$2m Awarded to Lonely Heart Who Lost $125,000 to Dating Agency
Friday, 2. June 2006 - 10:39 am
THE GUARDIAN — June 1 — Orly the Matchmaker is a "high-end matchmaking service catering to celebrities, royalties, famous people and all wonderful single men and women out there." Anne Majerik, a 60-year-old widowed social worker saw an ad in an in-flight magazine but the search for romance ended in disillusion and finally court. This week a jury in Los Angeles awarded Ms Majerik $2.1m (£1.1m) in damages. Majerik's lawyer said, "She's developed a niche out there to prey on women who are lonely or divorced." The size of the jury's award is unprecedented. "I hear of high-end matchmaking firms charging tens of thousands of dollars a year," said Mark Brooks, the editor of onlinepersonalswatch.com. "But to pay $100,000-plus, that's just not wise." Ms Hadida plans to appeal. FULL ARTICLE @ THE GUARDIAN
Mark Brooks: Orly is giving reputable matchmakers a bad name. I can understand $10's of thousands for high-end service, but $100k+. Obscene. Buyer beware. Great Expectations, It's Just Lunch, The Right One/Together Dating, and Table for Six are examples of exemplary, well established, real world services. $2500, ok. $25k, hmm? $125k, crazy!