When Kaitlyn Caswell moved to Calgary a couple years ago she says wanted to meet some eligible men — and figured a paid dating site might produce better prospects than one of the free ones.
“I figured that since you had to pay, it would be more serious,” said Casswell. “I didn’t want any 18 year olds.”
Casswell says she terminated her membership with Match.com last December after meeting her current boyfriend outside the website. But she says she was surprised to later learn that her credit card was still being billed.
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“I had a charge of $162.38 on my credit card from Match,” Casswell said.
“I had cancelled the service: why would I pay for something I get no benefit from?”
Upon a closer examination of credit card statements she says she found she had also been billed the same amount in March.
Casswell says she has not logged in or used the matchmaking site since 2015 when she cancelled online.
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She says she got the runaround from Match.com customer service representatives who refused to escalate her concerns to a manager or supervisor.
Later, she says the company offered her a partial refund, about $80. But when she took her case to social media and to her credit card company she says the company agreed to waive one of the payments.
Dissatisfied, she contacted Global News.
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“How can this company work here in Canada and treat customers so poorly?” she said.
Match.com has an unfavourable rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in certain U.S. states, including Texas, which gives the company an F grade.
No one from the company was available for an interview to discuss Casswell’s complaint, which is similar to many others received by Global News and ones posted on complaint forums.
However, a representative of the company’s Canadian public relations firm pointed out a section of the Match.com terms of use agreement.
The agreement authorizes Match.com to automatically renew a member’s account and authorize billing unless a customer has cancelled in writing, online or by postal mail.
“You may change or cancel your membership at any time, for any reason, by following the instructions on the “change/ cancel membership” or similar page on your “Account Settings” page,” it reads.
“You may change or cancel your subscription at any time online by following the instructions on the “Subscription” page on your “Account Settings” page.”
Casswell is adamant she followed the proper procedures to cancel her membership and subscription and says she should not have been billed. She says she’s learned a lot about online dating services after her experience and would advise others to do the same prior to signing up.
“Don’t sign up for these dating websites without doing your research. I signed up because of word of mouth,” she said.
“Had I looked into it I would have been much more careful about who to use.”
In April, 2015 Match.com was hit with a class action lawsuit in California over its cancellation policy.
The lawsuit accuses the dating service of violating California business law by allegedly “forcing California consumers to enter into illegal contracts for dating services.” The allegations have not been proven in court.
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