Online religious dating sites JDate and Christian Mingle are now required to pay up to $985,000 in restitution to customers whose subscriptions were automatically renewed or those denied refunds when requested, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Monday.
The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office and local prosecutors including the District Attorney’s Office found that site’s creator Spark Networks U.S.A LLC, was “automatically renewing customer payments, without their express prior consent as required by federal and state law, among other alleged violations of law.”
According to Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, federal and state law requires businesses to make these auto-renewals clear to consumers, and to get their “express, affirmative consent” – before they collect any money.
Chief Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky told the Journal the investigation started after California residents complained about renewing subscriptions without their consent.
According to its site, “Spark Networks SE is a leading global dating company with a portfolio of premium brands designed for singles seeking serious relationships.”
JDate, the company’s first site, launched in Los Angeles in 1997.
Driven by the success of JDate, Spark Networks continued to develop “niche-focused” online-dating communities including Elite Singles, Attractive World, eDarling, LDSSingles, Adventist Singles, and Jswipe.
The online dating company was fined $500,000 in penalties Monday and was ordered to have full transparency with its customers about automatically renewing memberships.
Radinsky also told the Journal that they hired an administrator to distribute restitution and that only California consumers who were affected will receive notice about their refunds.
“This is a California case so they will give notice to California customers,” Radinsky said. “It’s a four-year time frame so consumers who were automatically renewed without consent will get $25 dollars.”
Along with paying a fine and paying restitution, the company is now following a new set of regulations to ensure full transparency.
These rules, that were provided to the Journal in a statement from the L.A. C.D.’s Office, include, clearly and conspicuously disclosing the renewal terms, getting consumers’ consent through a separate checkbox that does not include other terms and conditions, sending clear summaries of the renewal terms after payment and allowing consumers to cancel accounts easily.
Spark Networks CFO Robert O’Hare told the times they have been cooperating with the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office for the past three years, “are happy to bring this matter to a positive resolution,” and “are committed to ensuring all of our brands comply with consumer protection laws.”
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