Dating site eHarmony accused of catfishing users with 'free' use

A popular dating website is accused of catfishing users with misleading claims about costs to use its service and cancellation options.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission alleges US-based eHarmony breached consumer law by misleading customers about pricing, renewal, and the duration of memberships since at least 2019.

People who sign up for free subscriptions can complete an 80-question compatibility quiz, but can only see blurred profile photos of other members and cannot engage in ongoing communication, the ACCC claims.

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The only options free members have are liking other profiles, receiving and sending a single reply to a premium member, using the "icebreaker feature", and sending a virtual smiley.

This is despite the company advertising itself as a "free dating" platform across five of its webpages, ACCC barrister Oren Bigos told the Federal Court.

He referred to headings on eHarmony's website which read, "Free dating site for Australian singles", "free dating site in Australia, eHarmony is your best choice", "Go beyond simple swipes with our free dating experience", and an orange button which read "join free today".

"What was available free of charge on the basic membership is a very limited service and ability to interact with other members," Bigos said today.

eHarmony's barrister Michael Hodge said of those six pages relied by the ACCC, four were different versions of the same page.

When customers signed up for premium memberships, they are given a false impression that the paid period is for six, 12 or 24 months, the watchdog alleges.

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Unsuspecting users were caught off guard when their subscriptions automatically renewed at the end of their period with no reminders and often at hefty costs since sign-up discounts were not carried over.

"Once auto-renewal happens, users are stuck with that amount. They can't apply for refund," Bigos said.

He claims the site's subscription page did not mention auto-renewal and that it only appears in small grey text towards the end.

But Hodge referred to evidence showing four out of every five subscribers turn off auto-renewal, inferring users read and understood the terms before they signed up.

The ACCC alleges eHarmony failed to display accurate minimum and total prices during the purchase process by failing to inform consumers of a mandatory additional fee if they wanted to pay monthly.

Users were allegedly charged an extra $3 on top of the advertised price when they opted to pay on a monthly basis.

"It is not possible to purchase a 12-month plan and pay only the advertised (price) each month because an additional mandatory fee is charged if a consumer chooses to pay monthly," Bigos said.

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The ACCC also said the dating site failed to display a single total price users could expect to pay should they sign up, rather they only specified a monthly charge.

eHarmony is also accused of misleading customers about their ability to sign up for and cancel premium subscriptions within one month, through headlines reading, "try before you buy" and "you might want to start off with a one month subscription to give us a try".

Bigos said the service only offered six, 12 and 24-month options and it was not possible for consumers cancel after one month.

Hodge contends information on the site's other pages makes clear what the possible subscription options are and that cancellation refers to any account with eHarmony.

The ACCC is seeking penalties, costs and consumer redress.