Howard v. Great Expectations

 Class claims

This is a class action lawsuit involving persons who purchased dating service contracts at any of the following California Great Expectations locations: Great Expectations Walnut Creek, Great Expectations Santa Clara, Great Expectations Sacramento, ZMM Group, in Orange County [Irvine], California and ZMM Group, II, which formerly operated in Upland, California .

The case was certified as a class action by the Alameda County Superior Court on November 27, 2007.

The persons included in the class are those persons who purchased dating service contracts during the time period from November 1, 2002 through and including the following dates: Great Expectations Sacramento - February 6, 2006; Great Expectations Walnut Creek - February 6, 2006; ZMM Group ( Orange County)- February 16, 2006; Great Expectations Sacramento - March 5, 2006; ZMM Group II, ( Upland) - February 28, 2006.

All persons who entered into such contracts from November 2002 through November 15, 2005 are included in the class. Those persons who entered into such contracts after November 15, 2005 are included in the class if (1) your contract did not have an “Addendum” which stated your rights in the event you died, became disabled, or relocated more than 50 miles from the dating service center, or (2) your contract was for three years and you signed a dues authorization form or other documents obligating you to pay dues for the length of your contract. If you have any questions as to whether you are a class member, contact our office: robert@rgoldsteinlaw.com.

The lawsuit seeks to allow class members to rescind or cancel their contracts, if they wish to do so, and receive a refund because contracts before November 16, 2005 or contracts without the addendum which stated your rights in the event you died, became disabled, or relocated more than 50 miles from the dating service center violated Civil Code Section 1694.3 and Civil Code Section 1694.4(a) provides that dating service contracts which do not comply with the Dating Service Contract Act are void and unenforceable. Contracts within the class period which provided for the payment of dues for more than two years violated Civil Code Section 1694.2 (d) and also provides a basis for voiding the contract under Civil Code Section 1694.4(a)

The Great Expectation office in Orange County has filed bankruptcy. We were informed that the other California offices in Palo Alto, Sacramento, Walnut Creek and formerly in Upland were also planning to file bankruptcy but there plans apparently have been put on hold. Any bankruptcy filing does not affect this lawsuit from proceeding against those defendants who did not file bankruptcy including those persons named in the lawsuit who are owners or managers or former owners or managers of the Great Expectation offices.

If you are a member of the class who entered into your contract in either the Orange County office or in the former Upland office, we need to talk to you. Please call Robert Goldstein at 510-834-6720 or e-mail him at robert@rgoldsteinlaw.com. We need to find out what services you are presently receiving.

Separate Subclass claims (not yet certified):

The lawsuit also includes a separate subclass composed of those persons who entered into a contract with the Great Expectations Walnut Creek office at any time between March 1, 2003 and February 6, 2006 providing that you are also a member of the class as described above.

The separate subclass claims involve the sales practices which were used in selling you a membership service contract. These claims include (1) misrepresenting the size, race, sex, age, education or occupation of the membership, (2) representing that the cost of the program was a specific amount at a reduced price if the program was purchased at the time of the first visit when there was no fixed price for the program and the price was further reduced in order to make a sale, and (3) representing that members had three business days to cancel their contract when the total cost including all photographic services was not disclosed until after the three day period had expired.

The subclass claims also involve allegations that Great Expectations eavesdropped on sales presentations.

If you are a member of this proposed subclass, please contact our office so we can obtain further information from you about your particular purchase. Please contact Robert@rgoldsteinlaw.com. We request that you complete the questionnaire and email it to our office before contacting us.

If you are a former employee of any of the Great Expectations’ offices in Walnut Creek, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Sacramento, Orange, Upland, San Rafael or San Francisco and would like to talk to us about the sales practices of these offices, please e-mail us: Robert@rgoldsteinlaw.com or call our office at (510)834-6720 or fax us at (510)834-5476.