Earlier this month, Match Group, Inc. and Match Group, LLC, owners and operators of popular online dating services such as Match.com, OkCupid, PlentyOfFish and The League, agreed to pay $14 million, to stop misrepresenting the terms of its "six-month guarantee," and to provide simple cancellation mechanisms in order to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges stemming from 2019.
The FTC's complaint, brought under the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act ("ROSCA"), alleged several deceptive or unfair practices to induce consumers to subscribe to Match.com and to keep them subscribed, including:
- Guaranteeing certain consumers a free six-month subscription renewal if they fail to "meet someone special," without adequately disclosing the material restrictions, limitations, or conditions relating to such "guarantee."
- Misleading consumers with a confusing and cumbersome cancellation process. Match itself illustrated the cumbersome nature of this process in an internal presentation, describing the cancellation flow as "hard to find, tedious, and confusing. Members often think they've cancelled when they have not and end up with unwanted renewals. The current process takes over 6 clicks."
- Denying access to paid-for services to consumers who disputed charges relating to the above practices and lost such dispute.
The proposed settlement order requires Match to:
- Pay $14 million, which the FTC will use to provide redress to injured consumers;
- Clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms of its "six-month guarantee";
- Provide simple mechanisms for consumers to cancel their subscriptions; and
- Refrain from retaliating or taking any adverse action against consumers for filing billing disputes, including by denying them access to paid-for goods or services.
This action is a reminder of the various tools in the FTC's enforcement arsenal, including ROSCA, to stop allegedly unfair and deceptive subscription practices in light of its recently vacated Negative Option Rule, underscoring the importance of reviewing your cancellation flows for compliance.
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