What follows is the most complete instructions in quitting eHarmony. While each of these steps may be enough on its own, if you want your privacy back completely, you will need to be thorough and do all steps.
Even if the compatibility questionnaire rejected you, eHarmony retains your personal information permanently. As per their privacy policy, they will share your information with anybody they want (a.k.a., partner companies).
First, some answers to frequently asked questions
- Can I cancel my subscription? Yes, anytime. But unlike a newspaper subscription, unless you cancel within 3 days (7 days for eHarmony UK), you do not get any refunds for the unused time.
- Can I put my subscription on hold? Nope, again, unlike newspaper subscriptions.
- Does my subscription renew automatically? Like newspapers, yes. You have to cancel your subscription to turn the autorenewal off. The instructions are below.
- Can I still communicate with my matches after I’ve cancelled my subscription? Yes, you’re a paid-up subscriber until your unrefunded subscription runs out. Unless you close your account. Instructions to close your account are below, too.
- What if I didn’t cancel and stopped coming to the site? They don’t care. Come auto-renewal time, they will charge your credit card a renewal.
- I’ve stopped receiving matches or hearing from the site, does this mean it’s cancelled? Hell, no.
- I’ve turned Matching off, does this mean it’s cancelled? No, either.
- Can I get a confirmation or proof that it is cancelled? Sorry, you can’t. After all, they could easily say, “our records show that you reinstated your subscription on June 14″.
- How can I be sure it’s cancelled, then? Follow all the steps below.
Step 1. Remove your credit card information
The guaranteed way to stop repeat credit card charges from eHarmony is giving them a dummy credit card number to bill. Here’s how.
Main article: Want to remove your credit card number in eHarmony? (Part 2)
Step 2. Remove your email address
The guaranteed way to stop receiving emails from eHarmony is giving them a dummy email address to nag. Here’s how.
Main article: How to stop receiving eHarmony emails? Give a fake address.
Extra step: Be unmatchable, blank your profile and remove your photos
The guaranteed way to receive no matches in eHarmony is to mess up your match settings. The guaranteed way that members won’t be able to read your profile or see your photos in eHarmony is to remove them. Here’s how.
Main article: How to be unmatchable and blank your profile in eHarmony
Step 3. Cancel your subscription (i.e., turn off auto-renewal)
If you have removed your credit card, you can forget about auto-renewal. But if you want to turn off auto-renewal explicitly, here’s how.
Main article: How to turn off auto-renewal
Step 4. Close your account and get your refund
When you close your account in eHarmony, your records are still there and your matches are still able to read your previous communications and messages. The only difference is that you cannot sign back in.
In fact, you can call eHarmony back to reopen your account and restore your login and you’ll see all your matches again and your communications with them. Read Bill’s story.
If this is okay with you, then here’s how.
Main article: How to delete your account on eHarmony
See also: All about eHarmony’s guarantees and refund policy
Note: As mentioned, you cannot sign back in, so you cannot do any of Steps 1 to 3 anymore after this.
Step 5. Request email proof that your profile is gone.
The only way to permanently remove all your records and personal information from eHarmony isn’t available through the website. You have to tell them in writing to do it. Here’s how.
Main article: How to request TRUST-e to remove your profile in eHarmony.
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