By Karl Hoerr -
A court's finding against dating platform eHarmony highlights the need for clarity when it comes to ongoing subscriptions, according to the nation's competition regulator.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the Federal Court found that eHarmony made misleading representations about pricing, renewal and the duration of its online dating memberships.
In proceedings brought by the ACCC, the Court found misleading or deceptive conduct applied to the offering of free dating, when consumers could not engage in ongoing communication with other people for free. The finding also applied to the automatic renewal of memberships, one-month memberships, when there was a six-month minimum and consumers being able to cancel their subscription.
The Court also found the site had failed to mention an additional, mandatory monthly, on top of the monthly subscription prices.
Australian Consumer Law required the site to display as a single price the minimum total amount a consumer would pay, alongside statements of how much a membership would cost per month, and the ACCC says the site failed to do this.
ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward says it received hundreds of complaints about charges from eHarmony. “Consumers were not adequately informed about their membership’s duration or that the membership would automatically renew, including, for many, at a much higher price.
“The ACCC is concerned about subscription traps in digital services, and this decision highlights the need for clarity in ongoing consumer subscriptions,” he says. “Obscuring the reality of purchases with confusing statements, hidden disclosures in small text and complex terms and conditions can mislead consumers.”
