New York General Business Law § 394-c
Dating Service Consumer Bill of Rights
Draft for review. Not legal advice. Have counsel read this before any ad spend or live charge.
New York law gives everyone who buys a dating service these rights. The founding month is that kind of purchase.
- No social referral service contract shall require the payment by you, the purchaser, of an amount greater than one thousand dollars. In addition, no such contract may extend over a period of time greater than two years.
- No social referral service contract shall require you, the purchaser, to purchase a good or service which is directly or indirectly related to the social referral service. These extra services are known as ancillary services and, while these ancillary service may be offered to you, the law prohibits the seller from requiring that you purchase this service as a condition of your social referral service contract.
- If your social referral service contract costs more than twenty-five dollars, the seller must furnish a minimum number of referrals per month to you, unless your social referral service provides the user with a search functionality or is presented with possible matches. If this minimum amount is not furnished to you for two successive months, or in the case of an online dating service with search functionality or algorithm or location based matching, any social referral, you have the option of cancelling the contract and receiving a full refund of all the money you paid, less a cancellation fee which cannot exceed either fifteen percent of the cash price or a pro rata amount for the number of referrals furnished to you.
- Unless your social referral service contract is for online dating services that are generally available to users on a regional, national or global basis, your social referral service contract must specify the distance which you, the purchaser, are willing to travel to meet any social referral. No social referrals shall be furnished where you and the referral live at a distance greater than the distance specified in the contract.
- The provider must have an established policy to address the situation of your moving outside the area it services. This policy must be explained in your contract.
- If any provision of the social referral service contract is violated, you have the right to bring a court action against the provider which has violated the contract.
How we figure the cancellation fee
If you cancel because we didn’t furnish your intros, we keep a cancellation fee: the greater of 15% of the cash price ($4.49) or a pro rata amount for the intros already furnished to you ($14.99 for each intro, which is the $29.99 cash price divided by the 2 intros in your founding month). Both amounts are rounded down, and the fee is never more than you paid. There is no fee within 3 business days after the date of the contract.
How they apply to the founding month
- Price: $29.99, paid once, for one month with 2 intros. Nothing renews, and you don’t have to buy anything else.
- Cancel with no fee within 3 business days after the date of your contract: by email, by certified or registered mail, or in one click in Account.
- If no batch has opened by January 31, 2027, every founding payment is refunded automatically.
- Your contract states how far you’re willing to travel, and we never introduce you to anyone who lives farther away.
- If you move away from the five boroughs, you get back the price less each intro’s share, as section 9 of the contract explains.