eHarmony misleading Australian users over subscription traps and free dating claims
Consensus Summary
The Federal Court of Australia ruled that eHarmony misled Australian consumers by offering fake free dating services and charging users for six-month subscriptions after they paid for one-month premium memberships. The court found that users were unable to cancel automatic renewals, even after deleting their profiles, and were charged fees like $478.80 or $598.80 after the subscription period expired. Between 2019 and 2024, about 1.3 million users registered for basic memberships, with 258,956 paying for premium memberships, and 44,856 experiencing automatic renewals. The ACCC had received hundreds of complaints about these practices, which the court described as misleading or deceptive conduct. The court will decide on penalties and consumer redress at a later date, while the ACCC and eHarmony were asked to develop proposals for orders.
✓ Verified by 2+ sources
Key details reported by multiple sources:
- eHarmony is the fourth biggest dating website and app in Australia
- eHarmony is the fourth largest dating platform of its kind in Australia
- About 1.3 million users from Australia registered for a basic membership between 2019 and 2024
- Users who paid for a one-month premium membership were charged for a six-month subscription
- The court found that users were unable to cancel payments that automatically renewed, even after profiles were deleted
- The court ruled that eHarmony misled Australian consumers with fake free dating services
- The court will decide on penalties and consumer redress at a later date
- The ACCC received hundreds of complaints from consumers about eHarmony's practices
- A user was charged $478.80 after the six-month period expired and subscription auto-renewed
- Justice Christopher Horan delivered the ruling on Tuesday
Points of Difference
Details reported by only one source:
- A one-time discounted payment of $155.64 was made for a six-month membership
- A user deleted her profile two months later after failing to meet anyone
- The court found it was not possible to use eHarmony as a Basic member to 'date' other members for free
- The court found that users were charged hidden and additional mandatory fees
- The court found that the message 'Try before you buy — and no pressure to sign up' was misleading
- The court found that the one-month representation was misleading to the public
- The ACCC sued eHarmony in 2023 over misleading conduct claims
- The court found eHarmony engaged in misleading conduct in six aspects of its operations up until July 2024
- 258,956 users paid for a premium membership between 5 November 2019 and 6 June 2024
- About 20% (44,856) of premium users had their subscriptions automatically renewed
- 7,148 users had their subscriptions automatically renewed on two or more occasions
- Another user was charged $598.80 after auto-renewal and referred to debt collection
- The court found that the premium subscription plans were represented as finite periods when they auto-renewed at a higher price
Where the reporting differs
Details that conflict, or appear in only some outlets:
- The ABC states the court will decide on penalties and consumer redress at a later date, while the Guardian states the ACCC and eHarmony were asked to develop proposals for orders at a later date
- The ABC mentions a one-time discounted payment of $155.64 for a six-month membership, but the Guardian does not reference this specific amount
- The ABC states the court found that users were charged hidden and additional mandatory fees, while the Guardian does not explicitly mention this detail
Source Articles
eHarmony misled Australians over 'free' subscriptions, court rules
Users of eHarmony's website and app were conned with fake free dating services and then forced to pay, the Federal Court of Australia has found.
eHarmony deceived Australian customers with ‘subscription traps’ that cost hundreds of dollars, court finds
Australian consumer watchdog says it received hundreds of complaints about the US-based dating site and its memberships Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dating website eHarmony engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct over subscription traps that cost thousands of customers hundreds of dollars each, the federal court has found. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued the US-based eHarmony
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