FTC documents tell of broken claims, broken hearts

Choosing the perfect relationship website is often as hard as trying to find love it self. They differ therefore significantly in proportions, purpose, character, and cost so it’s difficult to understand that is the correct one for you personally.

Nevertheless, complaints filed against OKCupid, Match.com, and eHarmony because of the search should be made by the Federal Trade Commission 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 have not confirmed all the complaints.

Approximately half of all of the claims include allegations of exactly what the FTC calls “romance frauds, ” in which online con artists swindled hundreds or 1000s of dollars from naive lonelyhearts. In some instances, scammers delivered plants or even fresh fruit basket as an indication of love before requesting assistance spending money on a journey to the united states of america or a family that is cancer-stricken medical bills. Nevertheless, one hustler, maybe recalling the adage that is old “the option to a man’s heart is by their stomach, ” delivered one Match.com consumer “wings from Papa Johns, ” in accordance with one problem. Almost all of the love scammers had been apparently from Nigeria.

Some so-called victims of relationship frauds criticized the dating sites for doing little to weed away con artists or failing woefully to shut straight down their reports once they are reported to your business. One consumer penned, that they are not taking any more inquiries“ I contacted eHarmony to let them know of a scammer, received an answer requesting information and when I answered with all the details, they gave an automated response.

Every one of the internet sites also received complaints about users’ pictures being employed in undesirable methods, either because of the business or by other users. One eHarmony consumer stated, “I discontinued my eHarmony account around one 12 months ago. EHarmony is continuing to utilize my pictures and information that is personal continuing to deliver it to present and potential people over over repeatedly, whom then make an effort to contact me personally via their site.

An OKCupid member stated that the malicious correspondent “admits to gathering other user’s sic photos and degrading them by drawing profanity in it and posting the changed photo’s in his blog for several to see and abuse.

Users of most three internet web internet sites also grumbled about bad customer care, citing difficulty finding a telephone number for a real time representative and complaint emails being answered by a questionnaire page or otherwise not at all.

EHarmony

Associated with three dating sites, eHarmony gets the steepest prices, by having a month-to-month account starting at about $60 each month. Clients filing complaints using the FTC cost the matchmaking that is formula-driven with using some imaginative techniques to carry on raking in those charges, in addition to boosting earnings through less-than-trustworthy means.

Users seemed specially unhappy with eHarmony’s payment techniques. Numerous former clients complained 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 means we could alter the ‘automatic’ renewal, including my make an effort to eliminate my bank card number from ‘my records.

One previous user summed within the feelings of several other people by composing, “eHarmony is straightforward to participate, but almost impossible to have without any. … They lure persons in (with the free offer), then the service drops off to nothing as they did me. And it’s also very difficult, if you don’t impossible, to have eHarmony to end billing you them you want to discontinue solution. Once you have told”

Even after 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. ”

Maybe more egregiously, some complaints accuse eHarmony of selling previous users’ email addresses with other organizations. One ex-customer had written, “I opted away from all communications aided by the business and had the entire process of deleting my account. A couple of months later on, we started getting SPAM email messages off their organizations, that have been being delivered to the email that is unique we utilized to join up for eHarmony. It appears which they offered, provided or somehow released my own contact information once I cancelled. (we are in possession of almost 100 e-mails off their organizations which were delivered to this original target). … There’s no unsubscribe information about the e-mails and also a ‘do not reply to the address’ statement at the bottom for the e-mail. ”

Match.com

Customers of Match, whom spend the business $35 each month, notified the FTC of comparable hurdles to canceling their automatic repayments and getting refunds, also of issues with solicitation inundation after shutting their records.

A few complainants also reported that their bank cards had been charged by Match.com despite the fact that that they had never ever subscribed to the website’s services. One published, “This business, Match.com, of that we do not have also logged onto before, charged my debit card 52.10. I do not 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 additional choices, an element 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 huge number of lesbians throughout the usa nobody sent me a hey or wonk sic. I would like my cash refunded. ”A more altruistic soul published on the behalf of their townspeople, saying, “I have always been constantly frustrated to get promoted on yahoo filipino cupid search, ‘match.com, ’ showing pictures of breathtaking young women whom are reported to reside in my own small city. They don’t, and I fear that many of my lonely neighbors are while I am not susceptible to such shoddy business practices. Please ask ‘match.com’ to specify why these models aren’t really residents of Cabot Arkansas.

Browse the OkCupid documents embedded below, or regarding the demand web web page: