In addition - seems interesting that they can block his account and then demand the whole subscription fee, they have also an obligation to deliver the service (admittedly this is a weak argument).
I am not a lawyer - but can it be that a Swiss court would consider itself as having jurisdiction anyway because such clauses are seen as absusive in consumer contracts? Would not be unheard of in other countries.
Digital law has some pretty obsene aspects anyway.
For example on the one hand you're threatened with massive fines if you pirate stuff, but on the other hand you pay GEMA and such on virtually everything you do online to compensate the people you're supposedly pirating anyway, whereas no real artists you've ever met admits to having ever seen any of that money.
Well, I guess the scam artists at SONY are also a type of artist.
Meanwhile you can go to the cinema and
- first there is a notice to turn off your phones (fair enough)
- then there is a notice saying that if you use your smartphone, you will get fined, imprisoned and sent to Siberia. What exactly are the uses of a turned off smart phone that can warrant that?
- meanwhile the cinema has a CCTV system that doesn't seem to bother the copyright people one bit, although feeds form such systems have already appeared on bittorent (or so I am told). So the real problem is obviously not the pirating as such but the customer being enemy number one.
If you don't feel you owe the money, then don't pay it. I wouldn't, but then I'm a bolshie so-and-so. Or just pay what you think is reasonable. The T&C arrangement on the website is very likely to be legally flawed in some way, and they won't want to test it in court. But be prepared to tough it out, and there's a risk of getting a black mark on the Betreibungsregister.
Definitely don't pay any of the added "Mahngebühren" etc. If you do decide to pay, then the most you need to pay is the original sum that was owed, plus interest at 5%.
A foreign body has no authority here so it needs the help of the local ones (see FIFA arrests, Zurich police arrested some [all?] on behalf of the USA), and yes an agreement (often a bilateral treaty) covering the aid in debt collection is prerequisite. Just in case you're serious about Tonga et al see this page .
Since this is a civil matter for a relatively small amount I'm not sure if it would be enforced by CH - my gut feeling is a "no, not worth it for any foreign actor".
With that said I'd still try to reach an agreement, especially if the company was in my favorite holiday country called USA or within the EU - otherwise the debt may bite you big time later on. After all, OP signed a contract, it's his own fault he failed to read it and never cancelled.
Very expensive things these web dating sites, nearly as expensive as being married
Just wait until you divorce
indeed which social dating network did you join?