Many consumers from Austria and Germany already experienced the problem: They were offered a 14 days trial membership on the websites "dateformore" and "daily-dates" for only one Euro. Shortly after, they received an invoice over 89.90 Euro. The trial membership was automatically extended to an annual membership.
Hidden information
The German consumer protection organisation "Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv)" filed a claim against the provider of the dating websites, Ideo Labs GmbH. The Berlin Court decided in favor of the vzbv and against Ideo Labs Gmbh. According to the court, information regarding the period for termination of the contract and cancellation rights are insufficient on the websites. The consumer would have to click on an extra link in order to see details about how and when he should terminate the contract in order to avoid a contract extension. The court and the vzbv share the opinion that this should be clearly indicated on the websites jzst before the consumer concludes the contract. The same applies to the cancellation policy.
Another point of criticism is the way the company handels consumer data. According to the vzbv, the data protection statement of Ideo Labs GmbH says that the data is provided on all websites - without further explanations regarding the transfer or processing of the data.