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A nearly $2.3 million settlement will resolve claims that dating website eHarmony failed to satisfy California consumer law requirements in the way it handles automatic subscription renewals.
The settlement is the product of an enforcement action brought by the district attorneys of Napa, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and Shasta Counties and the city attorney of Santa Monica.
Among other allegations, the municipalities claim eHarmony failed to properly represent the terms of its automatic renewal subscription service as required by federal and California consumer protection laws.
Members were not clearly notified about the automatic renewal, the amount of the recurring payments, or what they could do to cancel the service, the municipalities allege.
The settlement requires eHarmony to distribute $1 million in restitution to customers whose subscriptions were automatically renewed but who were denied refunds. This fund will be distributed by a claims administrator, similar to the way civil class action settlements are distributed. Qualifying claimants will receive either mailed checks or credits applied to their eHarmony subscriptions.
Another $1.28 million in civil penalties and investigative costs will be paid to the municipalities.
eHarmony will also be required to change the way it presents the auto-renewal terms of its memberships. The auto-renewal terms must be presented clearly and conspicuously, and they must be separate from other terms.
Customers will have to give affirmative consent to those terms by clicking a checkbox, entering a signature, or some similar mechanism in visual proximity to the presentation of the automatic renewal offer terms.
“The separate check-box is the key,” said Santa Monica Chief Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky in a press release. “Otherwise, it’s too confusing. Companies have too many ways to hide the auto-renewal terms. … eHarmony now will have one of the best online disclosure and consent pages in the business.”
Customers will then be entitled to receive a copy of the automatic renewal offer’s terms, notice of their right to cancel the subscription, and information on how to cancel.
eHarmony has also agreed not to take steps to collect past-due membership fees from customers that were incurred prior to the effective date of the judgment. California customers who have negative marks on their credit report due to eHarmony’s referring them to a third-party collector can have eHarmony contact the credit bureau to cancel the negative mark.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
The municipalities are represented by Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey S. Rosell, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey F. Rosen, Santa Monica City Attorney Lane Dilg, Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley, and Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie A. Bridgett, with the assistance of other attorneys in their respective offices.
The eHarmony Subscription Auto-Renewal Lawsuit is People of the State of California v. eHarmony Inc., Case No. 17-cv-03314, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of Santa Cruz.
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66 thoughts oneHarmony Agrees to $2.3M Settlement over Auto-Renewal Terms
Collection Agency RFGI just called in regards to the 3 month trial Eharmony acct I cancelled following the Eharmony cancellation policy (emailed, gave reason, turned off auto renewal) and went on with my life…. 6 months later I am being told Eharmony is holding my personal information hostage until I pay $768. I ignored because I CANCELLED, now dealing with RFGI and after saying “bullshit” they said they were noting my account as refusal to pay, that I was being vulgar and hung up on me.
Turning it over to BBB, Consumer Protection Agency and State Attny General.
I signed up for eHarmony and notified them that I was going into major surgery on my back and I could not use eHarmony. They did not cancel my service and kept charging my PayPal account and I contacted Paypal and they put a stop to charges now I’m being hounded by RGIS collection agency !!
I told him I could even prove that I had major back surgery. They’re not even interested they want their money and they want it now.!!!
I was auto renewed without notice and placed in collections.
This is all exactly what happened to me. And the BBB wasn’t even able to help.
Someone just needs to walk into their office and shoot them all. They are evil predators who need to be exterminated like vermin.
They are horrible. If you do a lawsuit against them in New Jersey please sign me up. They misled a lot of people and then send you to collections even after you cancel within the timeframe
Yes just got a call from collections. I saw a Facebook Ad that had a scam. I immediately tried to cancel once I figured it out and have emails to prove but now they sent me to collections. What a scummy thing to do to people who are trying to find a match!! Jerks
Here’s another possible class action. Have you tried deleting your account recently? They removed the option from the site and when I contacted their customer care department, this is the response I received:
I can understand your concern with not being able to delete your profile at this time. Due to regulatory requirements, eharmony cannot delete your account at this time. While we are unable to provide additional information, please check with us again in the next few months if you still wish to have your profile deleted.
Utter fabrication. The site is a data mining scam.
Yes! What state are you in? I am getting the same response from them. I’m ready to sue them in small claims court.
I too have been scammed by eHarmony with their auto renewal policy. I supposedly owe them a little over $500. It’s time for a class action suit. How do we go about this??
It is definitely time for another class action lawsuit against eHarmony. eHarmony’s auto-renewal practices across the country (not just in California) are deceptive and predatory. The company is undoubtedly making millions off of auto-renewals of customers that canceled their subscriptions but didn’t complete a separate action of canceling the auto-renewal. Common sense tells a company that if a customer is canceling a subscription to a service, the customer no longer wants to be charged for the service!
I agree. Everyone else that I have an auto payment with gives me notifications. Except eharmony.