Great Expectations Takes Its Lumps

A big sentence by the Arizona Attorney General against “deceptive business practices” as reported here.

The lawsuit alleges that Great Expectations used coercive sales tactics, misrepresentations and other deceptive practices to sell expensive dating service memberships to Arizona consumers, typically costing thousands of dollars. The alleged illegal practices include:

* Misrepresenting to consumers the overall number of Great Expectations’ participating members, the number of participating members in certain age groups and the number of new members joining the service each month. Great Expectations also told consumers that two to three marriages occurred between members every month when it had no credible basis for such statements.
* Misrepresenting to consumers that it had conducted a criminal background check on all of its members.
* Using membership agreements that illegally extended initial memberships beyond one year and were designed to mislead consumers to believe they had no right to cancel or rescind the agreements.
* Unlawfully obtaining consumers’ credit information as soon as they arrived at the Great Expectations office to meet with a representative, before they received a sales presentation or agreed to purchase a membership.
* Using high-pressure sales tactics during one-on-one, hours-long presentations to consumers, during which sales representatives urged consumers to contact their credit card companies to get an increased credit limit sufficient to pay for a membership.

If you believe you have been a victim of fraud by Great Expectations or others, please contact the Attorney General’s Office… (editor:) in your state.