BBC Watchdog: Have you met your Match.com?

[Tony]

We've all had our fair share of broken romances. Some we just grow out of, some just weren't Mr/Mrs Right and some got away.

So, thank goodness there are websites out there to help you find love- like match.com. But once you've found your perfect partner, it can be hard to let go...of Match.com.

(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'Match' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).

Two people who have used this site are Gemma Chapman from Dartford and Gareth Fox from Battersea. Gareth told Watchdog:
"I originally joined match.com because I heard they were running a promotion where you could take advantage of a three day free trial period. I signed up to the account and provided them with my bank details on the understanding that if I didn't cancel within those first three days I'd be charged 77 pounds for a six month subscription. On the second day of the free trail period I decided that match.com wasn't for me and returned to the website and clicked on my account and clicked on the link suspend my profile."

Gemma Chapman told Watchdog:

"Well, I signed up to match.com for a bit longer than that. I actually joined for six months thinking that I'd get six months free for my just under 78 pounds. And away I went and had quite a few dates - some were great and some were not so good. Until I met my partner. We really were a match and I clicked back onto match.com to suspend my account."

So there we have it. Gareth had a short sweet cheap fling with match.com and Gemma had a longer more fruitful relationship. Both had moved on. Or so they thought.

Gareth discovered:

"It came to the end of the month and I decided to check my bank account and it turned out that match.com had taken 77 pounds for the six months subscription."

And Gemma told us:

"So after suspending my account I didn't think anything else of it for a couple of months until January when I received a rather unfortunate 77 pounds on my bill from match.com"


So, what's going wrong? Well, scores of subscribers who've contacted Watchdog are in the same position as Gemma and Gareth. They think they've cancelled their subscription but match.com say they've failed to follow the correct procedure.

Gareth says:

"I sent match.com an email to explain that I felt that their cancellation procedure was entirely misleading and the website didn't make it clear as to what you're supposed to do. They replied to say they don't intentionally seek to mislead customers, but they felt sorry if I felt otherwise"

Try to avoid misleading customers? Well not quite hard enough. Because we've found a number of ways match.com could make this process a whole lot clearer. For a start there's no 'cancellation' button. There is a 'suspend' button so, understandably, some people press it thinking their payments will then stop. But they're wrong. It's only after pressing it that a warning appears, saying they'll continue to be charged. For those who notice that warning before closing down the page, there's no explanation of how to stop your payments. And when match.com send the email confirming the suspension, they don't mention they'll continue taking money from you.

All this even confuses internet whizz from the BBC News' 'Click', Spencer Kelly. He told Watchdog:

"It's not difficult to suspend your account, there's a really big shiny button that says suspend your account. But they should have told you before you press that button that your payments will continue - otherwise it's a real hassle to go back in set your account back up and then click through to where you're supposedly going to find the option to switch your payments off."

Match.com say there's an easy way to stop payments...by calling this number. But it's buried away elsewhere on the site. And members aren't advised to call it if they want to cancel. Of course, some people do manage to navigate the website successfully - and find how to cancel their payments online. So, is that them finished with match.com for good?
Well, it wasn't the case for Jo Perry from Hinckley. Jo told Watchdog:

"In March 2010 I decided to cancel my membership with match.com so I logged into my account on the website and looked for about an hour to try and find where I needed to go to cancel the subscription. I looked for a telephone number which wasn't available. Eventually after an hour of being really frustrated I managed to find somewhere I could cancel my membership. And then six months later I noticed some more money had been taken out of my account by match.com."

Oh dear, match.com. I know this must be difficult for you, but you must understand. You have to let us go. We've moved on....


Response from Match.com

"The majority of people are able to successfully follow the on-site instructions and contact our free 24/7 customer service number to cancel their subscription without a problem. We're sorry to hear that some of your viewers have experienced difficulties and as a result we've already modified the site to make it even clearer how to cancel.

In the case of Ms Perry, we can confirm that she did follow the correct subscription cancellation procedure, but was mistakenly charged due to an administrative error on our part. We offer Ms Perry our sincere apologies and have arranged a full refund."


Specific questions

1. Why doesn't the match.com website have two clear and signposted options of equal size, one to suspend the account, and one to cancel the subscription? Furthermore, why is there only a suspend option on the first page rather than the option to suspend or cancel?

Suspending, hiding, and cancelling a profile or subscription are different activities.

To offer members the maximum flexibility during their subscription, we give them the option to suspend, hide or cancel their profiles.

• Hiding a profile means that you cannot be viewed by other members and cannot search for members who meet your criteria. The hide option appeals to members who wish to remain temporarily inactive on the site, e.g. because they want to get to know their way around the site before allowing members to see and contact them.

• Suspending a profile means that you no longer receive alerts from the site and are not visible to other members. It is more suited to members who wish to take an extended break from dating - perhaps because they have met someone on the site and want to see how things go before cancelling their subscription.

• Cancelling your subscription means that your paid-for subscription will end as you no longer wish to use the service now or in the future. At customers' request, the profile can also be deleted, but this means that it cannot be recovered or restored at a later date. This is the preferred option for people who have met someone on the site and are pursuing a long term relationship.

We make it immediately clear on the site to members who suspend or hide or hide their profile that they haven't cancelled their subscription, and if they want to, how to do it. The advantage of suspending or hiding your profile is that you can choose to become visible on the site again at any time without having to re-write your profile or lose previous contact records.

To cancel their subscription, members need to visit the 'my subscription' page and call the free-phone number which is prominently displayed under the 'manage my subscription' link and is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week to UK members. This is clearly signposted around the site, is highlighted to people by email when they sign up, and is made clear in the site terms and conditions.

2. Does match.com believe that the subscription cancellation process is made adequately clear on the website, bearing in mind we have identified a number of ways in which it could be made clearer?

We're sorry to hear that some of your viewers have experienced difficulties and as a result we've made some modifications to the site to make it even clearer how to cancel. We are constantly seeking to improve the on-site experience for our customers and welcome this kind of feedback so that we can make things as simple for people as possible.

3. The website does not appear to state clearly that the only way to cancel your subscription is to delete your account. Can you confirm that the only way to cancel the subscription is to delete it and, if so, why does you website not state this?

To cancel a subscription a member simply needs to call the free-phone number which is prominently displayed and open 24/7 to members in the UK. Details can be found on the "manage my subscription" page, or in the help section of the website. If a member wishes to delete their account because they no longer wish to use the service, our customer care team will do this for them.

4. Why is there an option to 'suspend' your account and what are the benefits of a suspended account when customers are still being charged for it?

To offer members the maximum flexibility during their subscription, we give them the option to suspend, hide or cancel their profiles.

Some members may wish to take a break from online dating - for example because they have started exploring a potential new relationship, but want to remain a member whilst in the early stages of dating someone new. This is why we give people the opportunity to suspend their account, meaning they no longer receive alerts from the site and are not visible to other members, but their profile, subscription and contact history are preserved and can be accessed at any time until they decide to cancel their membership and permanently leave the site.

We make it immediately clear on the site to members who suspend their account that they haven't cancelled their subscription, and that if they wish to do so they should follow the procedure outlined above.

5. What is the difference between a suspended account and an unused account?

A suspended profile isn't available to be viewed by other members. An unused account is simply that - it is an account which a member is not actively using but which remains searchable within the member database.

6. Why was Ms Perry repeatedly charged by match.com after she had received an email informing her that no more money would come out of her account?

In the case of Ms Perry, we can confirm that she did follow the correct subscription cancellation procedure, but was mistakenly charged due to an administrative error on our part. We offer Ms Perry our sincere apologies and have arranged a full refund.


Watchdog Viewer Responses:

Hi, I joined up with match.com over 3 years ago and I paid for the 6 moths, I paid for the use up front, In the first month i met someone called Suzanne Foreman, We are now married.

I have tried to come off match.com. I have emailed them and said I don't want to be on it anymore, But yet i'm still on there, And when Suzanne said I want to come off, They deleted her straight away.

I'm fed up with email's from other ladies, and so is my wife.

Phillip & Suzanne Thornburrow


So happy this has come to your attention. I have had my share of problems with Match.com. I initially bought a 3-month subscription. Bear in mind this isn't that cheap for a mere website service. As I wasn't satisfied with the service I wanted to cancel the account however I could not find a link on the website to cancel the account. I unfortunately presumed that I don't have to cancel as I did subscribe for 3 months.

I was surprised that my account was debited for about 90 pounds without any prior warning or pre-message. They just took the money. I queried the payment immediately by phone as apparently they don't have an e-mail address which is very strange for an online service.
Despite me contacting them within a few hours of them taking my money they still refuse to refund me.

I will never ever recommend Match.com to anybody else.

Martin McDowell, Haverfordwest, Wales


My wife and I have been together for 4 years, and married for 18 months. We have a lovely 6 month old daughter called Rosie. And we have match.com to thank for introducing us in the first place.

We will not thank them for how they treated my wife when she tried to cancel her subscription. She succesfully suspended her account (thinking she had cancelled it) but they went on to charge her another ~£80 for another 6 month subscription. By email they were unsympathetic and rude when she explained she had found love through their service and wanted to cancel. They couldn't care less, so long as they got their money.

Simon and Sally Adelman, Cambridge



Have you met your Match.com?

 

[Mad]

Has anybody had any more recent experiences with match.com? All the info on here is rather old.... I'll start a new match.com thread shortly and stop hijacking others.

 

[davetittle2013]

I have. Just automated "visits" to your profile etc until you pay up, and the profiles are pretty much "active in the last 24hours" regardless. All lies.

You can test it by creating two profiles, one for yourself and one for an ideal partner. Use one, but don't login to the other after setup. Use a search to find your inactive profile and keep checking it - it'll always say "active in the last 24hours".

I managed to track down a real person for one of the profiles I saw (I actually knew her), and she hadn't been on the site in 6 months. Slightly longer than the 24hours the site claimed.

Their automated "visits" script is also a bit buggy. Disable your main account, then reactivate it and you notice that all the "visits" to your profile stop.

Pure fraud.

 

[GBrownUK]

I signed up for a free trial of Match.com, and after the first two days really knew the site and service was not for me. I was being contacted by men old enough to be my grandfather let alone my father, or by men in Sweden and other foreign countries. I went online and accessed my account the evening before I'd been advised my free trial would expire in order to cancel my subscription. You can imagine my dismay when a message displayed advising me that my membership could not be cancelled as my payment was being processed. I contacted the customer service at Match both over the phone and via the website to try to resolve the situation and neither were willing to help. I've now been refused a refund and advised that my account can and will not be deleted, despite the fact I have removed all photographs and information from my profile and have only used the messaging facility to contact Match customer services.
Basically, I've been charged 29.99 to display a blank page on a website I have no intent on using for the next 30 days. I work in customer service for a leading UK company and frankly if Match are showing the poor level of service I have received, I am quite simply dumbstruck as to how they are still operating with any customers at all, let alone satisfied ones. I advise you to keep your money in your bank account, not in the pockets of Match.com CEOs.

 

[con23]

Dear All,

I was wondering if you could help?

I had a 3 month subscription to match, which I had cancelled the subscription for. A few days before it ended I was offered a free upgrade which would allow other members to contact me for free. By accepting the free upgrade it reinstated my automatic renewal and I have been charged for another 3 months. It was not obvious this would happen and I never received an email to highlight this. I have spoken with them and obviously they will not refund me. Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Rachel

 

[Dini3b]

I too have just had the Match.com treatment. I originally created an account this time last year, but suspended it as I didn't feel ready. I still received notifications on potential matches, but baring in my mind it was still a free account it didn't concern me. In October last year I decided to reactivate the account and was told that a paid account was the way to go. I looked carefully at the options and decided to go for the 6 month plan which should be £12.99 per month but paid in 3 monthly installments of £29.98, which in itself shows their keenness to take money before you have benefited from the service. My final payment was due to go out the 1st Jan, so I checked my bank account which seemed to have monies pending that I couldn't account for. When I checked my Match account it said final payment for £53.53.

Naturally I was confused and at first I thought they had made an error and charged me double. I wrote to them via their FAQ as no email address was available and received a reply saying that they had taken the final payment plus 4 months of select. I was wracking my brains for what select was and what I could possibly have signed up to. After checking I realised that I had added on the select feature last month. It is a service that allows you to activate absence manager, but my understanding was that this is something you could add on as a temporary monthly basis. It didn't say anything about paying a bulk up front and as they only debited £6.90 in the first place I had no reason to think otherwise.

It is advertised as £6.90 a month and this is what I paid thinking I could cancel it before the next installment would be due but of course there was no feature to allow me to do so.

I never received an email or receipt to confirm my purchase of select and even the email sent after subscribing is vague and doesn't set out the payment terms or even the package you have signed to. I do feel that Match deliberately avoid any kind of transparency in order to obtain money from people. It's disgusting how they get away with it

I could be missing something in the terms and conditions which again I feel are not very clear but one thing I am sure of is that Match is a rip off . I have read of someone taking them to small claims.I know it's a lot of hassles but this person received a refund plus costs paid and interest which proves they will try it on as long as they know they can.

I have read so many complaints since, about Mathc.com and yet if you google top dating sites they seem to appear every time. I for one would not recommend to anyone.

 

[con23]

Hello!!!

Not sure if anyone has read this, but I have another question. Since my last message, I have accepted that when agreeing to the 'free' upgrade this turned back no my automatic subscription (although this was outlined in teeny tiny writing).

As a result, I have instead asked for my money back based on my 7 day cooling off period. Match have replied stating that the 7 day cooling off only applies to initial purchases and not to renewals. This seems incorrect to me, not only because they do not outline this in their t and c's, but also because each subscription, whether paid for automatically or otherwise, is a separate and finite contract, so surely the consumer rights apply to it?

If you have an answer would be much appreciated as I am fervently arguing the toss with them, which is a very annoying process as they refuse to allow you to get past customer services! They are now also trying to suggest I have emailed someone since my new subscription began and therefore I have used the services (this is categorically untrue and I would not have tried to use the 7 day cooling off period if this were the case).

Thanks everyone

 

[blueguy]

I ticked the box for a months membership at £29.99
I then found match prompting me with a window saying I had signed up for 6 months.
Anyone else had this problem?
It was either to do with a sign up page defaulting back to a 6month option on a validation error or the system charged me the wrong subscription.
Either way I am going to conduct some testing of the sign up process and find out where I stand on refund.
Would be good to know if anyone has experienced the same issue....

 

[DHUSSEY]

FYI, don't say yes to free upgrades if you are on Match.com. I cancelled my auto-repeat billing on the phone with them (a mission in itself) in the first couple of weeks after signing up for three months, half way into that they offered me a "free" upgrade, which I happily excepted.. as you would, however the small somewhere print stated that my repeat billing would be turned back on again unless I opted out. I did not realise this was the case until I was charged for another three months at the end of my initial subscription. I noticed on the day this happened, however Match.com have refused to cancel the payment and give me a refund despite me requesting this on the day of renewal. I am currently pursuing this through my credit card company... This is a cynical sales ploy that the money grabbing people at Match.com have put in place to trick that last payment out of you before you leave... BEWARE!!

 

[DHUSSEY]

FYI, don't say yes to free upgrades if you are on Match.com. I cancelled my auto-repeat billing on the phone with them (a mission in itself) in the first couple of weeks after signing up for three months, half way into that they offered me a "free" upgrade, which I happily excepted.. as you would, however the small somewhere print stated that my repeat billing would be turned back on again unless I opted out. I did not realise this was the case until I was charged for another three months at the end of my initial subscription. I noticed on the day this happened, however Match.com have refused to cancel the payment and give me a refund despite me requesting this on the day of renewal. I am currently pursuing this through my credit card company... This is a cynical sales ploy that the money grabbing people at Match.com have put in place to trick that last payment out of you before you leave... BEWARE!!

Hello!!!

Not sure if anyone has read this, but I have another question. Since my last message, I have accepted that when agreeing to the 'free' upgrade this turned back no my automatic subscription (although this was outlined in teeny tiny writing).

As a result, I have instead asked for my money back based on my 7 day cooling off period. Match have replied stating that the 7 day cooling off only applies to initial purchases and not to renewals. This seems incorrect to me, not only because they do not outline this in their t and c's, but also because each subscription, whether paid for automatically or otherwise, is a separate and finite contract, so surely the consumer rights apply to it?

If you have an answer would be much appreciated as I am fervently arguing the toss with them, which is a very annoying process as they refuse to allow you to get past customer services! They are now also trying to suggest I have emailed someone since my new subscription began and therefore I have used the services (this is categorically untrue and I would not have tried to use the 7 day cooling off period if this were the case).

Thanks everyone

 

[swallum]

I joined Match in April of this year and was very disappointed in the site, not only did you have to upgrade to access certain areas of the site, the searches were bringing back people that were no where near me. I then suspended my account and thought that was that and they wouldn't renew my subscription. I was then surprised to recieve an email from Paypal to say that £77 had been deducted from my account for another 6 months membership of Match.com. I contacted them today and after a long conversation of me repeatedly saying to the customer service executive that I wanted to speak to a supervisor finally managed to speak to him. He agreed that I had suspended my account but said basically that as I didn't call the number to cancel tough. Please can anyone advise the best move to make next to get my refund, as this is clearly a common problem and I don't seem to be the only one to be affected. The consumer distance selling rights give me 14 days to change my mind but this apparantly doesn't count. Though I would assume that this would be a new 6 month contract.

Please help as I really can't afford this unbudgeted money.

Many thanks

 

[Boromir]

I'm in the same position as Swallum, I signed up for a one off six month membership at match.com. I used it for about four months with no real sucess so I stopped using it. A couple of days ago I check my paypal balance as I had been saving up and putting aside some money there and was horrified to see that match.com had silently snatched almost £78 without any email, text, phone call.....nothing! Amazing how they can bombard you with emails about every local dating evening and person that looks at your account but when it comes to taking payments from you it's all done below the radar. A vile tactic that I had thought would have been beneath these people but obviously it is not.

I've since emailed match.com stating I signed up for what was advertised on their website as 6-months, not 6-months (but secretly forever until you find out or are bankrupt). I asked them for an immediate refund and to close my account and delete all details.

They wrote back to say that they wouldn't refund my money but were happy to close down my account and remove my details!

 

[Sanflower]

Match.co.uk are breaking every rule in the book as far as consumer rights are concerned. I joined and tried to cancel within the cooling off period. I couldn't find anywhere on the site to allow me to do this so went in search of the information via google. I eventually found an email address and wrote an email, I was informed that this was match.com not match.co.uk and they didn't have anything to do with them. How odd I thought so quoted the name of the head of customer care, Alexander King and received an email to say my email would be forwarded. Match.co.uk contacted me and said that I was outside of the cooling off period and it was too late to refund my money! I have forwarded all the emails I've written cancelling within the cooling off period and they have all been totally ignored!! I can't believe a company can do this, there are very few rights to the consumer it seems under these circumstance and Match.co.uk/com have never heard of customer relations or consumer rights, it's all automated replies and then total silence! My advice it anyone wishing to join a dating agency is to swerve these cowboys completely. Money grabbing and difficult to reach. Their phone number charges 10p a minute and that's another money making scam for them. I have learned through reading other complaints on this site that cancelling automatic renewal is also difficult so have made sure my bank has been informed if there are any attempts to renew without my knowledge. Buyer beware!!

 

[Redrosie]

I'm so outraged with Match.com and it's site that it's moved me to put something on here. I have just found I've been charged again for another 3 month subscription - even though I went on and cancelled the automatic renewal TWICE.
I have used this site a few years previously, and funnily enough had the same problem, in that they charged me again even though I was certain I'd cancelled the renewal. I couldn't find the email previously, so they were rude and said that it was too bad, I'd have to pay up, so I made sure via the phone to cancel the next one, and they emailed me to confirm.
Having been bitten last time, I went back on the site (more fool me) for three months, and after joining I looked for the cancellation procedure and went through it. They keep it hidden and it isn't easy to follow, and you even wonder if you've completed it correctly. That's why I went on and did it twice. This time I made sure I kept the emails for it.
I was on holiday last week and expected it to be cancelled when I got home, but I still got emails from them so went on to check - and they'd taken more money from me, and I was furious.
Having just been on the phone - I eventually found a phone number, looking up complaints for Match on the internet, as you'll find nothing on their website, I got to speak to some rude woman called Leslie who clearly has to deal with cheesed off customers like me regularly.
She had the cheek to tell me I'd pressed some button at 11pm one night that had reactivated my subscription, which is complete rubbish. So basically, you have to jump through hurdles to cancel anything, and yet with one tiny click onto 'something' on the site, you've joined up again without even knowing???? That's complete cobblers. What an out and out CON.
I don't think for a second I did this - and if I did, then it was certainly not clear in any way, shape or form that this is what I was undertaking.
Not only this fact, but previously, I know that when you come off the site, your details and pictures are all still up there - even though you've cancelled, giving people the impression that you're on there and making the site look a whole lot fuller than it really is. I know this due to someone else being on there and my being able to look via their page, and found myself still there, as if I was live. Its a total disgrace and a total con and they are ripping their customers off on a regular basis. Don't touch the site if you've any sense.

 

[jc1963]

My name is John from London.
After two 6 month periods with Match.com i decided that I had had enough of the fake profiles and foreign women 25 years younger than me appearing and then disappearing from the site within a day !!!

i thought i had cancelled the auto renewal on the website but either i made a mistake or there was a problem with the site page.

I contacted match.com as soon as i saw the payment receipt from paypal (10/5/15) asking them to refund the money as a mistake had occurred but with no joy! I then emailed the site again on the 12/5/15 and received a reply stating that no refund would be given.

Several emails have been sent back and forth with only a christian name to go by (actually 3 different ones) and no job title despite me asking for this information.

I have also asked if there is "a body" that i can go to and take my case further with no reply.

I have offered to pay for a month and asked them to refund the rest, i cannot understand how they can refuse what i think is a perfectly fair offer considering they are providing a service that i have not yet used !!!!!

If i had been using the site for a couple of weeks and the changed my mind then i wouldnt have a complaint but i informed them the same day the money was taken from my account and find it completely unacceptable that this company is refusing to refund even a part of what they have taken !!!

The customer service from this companies "customer care team" simply consists of sending out the same basic email over and over again !!!

I have had a look on the web and there are several sites listing complaints of a similar kind to mine so is there must be something i can do to bring this matter to an end !

 

[Fedup2015]

I joined match.com for a 6 month introductory offer. To make sure I didn't get charged again I disabled the auto renew, 6 months on I was charged £78.

I was unimpressed with the service and had better luck with the free services. I emailed them straight away to say they had charged me even though I had cancled and that I would like a refund.

I was told that they had no record of me canceling the service as I should of received an email after I canceled (something I didn't realise) and was told I would have had to do this 48 hours before the renewal date

I explained that I had had no reminder nor was I warned of the amount they would take out. But have been given the brush off. Saying I would have to send my complaint in writing to their head office. Something I plan to do next

 

[Tom Bowker]

Hi other disgrunted Match.com users,

I'm also (of the what must be a multitude) furious that I also have been charged £77 for another 6 months of being on Match. The website is clearly designed to mislead the users into thinking that if they follow the process where it says: 'Cancel my membership' they will be able to cancel thier membership. At one point the website actually says: 'you are about to cancel your subscription'. This isn't just misleading, this is straight lying.

Has anyone looked into taking action against Match on this matter? Apologies if Im way behind here..

I work in IT where we define user journey on complex websites, where at the heart of it is working out how to make it easy. This does the opposite and since they are lying to us as the consumer (for the reason I give above), aren't they breaking the law?

I would love to hear what other people say.

One very P*ssed off online dater!

Tom

 

[Jacobson]

You just don't need to use any one dating app, because there are a lot of such popular sites today. For example, you can pay attention to these best dating sites for nerds right now. This really applies not only to nerds, but also if you are busy with your career and you have little time to establish a personal life. In general, you have already used such sites, so many people will understand me.

 

[Odar]

I broke up with a girl and now I want to start talking to new girls, I would like some advice on how best to meet girls?

 

[Xela]

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