Woman loses case against dating agency

A small claims case brought by a woman against a dating agency for breach of contract has failed.

Susan O’Brien took action against Sharon Kenny, owner of Thematchmaker.ie, for breach of contract after she said she was sent on two ‘disastrous’ dates.

However, Ms Kenny argued that Ms O’Brien’s expectations were too high and that she put too much pressure on both dates by continuously asking them how much money they earned.

Ms O’Brien, who described herself as a civil servant in court, said she had paid €325 in good faith after meeting with Ms Kenny in the Dublin city Centre.

Her requirements were that any potential date had to be full-time employed, and physically and mentally in good health.

She said the first person she went on a date with ‘wasn’t dressed properly and had messy, unwashed hair.’

She said she told him she didn’t ‘fancy’ him but still offered to buy a round of drinks or go out for a meal. She said the date left abruptly after telling her he preferred ‘foreign women’ to Irish women because they were better in bed. He also wasn’t employed full-time. The second date she went on appeared to be going well until Ms O’Brien was told by the man in question that he had cancer and had been for treatment earlier that day.

She also claimed that the man later told her that he was a recovering alcoholic and had admitted too using drugs before.

‘I’m a very straight laced person so this shocked me.’

She added that she requested a refund because she didn’t consider this a date.

Ms Kenny said when she first met Ms O’Brien, it was insinuated to her that the money any potential date was earning was important. ‘I said it’s not all about money, it’s about love.’ After talking to Ms O’Brien’s dates, she added, ‘I said you can’t ask a guy how much he is earning. You can’t put people under that sort of pressure. Your date felt really, really bad.’

She also alleged that Ms O’Brien sent her nasty and abusive text messages.

She continued that Ms O’Brien requested her dates be ‘tall, dark and handsome’ without grey hair and had to be aged 50 or under.

‘This is despite the fact she is 53 and has grey hair herself. Her expectations didn’t seem realistic.’

Judge William Early dismissed the claim as the terms and conditions of the original contract hadn’t been made clear to him.

In summary, he said, ‘encounters between men and women can be delightful and fun, but they can also be problematic and fraught. There is no guarantee of success. I have a suspicion that Ms O’Brien’s expectations were too high initially.’