Dating agency asked to pay £13k after it failed to find woman 'man of my dreams'

A Knightsbrige-based dating agency has been ordered by the court to pay a client almost £13,000 after it failed to find the woman the “man of my dreams”. 

According to reports, Tereza Burki, 47, told the High Court that she paid Seventy Thirty Ltd £12,600 after she was assured by the agency that they dealt only with “creme de la creme” matches and she would find the man she was looking for through them.

But Judge Richard Parkes QC ordered the agency to repay her fee, stating that she had been “deceived” by Seventy Thirty's then managing director, Lemarc Thomas, for misleading her with facts about the number of suitors on the dating site. The divorced mum-of-three was also awarded £500 for the “disappointment and sadness” she suffered.

As reported by Telegraph, Tereza signed up with the agency in 2014 and she hoped that it would help her find a man with “a lifestyle similar or more affluent than her own” and, ideally, with “multiple residences”. She also stated that she wanted to find a partner who would love to have children one day as she hoped to have four children. However, the agency turned out to be a complete disappointment to Tereza. 

While the agency claimed that they had over 7,000 men who shared the same idea as her, it was found that only 100 of them were actually looking for love. It was concluded that Tereza would have never joined the agency and paid her money if Lemarc had not knowingly given her “a wholly false impression”. 

The court heard how Tereza believed Lemarc when he claimed that the agency had “a substantial number” of potential matches for her. But the judge said: “My conclusion from the evidence is that there are at the very most perhaps 200 active members of Seventy Thirty, and probably fewer. That points to a maximum of around 100 active male members. A membership of 100 active men cannot by any stretch of the imagination be described as a substantial number.”

He further added, “The representations made by Mr. Thomas were therefore false and misleading. Had Ms. Burki known what the true size of the active membership was, she would not have joined Seventy Thirty.” During the court hearing, Tereza also added, "You shouldn’t promise people who are in a fragile state of mind, in their mid-40s, the man of their dreams. You are entrusting a service you believe is professional, who will take care of your interests and have your best interests at heart.”

Meanwhile, agency founder, Susie Ambrose, said Seventy Thirty said that they were successful in matching 6,000 people with their perfect partners and 63 babies had been born since she set it up in 2001. The agency further claimed to have about 1,500 active members and stated that Tereza was sent five potential matches as soon as she joined. However, it is not known if she met them in person.

At the same time, the court ordered Tereza to pay Seventy Thirty £5,000 in libel damages after writing a damning Google review of the agency, describing it as “a scam”.