FTC documents tell of broken claims, broken hearts
Locating the dating that is perfect is often as hard as looking for love it self. They differ therefore significantly in proportions, function, character, and cost it’s difficult to understand which can be the right choice for you personally.
However, complaints filed against OKCupid, Match.com, and eHarmony aided by the Federal Trade Commission should result in the search for the one real, er, dating internet site a little easier.
MuckRock’s request into the FTC yielded 2056 complaints about Match since 2005, 301 complaints about eHarmony since 2007, and seven complaints about OKCupid since 2008. The FTC has not yet confirmed all the complaints.
Approximately half of most claims involve allegations of just just what the FTC calls “romance frauds, ” for which online con artists swindled hundreds or 1000s of dollars from naive lonelyhearts. In many cases, scammers delivered flowers or fresh fruit container as an indication of affection before requesting assistance investing in a journey into the united states of america or a cancer-stricken household member’s medical bills. But, one hustler, possibly recalling the old adage that “the method to a man’s heart is through their stomach, ” delivered one Match.com consumer “wings from Papa Johns, ” in accordance with one problem. A lot of the relationship scammers were reportedly from Nigeria.
Some so-called victims of love scams criticized the dating internet sites for doing small to weed away con artists or failing woefully to shut straight down their reports once they are reported to your business. One customer had written, “I contacted eHarmony to allow them understand of a scammer, received a solution asking for information so when we responded with the details, they gave an automatic response they are maybe not using any longer inquiries.
Every one of the internet sites also received complaints about users’ pictures being employed in unwanted means, either by the business or by other users. One eHarmony consumer stated, “I discontinued my eHarmony account about one 12 months ago. EHarmony is continuing to make use of my pictures and information that is personal continuing to deliver it to present and potential people over and over over over and over repeatedly, whom then you will need to contact me personally via their site.
An OKCupid user stated that the malicious correspondent “admits to gathering other user’s sic photos and degrading them by drawing profanity on it and posting the changed photo’s in the blog for several to see and abuse.
Users of all of the three internet web sites additionally grumbled about bad customer care, citing trouble finding an unknown number for the real time agent and problem emails being answered by a questionnaire page or perhaps not after all.
EHarmony
Regarding the three dating internet sites, eHarmony gets the steepest prices, having a month-to-month account starting at about $60 each month. Clients filing complaints because of the FTC cost the formula-driven matchmaking web site with using some imaginative techniques to carry on raking in those fees, in addition to boosting earnings through less-than-trustworthy means.
Users seemed especially unhappy with eHarmony’s payment techniques. Numerous previous clients reported to your FTC they disputed the charges that they were enrolled in automatic renewal without their knowledge and against their wishes, and that eHarmony refused to issue a refund or would only so for a partial amount when. One alleged, “There was no real way i could alter the ‘automatic’ renewal, including my make an effort to eliminate my charge card number from ‘my reports.
One previous user summed up the emotions of several other people by composing, “eHarmony is straightforward to participate, but nearly impossible to obtain free from. … They lure people in (with the free offer), then the service drops off to nothing as they did me. Which is very difficult, or even impossible, to have eHarmony to end billing you once you’ve told them you want to discontinue solution. ”
Even with canceling their records, previous eHarmony clients had been dogged by spam through the business. One complainant composed, them to leave me alone and unsubscribed at least 50 times“ I have tried for 4+years to get. … It is painful to be harassed. ”
Possibly more egregiously, some complaints accuse eHarmony of attempting to sell users that are former e-mail details to many other businesses. One ex-customer composed, “I opted away from all communications utilizing the business and went through the entire process of deleting my account. A few months later on, we began getting SPAM e-mails off their organizations, that have been being provided for the email that is unique we utilized to register for eHarmony. This indicates which they offered, provided or somehow released my own email address once I cancelled. (we will have almost 100 e-mails off their organizations that have been provided for this original target). … There’s no unsubscribe all about the email messages as well as a ‘do not reply for this address’ statement at the end associated with e-mail. ”
Match.com
Clients of Match, whom spend the business $35 every month, notified the FTC of comparable hurdles to canceling their payments that are automated getting refunds, in addition to of difficulties with solicitation inundation after shutting their records.
A few complainants also reported that their charge cards had been charged by Match.com despite the fact that they had never subscribed to the website’s services. One penned, “This business, Match.com, of that we do not have also logged onto before, charged my debit card 52.10. We dont understand how they got my information.
OKCupid
The site is free to most users despite being the most popular online dating website, with 3.5 million active users as of September 2010 according to company figures, OKCupid received very few complaints – probably because, unlike eHarmony and Match.com. Avid daters hit usually by Cupid’s bow can choose for reasonably limited account with extra choices, an attribute available since August 2009, but no complaints had been gotten about its payment techniques.
Some users used the agency’s complaint system as a forum in which to vent about their romantic frustrations while the FTC documents contain plenty of legitimate grievances. One eHarmony individual had written, “Out of a large number of lesbians over the united states of america nobody sent me a wonk or hellosic. I’d like my cash refunded. ”A more altruistic heart penned with respect to their townspeople, saying, “I have always been constantly frustrated to locate marketed on yahoo, ‘match.com, ’ showing pictures of gorgeous young women whom are reported to reside within my little city. They cannot, and while i’m maybe not vunerable to such shoddy company techniques, we worry that lots of of my lonely neighbors are. Please ask ‘match.com’ to specify why these models aren’t really residents of good grief profile Cabot Arkansas.
See the OkCupid documents embedded below, or in the demand web page: