Binding arbitration policy change/statement

[RedDawgEsq]

I am very confused about the recent policy change/statement about binding arbitration, particularly this statement:

Unless you opt out: (1) you will only be permitted to pursue claims against PayPal on an individual basis, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action or proceeding and (2) you will only be permitted to seek relief (including monetary, injunctive, and declaratory relief) on an individual basis.

Shouldn't the word "Unless" be "If"?

[gravityron]

Thank you so much for posting your experience and the information that you obtained.  Online everything now-a-days ... email notices, etc., but we need to opt-out via an old-fashioned letter?  I should probably send it registered mail too?  It would appear that it might be time to start to shop around for another company.

[williamjacobs]

Thanks for the info folks.

I have pushe dthe elements around to make the letter.

Just copy it into Google Docs (or Word if you subsidize leviathans), fill in the infor, sign it, mail it.

I hate lawyers and class action lawsuits do precious little to help those injured.  (If lawyers did a better job of getting compensation to teh participants, maybe I'd feel more warmly towards them)

I've never joined on to one, though invited.

I just find it sleazy that Paypal is pre-emptively removing a grievance mechanism.  It's only slightly less sleazy than defendant-selected arbitrators.

Soon enough, agreement to binding arbitration will be a condition of using Paypal, but until then, here's the form.

Is this enough to make people jump ship to Google Checkout?  Hope not, I own Ebay stock.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

PayPal, Inc., 

ATTN: Litigation Department, 

2211 North First Street, 

San Jose, CA 95131

This Opt-Out Notice states that I do not agree to the Agreement to Arbitrate.

Name: ____________________________________

Address: ____________________________________

Phone number: ____________________________________

Email address(es) used on Paypal: ____________________________________

Signature: ____________________________________

Your Opt-Out Notice due December 1, 2012 .

[CKHicks]

Thanks very much for the help! I appreciate the easy copy/paste format.

[salsasis14]

So we have to send snail mail, that can't be tracked, and caneasily be "lost".  Nothing underhanded about that at all.

[WonderWidow]

ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS ARE BENEFICIAL THE VAST MAJORITY OF TIME FOR EVERYONE!

It seems a lot of people ARE ASSUMING that having everyone agree to arbitration is bad. 

Having ALL OF US CLIENTS AGREE TO ARBITRATION IS NOT BAD.  I have reviewed the dispute agreement section, which I would bet most of the users won't do.  It is completely reasonable and it will save all of us a lot of exposure.  Any user who decides that they have been harmed still has a reasonable way to settle disputes with PayPal without all of us being exposed to the status quo of the legal system costs.  I know from personal experience that when we get attorneys and civil action involved - even with a legitimate dispute - the costs of resolving and coming to a settlement are customarily a two year and a minimum $20,000 in legal fee situation for even the simple cases.  There are few if any attorneys out there who will not take a case, even a weak one.  It is drilled into them in law school to always make arguments as there are two sides to every situation.  In the end 90% of the cases settle outside court - but at a huge cost.

I don't want to expose PayPal or Myself to paying the increased fees or having the loss in PayPal efforts towards giving all of us the great products and services by their staff and resources having to go towards civil action.  I keep a couple thousand dollars at best in the accounts and if an error were made I suspect it would be a loss of at best a few hundred dollars in a worst case scenario. 

LET'S ALL SAY NO TO THE REGULATORS AND THE ATTORNEYS.  CHOOSE ARBITRATION!

Not convinced?  Then here is the process for opting out.  It is a reasonable procedure.  I think PayPal is looking out for all of us by adding the arbitration language.  I'm opposed to using civil action and group suits with a company that has acted responsibly the vast majority of time.  If there is an error or omission - they fix it.   Think about it.  Does it make sense to get reactive about maintaining a right to go to civil court in a group suit for us?  The only ones who benefit from that type of way of resolving a dispute are the attorneys!

Opt-Out Procedure.

      You can choose to reject this Agreement to Arbitrate ("opt out") by mailing us a written opt-out notice ("Opt-Out Notice").  For new PayPal users, the Opt-Out Notice must be postmarked no later than 30 Days after the date you accept the User Agreement for the first time.  If you are already a current PayPal user and previously accepted the User Agreement prior to the introduction of this Agreement to Arbitrate, the Opt-Out Notice must be postmarked no later than December 1, 2012. You must mail the Opt-Out Notice to PayPal, Inc., Attn: Litigation Department, 2211 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95131.     

      The Opt-Out Notice must state that you do not agree to this Agreement to Arbitrate and must include your name, address, phone number, and the email address(es) used to log in to the PayPal account(s) to which the opt-out applies. You must sign the Opt-Out Notice for it to be effective. This procedure is the only way you can opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate. If you opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate, all other parts of the User Agreement, including all other provisions of Section 14 (Disputes with PayPal), will continue to apply.  Opting out of this Agreement to Arbitrate has no effect on any previous, other, or future arbitration agreements that you may have with us.

[Lazer382]

WonderWidow, did PayPal get you to write that misleading post? I'm bothered that you would ever encourage people to give up their rights. Clearly you have an agenda as your reasoning does not add up. Just because I reserve my right to join a class action doesn't mean I can't settle disputes another way. It really depends on the situation and no one anticipates having to sue PayPal, but if they do mess up bad enough to harm the customer base, we should have every right to join together in seeking damages. I'm a long long time PayPal user but with any company that handles one's money you need to make sure they have incentive to stay legimate. Threat of civil suit is surely one of those incentives.

[JDisbrow]

In the 1990’s when I was in the military a local cable company used such a strategy. They would not process any of their customer’s payments until after the due date. This allowed them to charge a small late fee to all of their customers. A class action settlement put a stop to the practice. The amount was so small that it was not financially feasible to challenge the policy in court. Without the class action lawsuit that company would most likely still charging late fees for payments that were late though no fault of the consumer.

[JR_TX]

WonderWidow must be a paid PayPal rep.

PayPal, like many other major companies like binding arbitrtion because in OVER 90% of the binding arbitration cases the arbitrator decides in favor of the company.  Wonder why....  Guess who pays for the arbitrator... the companies, geuss who would loose their jobs if they side with the consurmer too much... the arbitrator!   So who do you think the arbitrator is going to to support if you file a complaint?  By the way you have NO RIGHT to APPEAL the decision of an arbitrator, that is why it is called 'Binding' arbitration.

Binding Arbitration is a MAJOR case of CONFLICT OF INTEREST.   DON'T fall for it.  OPT-OUT now, you can always opt-in in the future if you want to.

[JDisbrow]

I urge paypal to rescind this article of the policy. Class action lawsuit benefit consumers by allowing a group to challenge improper business practices that are not financially feasible individually. The possibility of a class action also propts business to think about the ethical and legal ramifications of their actions.

In the 1990’s when I was in the military a local cable company would not process any of their customer’s payments until after the due date. This allowed them to charge a small late fee to all of their customers. A class action settlement put a stop to the practice. The amount was so small that it was not financially feasible to challenge the policy in court. Without the class action lawsuit that company would most likely still charging late fees for payments that were late though no fault of the consumer.

I am writting an article on this I will post on several of my blogs and I am writing to the local media as well as my state and federal legislators. This type of action would be more ethical asking users to opt in rather than opt out.

[cocomoe]

Why do I need to do snail mail, obviously you want to make this change in hopes that people will get frustrated and not follow through.  Also why should I have to pay for a stamp or worse so I know you get it for the registered mail I will be sending you.

You need to have an online ability to opt out of this change in the rules that will take away rights that I am entitled to.

Joe