Terms and conditions

This is a legal agreement (“Agreement”) between you and Playing With Matches. By accessing the Playing With Matches web site, currently located at PlayingWithMatches.com (the “Site”), and using any of the Services (as defined below) accessible through the Site, you become a user and agree to, and are bound by, the terms and conditions of this Agreement for as long as you continue to use the Site or Services. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE THE SITE OR THE SERVICES. Your use of, or participation in, certain Services may be subject to additional terms, and such terms will be either listed in this Agreement or will be presented to you for your acceptance when you sign up to use such Services.

This Agreement is subject to change by Playing With Matches in its sole discretion at any time, and any such changes will be posted on the Site. Your continued use of this Site or the Services after the posting of revisions to this Agreement will constitute your acceptance of such revisions. Please consult the end of this Agreement to determine when the Agreement was last revised.

1.ELIGIBILITY AS A USER.

  • Minimum Age. You must be at least 18 years old to use the Site or to register.
  • Marital Status of users. A user signing up to get matched and to date must be single. You cannot be married.
  • Criminal History. By requesting to use, registering to use, and/or using the site, you represent and warrant that you have never been convicted of a felony and/or are not required to register as a sex offender with any government entity. Playing With Matches DOES NOT CURRENTLY CONDUCT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND SCREENINGS ON ITS MEMBERS. However, Playing With Matches reserves the right to conduct any criminal background check, at any time and using available public records, to confirm your compliance with this subsection. BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU HEREBY AUTHORIZE ANY SUCH CHECK.
  • Matchmakers. By registering as a matchmaker, you warrant you are at least 20 years old and are currently or have been married.

2. USE OF SITE AND SERVICE.

As a user of the Site, you agree to the following:

  • Exclusive Use. Your account is for your personal use only. You may not authorize others to use your account, and you may not assign or otherwise transfer your account to any other person or entity. You acknowledge that Playing With Matches is not responsible for third party access to your account that results from theft or misappropriation of your user names and passwords.
  • Information Submitted. You are solely responsible for, and assume all liability regarding, (i) the information and content you contribute to the Service; (ii) the information and content you post, transmit, publish, or otherwise make available (hereinafter “post”) through the Services; and (iii) your interactions with other Registered Users and Facilitators through the Services. In addition to sharing your information with your matches, we may allow your matches to share your profile information with members of their social network(s).
  • Risk Assumption and Precautions. You assume all risk when using the Services, including but not limited to all of the risks associated with any online or offline interactions with others, including dating. You agree to take all necessary precautions when meeting individuals through Playing With Matches.
  • No Guarantees. Playing With Matches may not be able to provide matches for everyone and makes no guarantees as to the number or frequency of matches through the service.
  • Paying Your Matchmaker. Playing With Matches is not responsible for any money interactions between single users and matchmakers. This should be done privately, between you and your matchmaker and not through the site.
  • Reporting of Violations. You will promptly report to Playing With Matches any violation of the Agreement by others, including but not limited to, Registered Users.
  • Content Removal. Playing With Matches reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor the information or material you submit to the Services or post in the public areas of the Services. Playing With Matches will have the right to remove any such information or material that in its sole opinion violates, or may violate, any applicable law or either the letter or spirit of this Agreement or upon the request of any third party. Playing With Matches further reserves the right to remove matches previously delivered to you, in its reasonable discretion, in order to assure that you have a quality experience on the Site.
  • Posting and Communication Restrictions. You will not post on the Services, transmit to other users, communicate any content (or links thereto), or otherwise engage in any activity on the Site or through the Services, that:
    1. promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
    2. is intended to or tends to harass, annoy, threaten or intimidate any other users of the Site or Services;
    3. is defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, offensive, sexually oriented, obscene or otherwise objectionable;
    4. contains others’ copyrighted content (e.g., music, movies, videos, photographs, images, software, etc.) without obtaining permission first;
    5. contains video, audio photographs, or images of another person without his or her permission (or in the case of a minor, the minor’s legal guardian);
    6. promotes or enables illegal or unlawful activities, such as instructions on how to make or buy illegal weapons or drugs, violate someone’s privacy, harm or harass another person, obtain others’ identity information, create or disseminate computer viruses, or circumvent copy-protect devices;
    7. intended to defraud, swindle or deceive other users of the Services;
    8. contains viruses, time bombs, trojan horses, cancelbots, worms or other harmful, or disruptive codes, components or devices;
    9. promotes or solicits involvement in or support of a political platform, religion, cult, or sect;
    10. disseminates another person’s personal information without his or her permission, or collects or solicits another person’s personal information for commercial or unlawful purposes;
    11. is off-topic, meaningless, or otherwise intended to annoy or interfere with others’ enjoyment of the Site;
    12. impersonates, or otherwise misrepresents affiliation, connection or association with, any person or entity;
    13. solicits gambling or engages in any gambling or similar activity;
    14. uses scripts, bots or other automated technology to access the Site or Services;
    15. uses the Site or Services for chain letter, junk mail or spam e-mails;
    16. collects or solicits personal information about anyone under 18; or
    17. is in any way used for or in connection with spamming, spimming, phishing, trolling, or similar activities.

    In addition to the above, postings on the Content Services currently known as Playing With Matches Advice (“Advice”) will follow the Advice Community Standards , in addition to the terms of this Agreement.

  • No False Information. You will not provide inaccurate, misleading or false information to Playing With Matches or to any other user. If information provided to  Playing With Matches or another user subsequently becomes inaccurate, misleading or false, you will promptly notify  Playing With Matches of such change.
  • No Advertising or Commercial Solicitation. You will not advertise or solicit any user to buy or sell any products or services through the Site or Services. You may not transmit any chain letters, junk or spam e-mail to other users. Further, you will not use any information obtained from the Services in order to contact, advertise to, solicit, or sell to any user without their prior explicit consent. If you breach the terms of this subsection and send or post unsolicited bulk email, “spam” or other unsolicited communications of any kind through the Services, you acknowledge that you will have caused substantial harm to  Playing With Matches, but that the amount of such harm would be extremely difficult to ascertain. As a reasonable estimation of such harm, you agree to pay  Playing With Matches $80 for each such unsolicited communication you send through the Services.
  • Unique and Bona Fide Profile. As a Registered User, you will create only one unique profile. In addition, your use of the site must be for bona fide relationship-seeking purposes in order to maintain the integrity of the service (for example, you may not become a Registered User solely to compile a report of compatible singles in your area, or to write a school research paper). Not all registered users are available for matching. From time to time,  Playing With Matches may create test profiles in order to monitor the operation of the Services.
  • No Harassment of Employees or Agents. You will not harass, annoy, intimidate or threaten any  Playing With Matches employees or agents engaged in providing any portion of the Services to you.
  • Social Media. We may provide you the option to connect your  Playing With Matches account to your account on some social networking sites (such as via Facebook Connect) for the purpose of logging in, uploading information or enabling certain features on the Service. When enabling this feature, we will disclose to you the information we collect from the connected social networking site, and will use such information in compliance with our Privacy Policy. Once connected, some of your matches may also be able to see information about your social network, such as the size of your network and your friends, including common friends. By connecting your Playing With Matches account to your account on any social networking site, you hereby consent to the continuous release of information about you to Playing With Matches. We will not send any of your  Playing With Matches account information to the connected social networking site without first disclosing that to you. You can always disconnect the accounts via your Playing With Matches Account Settings page. Each social network may further allow you to set privacy controls around your information on their system. This feature is subject to continuous change and improvement by us and each social networking site involved, and therefore the available features and shared information are subject to change without notice to you.

3. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS.

  • Ownership of Proprietary Information. You hereby acknowledge and agree that Playing With Matches is the owner of highly valuable proprietary information, including without limitation, the patented compatibility matching system, compatibility profiles, and relationship questionnaires (collectively, “Confidential Information”).  Playing With Matches owns and hereby retains all proprietary rights in the Services and the Site, including but not limited to, all Confidential Information.
  • No Use of Confidential Information. You will not post, copy, modify, transmit, disclose, show in public, create any derivative works from, distribute, make commercial use of, or reproduce in any way any (i) Confidential Information or (ii) other copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information accessible via the Services, without first obtaining the prior written consent of the owner of such proprietary rights.
  • Other Users’ Information. Other Registered Users may post copyrighted information, which has copyright protection whether or not it is identified as copyrighted. You agree that you will not copy, modify, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, display, commercially use, or sell any  Playing With Matches or third party proprietary information available via the Services or the Site.
  • License to Posted or Accessed Content. By posting information or content to any profile pages or public area of the Services, or making it accessible to us by linking your Playing With Matches account to any of your social network accounts (e.g. via Facebook Connect), you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to Playing With Matches and its users, an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully-paid, worldwide license to use, reproduce, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such information and content, and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such information and content, and to grant and authorize sub-licenses of the foregoing. From time to time, we may create, test or implement new features or programs on the Site in which you may voluntarily choose to participate or may be a part of a test group with special access, in accordance with the additional terms and conditions of such features or programs. By your participation in such features or programs, you grant us the rights stated in this subsection in connection with the additional terms and conditions (if any) of such features or programs.

4. USER INFORMATION.

  • No Contact Information. You agree that you will not post any e-mail addresses, personal website address or profile page you may have on a third party website, or other contact information on the site or in any other communications you may have with other users.
  • Disclosure By Law. You acknowledge and agree that Playing With Matches may disclose information you provide if required to do so by law, at the request of a third party, or if we, in our sole discretion, believe that disclosure is reasonable to (1) comply with the law, requests or orders from law enforcement, or any legal process (whether or not such disclosure is required by applicable law); (2) protect or defend Playing With Matches, or a third party’s, rights or property; or (3) protect someone’s health or safety, such as when harm or violence against any person (including the user) is threatened.
  • Disclosure to Protect Abuse Victims. Playing With Matches reserves the right, but has no obligation, to disclose any information that you submit to the Services, if in its sole opinion, Playing With Matches suspects or has reason to suspect, that the information involves a party who may be the victim of abuse in any form. Abuse may include, without limitation, elder abuse, child abuse, spousal abuse, neglect, or domestic violence. Information may be disclosed to authorities that Playing With Matches, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate to handle such disclosure. Appropriate authorities may include, without limitation, law enforcement agencies, child protection agencies, or court officials. You hereby acknowledge and agree that Playing With Matches is permitted to make such disclosure.
  • Use of Anonymous Information for Research. By using the Services, you agree to allow Playing With Matches to anonymously use the information from you and your experiences through the Services to continue Playing With Matches’s research into successful relationships and to improve the Services. This research, conducted by psychologists and behavior research scientists, may be published in academic journals. However, all of your responses will be anonymous, and we will not publish research containing your personal identifying information.

6. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY.

  • No Warranties. THIS SECTION WILL APPLY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. PLAYING WITH MATCHES PROVIDES THE SERVICES ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS AND GRANTS NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES OR THE SITE (INCLUDING ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED THEREIN), INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. PLAYING WITH MATCHES DOES NOT WARRANT THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED, ALWAYS AVAILABLE, ERROR-FREE OR WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT ANY DEFECTS IN THE SERVICES WILL BE CORRECTED. PLAYING WITH MATCHES DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR, AND NO WARRANTY IS MADE WITH RESPECT TO, THE CONNECTIVITY AND AVAILABILITY OF THE SERVICES.
  • Third Party Content. Opinions, advice, statements, offers, or other information or content made available through the Services, but not directly by Playing With Matches, are those of their respective authors, and should not necessarily be relied upon. Such authors are solely responsible for such content. PLAYING WITH MATCHES DOES NOT: (i) GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THE SERVICES, OR (ii) ADOPT, ENDORSE OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY OPINION, ADVICE, OR STATEMENT MADE BY ANY PARTY OTHER THAN Playing With Matches. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PLAYING WITH MATCHES BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM ANYONE’S RELIANCE ON INFORMATION OR OTHER CONTENT POSTED ON THE SERVICES, OR TRANSMITTED TO OR BY ANY USERS.
  • Beta Features. From time to time, Playing With Matches may offer new “beta” features or tools with which its users may experiment on the Services. Such features or tools are offered solely for experimental purposes and without any warranty of any kind, and may be modified or discontinued at Playing With Matches’s sole discretion. The provisions of this Disclaimer of Warranty section apply with full force to such features or tools.

7. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

  • Incidental Damages and Aggregate Liability. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL Playing With Matches BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA OR PROGRAMS, SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS AND PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, EVEN IF Playing With Matches KNOWS OR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL Playing With Matches’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY, IN ANY FORM OF ACTION WHATSOEVER IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT OR THE USE OF THE SERVICES OR THE SITE, EXCEED THE PRICE PAID BY YOU FOR YOUR ACCOUNT, OR, IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID Playing With Matches FOR THE USE OF ANY SERVICES, THE AMOUNT OF US$25.00 OR ITS EQUIVALENT.
  • No Liability for non-Playing With Matches Actions. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL PLAYING WITH MATCHES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, GENERAL, SPECIAL, COMPENSATORY, CONSEQUENTIAL, AND/OR INCIDENTAL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE CONDUCT OF YOU OR ANYONE ELSE IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, BODILY INJURY, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, AND/OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM COMMUNICATIONS OR MEETINGS WITH OTHER REGISTERED USERS OF THE SERVICES. THIS INCLUDES ANY CLAIMS, LOSSES OR DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE CONDUCT OF USERS WHO HAVE REGISTERED UNDER FALSE PRETENSES OR WHO ATTEMPT TO DEFRAUD OR HARM YOU.
  • Information Verification. Playing With Matches and its contractors may use various ways of verifying information that users have provided. However, none of those ways are perfect, and you agree that Playing With Matches and its contractors will have no liability to you arising from any incorrectly verified information.

8. INDEMNIFICATION.

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Playing With Matches, its subsidiary and parent companies, and each of their officers, directors, employees, agents and related third parties, for any losses, costs, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) relating to or arising out of any third party claim that (a) your use of or inability to use the Site or Services, (b) any user postings made by you, (c) your violation of any terms of this Agreement or your violation of any rights of a third party, or (d) your violation of any applicable laws, rules or regulations. Playing With Matches reserves the right, at its own cost, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will fully cooperate with Playing With Matches in asserting any available defenses.

9. COMPLAINTS / LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTACT.

To resolve a complaint regarding the Service, you should contact us immediately here.

10. COMMUNICATION AND PRIVACY.

We may use your email address to send you messages notifying you of important changes to the Services or special offers. Further, we may contact you by telephone if you voluntarily provide us with your telephone number, in order to communicate with you regarding the Services.

11. TERM AND TERMINATION.

This Agreement will become effective upon your acceptance of the Agreement by your use of the Site or the Services and will remain in effect in perpetuity unless terminated hereunder. Either you or Playing With Matches may terminate your account at any time, for any reason or no reason, without explanation, effective upon sending written notice to the other party. Playing With Matches reserves the right to immediately suspend or terminate your access to any of the Services, without notice, for any reason or no reason. We also reserve the right to remove your account information or data from our Services and any other records at any time at our sole discretion. In the event your access to any of the Services is suspended due to the breach of this Agreement, you agree that all fees then paid to Playing With Matches by you will be nonrefundable. You may terminate your account under your settings page. Following any termination of any Registered User’s, Playing With Matches reserves the right to send a notice thereof to other Registered Users which whom you have corresponded.

12. CANCELLATIONS.

  • Cancellation At Any Time With No Refund. Except as otherwise stated in this section, you may cancel your registration or subscription to any Services at any time during the term of such registration or subscription or any renewal period by accessing the “Account Settings” page and clicking the cancel subscription button, and providing the information requested. In such case, your subscription will terminate at the end of the subscription term for which you have paid, and you will not receive any refund for any unused days of such subscription term. If you purchase a subscription on an installation payment basis (such as three-part pay), cancellation will not affect your obligation to pay the total contractual amount due on your subscription and your credit card will continue to be charged the scheduled payments until the remaining balance is paid in full.
  • Cancelling your subscription does not automatically remove your account. To remove your account please contact us and request deletion of your profile. You may contact us here.
  • Cancellation As a Result of Death or Disability. If by reason of death or disability you are unable to receive all Services for which you contracted, you or your estate may elect to be relieved of the obligation to make payments for services other than those received before death or the onset of disability, except as provided in subsection (iii).
    1. “Disability” means a condition which precludes you from physically using the Singles Service during the term of disability and the condition is verified in writing by a physician designated and remunerated by you. Written verification from the physician must be presented to Playing With Matches.
    2. If the physician determines that the duration of the disability will be less than six (6) months, Playing With Matches may extend the term of the Single Services contract for a period of six (6) months at no additional charge to you in lieu of cancellation.

13. **RENEWALS**.

In order to provide continuous service, Playing With Matches automatically renews all paid subscriptions for the Services on the date such subscriptions expire. You may cancel at any time on the account settings page.

14. Arbitration

  • Any legal controversy or legal claim arising out of or relating to our Legal Terms and/or our Website, excluding legal action taken by us to collect or recover damages for, or obtain any injunction relating to, Website operations or intellectual property infringement, shall be settled solely by binding arbitration in accordance with Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in New York, New York, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered into any court having jurisdiction thereof. We may seek any interim or preliminary relief from a court of competent jurisdiction as necessary to protect the rights or property of you and us pending the completion of arbitration. Each party shall bear one-half of the arbitration fees and costs, but the prevailing party may seek return of their fees and costs, including reasonable attorney fees.