disclose the automatic renewal. Of course, this issue goes deeper than just eHarmony – automatic renewals are very common, and the ACCC warned this practice is on its radar.
But in this specific case, the ACCC alleges eHarmony represented to consumers joining up with eHarmony that they could engage in ongoing two-way communication with other people for free, when in fact free ‘basic’ memberships did not allow members to engage in this way. This was rather, per the ACCC, a feature that became activated under a paid tier.
People could register for eHarmony’s free, ‘basic membership’ after completing an 80 question ‘compatibility quiz’, but the basic membership only allowed members to see blurred, unrecognisable profile photos of other members. These users, the ACCC said, couldn’t chat with other members past one interaction both ways (they could only like a profile or send an ‘icebreaker’ or a smiley face). That is to say, users had to upgrade to a paid ‘premium’ membership subscription to send text messages to members, read all messages from other members, or view unblurred profile photos.
Further, eHarmony’s display of prices did not allow consumers to see the minimum total price they had to pay for a subscription until late in the purchase process, where it was disclosed in small font, the ACCC alleges, noting such a practice is required by law. In addition, the ACCC also alleges eHarmony misled users about their ability to cancel subscriptions – something not specific to eHarmony.
Cass-Gottlieb said she’s disappointed, particularly given the ACCC consulted with eHarmony and its peers in 2016 to develop the Best practice guidelines for dating websites tool. That doc basically talks to the importance of dating sites providing consumers with upfront and transparent information so they can make informed decisions.
The allegations made by the ACCC relate to conduct dating back to at least November 2019, and the ACCC further alleges that most of it is ongoing.
“Dating apps provide important services that are used by many Australians to meet new people and make connections, and they have become an intrinsic part of many people’s social lives. These are personal services, and consumers may bring a different state of mind to these interactions than a commercial one,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
The ACCC is seeking penalties and declarations, as well as injunctions, consumer redress, costs, and other orders. It’s also asking consumers who experienced problems exiting an eHarmony subscription, or who paid more than advertised for an eHarmony subscription, to contact its Infocentre via this contact form.