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After just four days, a woman left the Parship dating site and wanted her money back. But the company took a stand. The Court of Justice has now rendered a judgment that is likely to be important to many clients.
By Bernd Wolf, ARD Legal Editor
The Parship dating agency can ask clients who have canceled their contract to pay for the services provided, at most proportionally. The Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) decided in a judgment. Consequently, the company can only demand money if the client has already given the order to find a partner before the legal withdrawal period expires.
A woman had signed a premium contract with Parship. It should last a year and cost 524 euros, double that of most other members. Parship properly informed you of your right of withdrawal. The woman demanded that Parship start dating immediately, that is, before the withdrawal period expired. However, after four days, he revoked the contract and wanted his money back.
Parship had already performed
Parship informed him that they wanted to refund only 130 euros of the 524 euros, that is, a quarter of the original price. You keep the rest, the company said. After all, as requested, a half-hour personality test, including a 50-page report, was created with her immediately after registration, and the first partner suggestions were made. That costs money, exactly 393 euros. The woman, on the other hand, asked for a total refund of 524 euros, claiming that the price was excessive anyway.
The Court of Justice now largely agreed with the woman: although she did not get out of the matter for free despite the timely revocation, because she had requested an immediate dating service. But Parship can only charge pro rata compensation for four days of membership.
Many similar lawsuits in Germany
According to the judges, the online service could only charge more if Parship had included the price of individual services, such as the personality test and initial partner offers separately. If 524 euros for an annual premium contract is overpriced, you have to judge by what Parship charges other clients and what a premium contract with other dating agencies costs.
The ECJ had asked the Hamburg District Court. He has had nearly 900 similar lawsuits against Parship. Therefore, the judgment of the European judges should make sense to many people. The plaintiff’s case now goes back to the Hamburg District Court. There, the judges must make a decision in a specific case.
Case C-641/19
