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Woman sues dating company over lack of available men

Being unlucky in love can sometimes feel like you’re being personally victimised.

You blame your friends for the awful set-ups, your past relationships for the bad habits, and more often that not you turn the blame on yourself.

But for divorcee, Tereza Burki, she was certain the only one that should be taking accountability for her failed search for love was her dating app – and the courts agreed.

Tereza Burki won $23,000 in damages, plus an extra $800 for “distress”. [Photo: Getty]
Tereza Burki won $23,000 in damages, plus an extra $800 for “distress”. [Photo: Getty]

Tereza, 47, has successfully won $23,000 in damages from elite dating agency Seventy Thirty after it failed to introduce her to the match she hoped for.

Seventy Thirty, based in Knightsbridge, UK, was sued by the mother-of-three for deceit and misrepresentation.

Judge Richard Parkes delivered the ruling this week, that the app had misled the businesswoman about its “exclusive” membership perks.

“Gertrude Stein quipped that whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop,” Judge Parkes said.

“This case is about a woman looking for romantic happiness who says she was tricked into shopping in the wrong place, paying a large sum to a dating agency which, she says, made promises but failed to produce the goods.”

Tereza claimed she was ‘tricked’ into shopping in the wrong place. Photo: Getty
Tereza claimed she was ‘tricked’ into shopping in the wrong place. Photo: Getty

Tereza had set out her criteria as looking to find a “sophisticated gentleman”, ideally employed in the finance industry, who lead a “wealthy lifestyle” and was “open to travelling internationally”.

She also wanted the man to be willing to have more children as she desired four in total.

The judge claimed that Seventy Thirty‘s managing director, Lemarc Thomas, stated there was an abundance of wealthy men on the agency, causing Tereza to hand over $22,200 for her membership.

In the settlement, this $22,200 was returned in damages, plus an extra $800 for “distress”.

The company disputed saying Tereza’s expectations were too high. Photo: Getty
The company disputed saying Tereza’s expectations were too high. Photo: Getty

Susie Ambrose, the founder and company director of the agency, said Tereza had joined with “lofty and unrealistic” expectations of how many men she could meet.

“We are a niche, exclusive agency, not a mainstream, mass-market online dating service. We are not going to have thousands of members because there simply aren’t thousands of single, wealthy, high-calibre prospects out there,” Susie said.

“By her own admission in court, Ms Burki never read the terms and conditions … Ms Burki was found to have libelled Seventy Thirty, as the judge said that we had sourced excellent matches for her,” she continued. “Therefore, her remarks about us being a non-reputable and fraudulent company were deemed untrue and entirely without foundation.”

Let’s hope Tereza has more luck from here on out!

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