The Taichung City Government has advised caution when using dating services, after consumer complaints rose 40 percent annually last year.
The city’s Legal Affairs Bureau last year received 122 complaints involving dating service companies, up 34 from the 88 reported in 2020.
My Turn was the subject of the most complaints with 62, followed by iDating with 14, bureau Director-General Lee Shan-chih (李善植) said last week.
The average amount of money lost by complainants was more than NT$40,000, while five people allegedly lost NT$300,000 each on iDating, he said.
A common tactic involves having female company employees contact men who had signed up to dating sites, said Ho Yi-hsuan (何怡萱), an official at the bureau’s Consumer Protection Office.
The employee asks about the person’s work and relationship status before setting up a meeting, Ho said.
They then lead the potential client to the company’s office, where they are allegedly induced to sign a high-priced “dating services” contract, she said.
People who cannot afford the service are encouraged to sign an installment plan, which is actually a loan made through a financing company, she said.
This sales method would be deemed “door-to-door sales” according to the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法), the office said.
As such, a consumer has seven days after signing the contract to cancel via an official letter and to reject funding from the financing company, it said.
In the event of a dispute, people should follow the official consumer complaint procedure, the office said.
The online dating sector can be rife with scams and therefore requires extra vigilance, the bureau said.
Before meeting a date for the first time, people should check the site of the meeting to make sure it is not a company office and go with a friend.
If the date turns out to be a salesperson, people should remember that although salespeople might promise many things, nothing they say would be legally binding unless written in a contract, it added.
Reading contracts carefully is also extremely important, as many hidden costs are written in the fine print, the bureau said.
There might also be fees for creating a profile, personality analysis or photography classes, it said, urging people to think twice before signing up for anything.
More than half of the complaints made last year were from people under the age of 30, while those who lost the most money were on average 25 years old, the bureau said.
Companies do not shy away from legal action if a dispute cannot be solved through negotiations, making it extremely important to read and understand the terms of an agreement before signing anything, it added.
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