Several popular dating websites, including Christian Mingle and Jdate, have been ordered to pay up to $985,000 in restitution after they were found to be automatically renewing customer payments without their express prior consent, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.
Spark Networks USA, LLC, the company which owns the dating sites in question, was fined $500,000 in penalties and was ordered to have full transparency with customers about auto-renew memberships.
The California Auto Renewal Task Force, which includes district attorneys of San Diego, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, looks into businesses and Federal statutes regulating auto renewal contracts.
Automatically recurring charges often come after “free trials,” where consumers need to cancel after a certain amount of time or incur the charges, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a written statement.
The DA’s Office said, along with the $500,000 in penalties, the company was ordered to clearly and conspicuously disclose the renewal terms, and must get costumers’ consent through a separate check-box or similar mechanism that does not include other terms and conditions.
The judgement also orders the company to send a clear summary of the renewal terms after consumers pay, and allow consumers to cancel easily.
Customers who paid such fees between May 26, 2012 and Oct. 10, 2017 are eligible to seek reimbursement if they were charged for at least one auto-renewed payment. Customers who had requested a cancellation and were denied are also eligible for restitution.
Recipients would get a check for $25 unless the total claimed exceeds $985,000, in which case each recipient’s amount would be reduced.
