Dating agencies and matchmakers in South Africa: your rights

A dating agency, or introduction agency, introduces you for a fee to people from its own client list; a matchmaker does the same with more personal searching. In South Africa, as elsewhere, you'll usually start with a consultation and then be offered a membership for a set period. We found no licence or law written for these businesses, so you rely on general consumer law, chiefly the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. On one point it is stronger than UK or Irish law: it lets you walk away from a fixed-term agreement early.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For how agency fees are usually structured, see what dating agencies cost.

Your rights at a glance

Cooling-off after direct marketing

Direct marketing means the business approached you to promote or sell, for example by an unsolicited phone call or an approach in person. If your agency agreement came about that way, section 16 of the Consumer Protection Act lets you rescind it within five business days, without giving a reason and without penalty. The five days run from the later of the date the agreement was concluded or the date any goods were delivered.

Cancel by written notice, or in another way that can be recorded, such as an email you keep. The agency must refund any payment within 15 business days of receiving your notice, and must not try to collect payment on the cancelled agreement.

Agreements made online

Many people now sign up with an agency by email or through its website after a video call. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act gives consumers a cooling-off period for many electronic transactions: for services, seven days from concluding the agreement, with no reason needed and no penalty. If you'd already paid, you're entitled to a full refund within 30 days of cancelling.

Where this applies, it takes the place of the five-day direct-marketing rule; the two don't stack. Both are in addition to any other right to cancel you have in law.

If you went to the agency yourself

Most people find an agency themselves and book a consultation. If you then sign at its office, neither cooling-off right is likely to apply: the five-day right is for direct marketing, and the seven-day right is for electronic transactions. That doesn't leave you stuck. The fixed-term rules below still apply, so you can leave on notice, but you won't have a no-questions window at the start. Take the contract home, read it with the renewal and penalty clauses in mind, and sign only when you're sure.

Leaving a fixed-term agreement early

Agency memberships are often sold for six or twelve months. Under section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act, if you have a fixed-term agreement:

• You can cancel at any time by giving 20 business days' notice in writing or another recorded form, whatever the contract says.
• You stay liable for amounts owed up to the cancellation date.
• The agency may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty for services or discounts it gave you in anticipation of the full term, and must credit you with any money still due to you.
• Before the term ends, the agency must notify you between 40 and 80 business days ahead, setting out any material changes and your options.
• If you do nothing, the agreement continues month to month on the same terms, subject to any changes notified.

So read the renewal date and the cancellation-penalty clause before you sign, and diarise the expiry. Our guide to dating agency contracts and refunds explains the clauses to look for, with the UK and Australian rules for comparison.

An example of the 20-day notice

This is an illustration, not a real case. Say you sign a 12-month membership paid in monthly instalments, and after three months you decide it isn't for you. You email the agency on a Monday, giving notice under section 14. Twenty business days later, roughly four weeks once weekends are excluded and longer if there are public holidays, the agreement ends. You pay the instalments that fall due up to that date. The agency may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty, for example to reflect a discount it gave you for signing up for the full year, and it must credit you with any money that is still yours. Keep a copy of your notice and of any reply.

If the agency is based overseas

Some matchmakers who take South African clients are based abroad and work by video call. Enforcing the Consumer Protection Act against a business in another country is harder in practice. Check which country's law the contract says applies, ask where the people you'd meet actually live, and avoid paying the whole fee upfront.

Before you pay a South African agency

1. Ask who runs it, and check the name on the contract matches the business you met.
2. Get the promises in writing: introductions, over what period, within what age range and area.
3. Ask how members are vetted, and what happens to your personal information if you leave. How dating agencies vet members explains what each check proves.
4. Take the contract home. Pressure to sign on the day is a warning sign; warning signs when choosing a dating agency covers the rest.
5. Use our questions to ask a dating agency at the first meeting.

Complaints and scams

Start with the agency, in writing: what went wrong, what you were promised and what you want. If that fails, the National Consumer Commission takes complaints through its online e-Service portal at thencc.org.za, where you create a profile with your ID or passport number. If you can't go online, its contact centre on 012 428 7000 can file the complaint for you.

Romance fraud is a separate matter: if someone you met through an agency or online asks for money, stop, keep the messages, contact your bank at once and report it to the South African Police Service. Our guide to how romance scams work explains the patterns. For other countries, see dating agency rules by country.