Eharmony formal dispute regarding 6-month contract.

Blender410

I'm in need of some advise regarding a dispute i'm filling against the dating website Eharmony. I signed up in December to their 6 month subscription plan Thinking it was a 1 month contract due to the initial layout of their subscription plan page, only to find out later that it was actually a 6 month subscription which they had hid behind a 50% off the first month offer. I had my autorenewal turned off so I only found out when they emailed me an invoice for the next month saying that they had suspended my account until I paid the annual bill. I tried asking an agent to cancel the remaining months pay and subscription as I did not want to pay the rest of the months and was not using their services and had no intention of using them, but they refused my request as it was outside of their policies. I have done some research on this and it is actually against a couple regulations in UK, including the Digital Market, Competition, and Consumer Act. 2024 for not providing an easy exit from my subscription, drip pricing (The 50% off layout hiding true prices and subscriptions) and Consumer Act. 2015 for my account being locked while they are still billing me. I'm trying to draft an email to them stating that I don't want to stay for the remaning months, but I wanted some advice on whether or not my letter would reach them or if it looked too much like an AI wrote it or if there's still any key phrases that'd flag it as spam or if it looked formal enough. And whether what I was saying is fair or if they could comeback with another argument. I really don't know, I just want to leave eharmony for good but I don't know how to properly do so as I haven't had to dispute before so writing this has taken me a long time do.

here is the draft:

I am writing a formal dispute for an immediate release from my 6-month subscription membership, along with any further annual payments to be terminated, due to an accidental error from upfront services displayed to hide true charges. I am disputing services I did not want, had no usage of, and am being locked out of my account while still being billed for a service I cannot use.

While I understand the T&Cs of your 6-month contract, I wish to be released from it due to lack of utility, as I no longer want to use your website/app, and I do not want to pay the full 6-month payment, as I had no intention of being subscribed for 6 months.

Drip Pricing

When I purchased your subscription plan, I was under the impression that I would be paying for a 1-month subscription plan due to the layout, which was displayed as a promotional entry tier for your first month subscribed, while hiding the true total consideration of your subscription services, which was not clearly understood. This is an example of drip pricing, which violates Section 230 of the "Digital Market, Competition, and Consumer Legislation 2024" and the CMA on Total Consideration (CMA209). I would also like to make you aware that the CMA are actively enforcing fines for any company found to be using drip-priced services like the one you are currently using.

Account Lockout

Furthermore, as you have locked my account until payment is received, I am unable to use the service for which you are charging me. Therefore, I cannot be held accountable when I cannot use a service I am being made to pay for. This is in breach of the Consumer Legislation 2015, Section 62, which states that a term is unfair if it causes a significant imbalance in the party's rights and obligations under contract. It is unfair that I’m still being billed for the 6-month contract while being locked out of my account.

Failed Attempts to End Services and Payments

I have already spoken to one of your online chat agents, but I was unable to resolve my issue because the team was “unable to honour my instruction.” I would like to inform you that, as I have already been refused by your online chat agents to end the service and have had to refer to the specialist account team, this places you in breach of the Digital Market, Competition, and Consumer Legislation 2024. Section 260 states that a trader must exercise the right to bring a subscription to an end in a straightforward manner. As well as hiding the cancellation of my service under an account lockout and requiring multiple specialist interventions, which further places you in violation of an easy exit plan, as I cannot log in to terminate my contract with your service. 

Actions I Will Take If the Following 

As I do not want to escalate this any further, I am willing to part with a good gesture. I am happy that you keep the first payment, provided you terminate the remaining instalments and end my subscription service. If you fail to do so, then I will instruct my card issuer to withdraw consent from the Continuous Payment Authority (CPA), and I will take this to Trading Standards for review. I will also refer this case to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for review. I have screenshots of my conversation with your agents, along with emails sent from you, as evidence that I will send to argue my case.

Final Warning

As I have previously said, I do not wish for this to escalate any further, so I will happily accept the first payment to be kept providing you terminate my contract and any further payments. I expect to hear a response from you within 7 working days. If I do not hear back from you, I will have no choice but to escalate, as previous attempts have failed.

powerful_Rogue

Just looked at their website and apart from the free plan, they only do 6,12 and 24 month premium plans. All seems very transparent from what i've seen.

What do your sign up emails say?

Brie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81883549#Comment_81883549

Not sure where you found the specific info for the premium plan. I couldn't see anything about how long the plans last on their T&Cs so as far as I'm concerned there's no transparency. It appears that you have to actually sign up for something before they might go into any details. As I'm not about to give them my personal details, like my email address and more, I can't see what possible obligations I might be agreeing to.

eskbanker

I had my autorenewal turned off so I only found out when they emailed me an invoice for the next month saying that they had suspended my account until I paid the annual bill.

As I do not want to escalate this any further, I am willing to part with a good gesture. I am happy that you keep the first payment, provided you terminate the remaining instalments and end my subscription service. If you fail to do so, then I will instruct my card issuer to withdraw consent from the Continuous Payment Authority (CPA)…

Is there an active CPA or not? If there is, why weren't they able to take payment, which surely isn't dependent on 'autorenewal' within a six month contract?

While I understand the T&Cs of your 6-month contract, I wish to be released from it due to lack of utility, as I no longer want to use your website/app, and I do not want to pay the full 6-month payment, as I had no intention of being subscribed for 6 months.

If you're going to go ahead and send the email, then I'd dispense with stuff like that - IMHO you need to make it compelling and punchy, not meandering, so I'd focus more on your assertion that their terms are unfair per CRA and/or DMCC.

powerful_Rogue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81883578#Comment_81883578

https://www.eharmony.co.uk/tour/eharmony-cost/

powerful_Rogue

Personally I think it's an awful email. What's with the 'Final Warning' bit?

I have screenshots of my conversation with your agents, along with emails sent from you, as evidence that I will send to argue my case.

Evidence against what exactly?

Also, you can't refer to Trading Standards directly.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81883619#Comment_81883619

Unless I'm missing something, that page is completely devoid of actual prices, which perhaps reinforces some of the points OP makes about their lack of transparency….

powerful_Rogue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81883637#Comment_81883637

I wasn't talking about prices nor has the OP mentioned any prices. I was showing they don't offer a one month contract. The minimum is the six months that the OP signed up for.

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81883641#Comment_81883641

Yes, sorry, I wasn't suggesting the conversation above was about prices, but the linked page is titled "eharmony cost: how much is it and what do I get for my subscription?" so I was just highlighting that they're not exactly clear about their proposition on that front, even though contract durations are plainer.

powerful_Rogue

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81883650#Comment_81883650

No worries, with you now.

I presume it's to get people to sign up for the free plan and then once their engaged the prices are revealed. Looking online it seems:

Costs vary based on current promotions and your specific location, but general UK pricing typically follows these tiers:

Premium Light (6 months): ~£25.99 per month.

Premium Plus (12 months): ~£13.90 per month.

Premium Extra (24 months): ~£9.90 per month.

Devil will be in the detail as to what the OP signed up for in the confirmation emails.

eskbanker

once their engaged the prices are revealed

Once they're engaged, they have no further use for dating sites 😉