A woman tried to sue a dating agency for a full refund of her joining fee after she claimed the agency failed to provide her with the service she had paid for.

Jacinta McNevin claimed that despite signing a contract that she must be willing to travel up to 90 minutes to meet a match at a halfway point, she had verbally told a representative from Intro Matchmaking that she requested to meet men in the Dublin area only.

After joining the agency in October 2018 and paying a fee of €795, Ms McNevin claimed the offers she got of matches for dates were outside the Dublin area and she was not willing to travel to meet them.

"One of the offers was a match with a man living in Westmeath," she said.

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Ms McNevin, of Castlecurragh Heath, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15, took a claim at the Small Claims Court sitting at Swords District Court against Intro Matchmaking, run by Rena Maycock and Feargal Harrington, for the full refund of her joining fee. The basis of her claim was that before signing a contract, she met a representative from the dating agency and said she wished to meet men within the Dublin area.

She claimed the agency failed to provide her with the service she had paid for.

Ms McNevin said she paid two amounts - one of €200 and another of €595 - to join the agency. She also said she informed the agency she didn't want to go online to meet a man and "took them at their word that I would meet a man in town".

"I asked them for a refund of €795 and they refused," said Ms McNevin.

However, Rena Maycock, director of Intro Matchmaking, based in Grafton Street in Dublin, told the court Ms McNevin signed the terms and conditions of contract which stated the dating agency is a nationwide service and clients are not guaranteed matches within their home counties.

"Every member is required to travel up to 1.5 hours to meet a match at the halfway point," Ms Maycock told the court.

Ms Maycock said the agency matched Ms McNevin with someone living in Westmeath but she had refused the match, even though she would only have to travel 30 minutes to the halfway point.

Dismissing Ms McNevin's claim, Judge Dermot Dempsey said she had signed a legally binding document and must abide by the terms of that contract. Speaking afterwards to the Irish Independent, Feargal Harrington said: "We are delighted with the outcome of the unsuccessful claim by Jacinta McNevin."

Irish Independent