Man Sues Match.com for over $5 Million for Disappointing Him

These days being disappointed can be grounds for suing. A Brooklyn man sued Match.com on June 9 for inflicting "humiliation and disappointment" on date-seekers "who feel rejected when their e-mails get no reply."

The New York Post reported that Sean McGinn stated that the popular matchmaking Web site dangles phony date bait by posting profiles of people who no longer subscribe to its $39.99-a-month service.

As a result, Mr. Lonelyhearts like him have been "defrauded" out of millions of dollars and countless hours spent sending heartfelt e-mails in vain, the 37-year-old TV producer says.

He claims that most members of Match.com -- which has 86 million searches a month in the United States -- are actually unavailable because they "are canceled subscribers or never subscribed at all," according to his suit filed in Manhattan federal court.

The class-action complaint doesn't state damages, but says they exceed $5 million.

McGinn is also demanding that the Internet's biggest dating site "cease and desist its deceptive practices," which he claims are "willfully causing emotional harm to the consumer and social harm to society at large."

"Match's policy causes severe emotional distress and anxiety for some [subscribers], including those who keep writing e-mails to one member after another and never hear back because he/she is writing to people who've canceled," his suit says.

"Because the writer has no way of knowing this, he or she may experience profound personal anguish, suffering which is easily preventable by Match."

The suit also alleges that "Match induces canceled members to log in . . . creating the appearance that inactive members are active" by sending bogus BlackBerry notifications that read, "Someone has winked back at you."

Ironically, McGinn, according to his his lawyer "met someone he's happy with" through the site.

"We're not saying that Match doesn't provide a valuable service, but they don't have to misrepresent what they're offering you," attorney Norah Hart said.

About 15 other disgruntled Match.com users have joined the case, she said.

McGinn's suit is the latest in a series of fraud allegations lodged against Dallas-based Match.com and other social-networking sites.

This is a sad commentary on how people meet each other these days and what their expectations are. Are we so spoiled rotten that we now sue for disappointment because we can't get a date? If the Mr. McGinn has so little game that he can't even get satisfaction out of a dating site, is that cause for taking them to court? Especially after he met someone he liked on the site? If a person is inherently undesirable and can't meet people on their own, do they have the right to squeeze money out of a dating site for not solving all their problems and sending them the love of their life?

You might say, "They were misrepresenting themselves and he has a right to sue." Really? If we sued every business and person for disappointing us, the courts would be backed up with cases for centuries. But if Mr. McGinn does win the $5,000,000, perhaps he will all of a sudden seem like the best catch in town.