The Guardian reported on Wednesday that Tereza Burki, a 47-year-old divorcee who was hoping to wrangle a moneyed man through an elite dating agency has successfully sued said dating agency for £13,100 (about $16,500) in damages.
The agency, Seventy Thirty, is based in Knightsbridge, in central London. Burki claimed that Seventy Thirty deceived her by advertising “exclusive” membership and a large number of wealthy male members who were actively looking for partners through the service. In fact, according to the judge’s ruling, there were only about 100 active men in the dating service. “Had Ms. Burki known what the true size of the active membership was, she would not have joined Seventy Thirty,” said the judge.
Burki did have a few dating specifications that may have had something to do with that shallow pool of suitors, to be fair. She said she wanted a “sophisticated gentlemen,” ideally one who worked in finance and was “open to traveling internationally.”
Burki may be unfettered and dripping in awarded money, but it’s not all smiles and rainbows for her. Nearly all of the damages she won merely constitute the reimbursement of her membership fee (the rest of it was awarded for “disappointment and sadness”), on top of which Seventy Thirty was also awarded £5,000 in its libel case against Burki, stemming from two negative online reviews she wrote about her experience with the agency.
This is really close to being an inspirational dating story. If only she hadn’t lost all that money.