You acknowledge that use of this Website and/or purchase of products or services constitutes a transaction in interstate commerce. The Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Arbitration Agreement. This Arbitration Agreement survives termination of these Terms.
b. A party seeking arbitration under these Terms must first send, by U.S. certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute ("Notice") to the other party. A Notice to Company should be addressed to: [addressee and address, Attn: Notice of Dispute (the "Notice Address"). Company may send a written Notice to the electronic mail address that you provided when you created an account, if any. The Notice must (a) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute and (b) set forth the specific relief sought ("Demand"). If Company and you do not reach an agreement to resolve the claim within 30 days after the Notice is received, you or Company may commence an arbitration proceeding. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by Company or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the amount, if any, to which you or we is entitled.
You may download or copy a form to initiate arbitration from the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") website at:
c. After Company receives notice at the Notice Address that you have commenced arbitration, it will promptly reimburse you for your payment of the filing fee, unless your total claim is for more than $75,000. If your total claim exceeds $75,000, the payment of all arbitration fees will be governed by the AAA rules. The filing fee for consumer-initiated arbitrations is currently $200, but this is subject to change by AAA, the arbitration provider. If you are unable to pay this fee and your total claim is for $75,000 or less, Company will pay the filing fee directly after receiving a written request at the Notice Address. Except as otherwise provided herein, Company will pay all AAA filing, administration, and arbitrator fees for any arbitration initiated in accordance with these Terms. If, however, the arbitrator finds that either the substance of your claim or the relief sought in the Demand is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the payment of all such fees will be governed by the AAA Rules. In such case, you agree to reimburse the AIC for all monies previously disbursed by it that are otherwise your obligation to pay under the AAA Rules.
d. All arbitration proceedings will be governed by the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes of the AAA (collectively, the "AAA Rules"), as modified by these Terms, and will be administered by the AAA. The AAA Rules are available online at www.adr.org or by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879. The arbitrator is bound by these Terms. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except that issues relating to the scope, enforceability, and interpretation of the arbitration provision and the scope, enforceability, and interpretation of paragraph (f) are for the court to decide.
e. Unless Company and you agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county or parish of the contact address you submitted to us. If your total claim is for $10,000 or less, you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, by a telephone hearing, or by an in-person hearing governed by the AAA Rules. If you choose to proceed either by telephone or in person, we may choose to respond only by written or telephonic response. If your claim exceeds $10,000, the AAA Rules will determine whether you have a right to a telephone or in-person hearing. The parties agree that in any arbitration under these Terms, neither party will rely on any award or finding of fact or conclusion of law made in any other arbitration to which Company was a party. In all cases, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned, written decision sufficient to explain the findings of fact and conclusions of law on which the award is based.
f. If the arbitrator finds in your favor in any respect on the merits of your claim, and the arbitrator issues you an award that is greater than the value of our last written settlement offer made before an arbitrator was selected, then Company will pay you either the amount of the award or $2,000 ("the Alternative Payment), whichever is greater, plus the actual amount of reasonable attorney's fees and expenses that you incurred in investigating, preparing, and pursuing your claim in arbitration (the "Attorney's Payment"). If we did not make you a written offer to settle the dispute before an arbitrator was selected, you will be entitled to receive the Alternative Payment and the Attorney's Payment, respectively, if the arbitrator awards you any relief on the merits. The arbitrator may make rulings and resolve disputes as to the payment and reimbursement of fees, expenses, and the Alternative Payment and the Attorney's Payment at any time during the proceeding and upon request from either party made within 14 days of the arbitrator's ruling on the merits. In assessing whether an award that includes attorney's fees or expenses is greater than the value of Company's last written settlement offer, the arbitrator shall consider only the actual attorney's fees or expenses reasonably incurred before Company's settlement offer.
g. The right to attorney's fees and expenses discussed in paragraph (f) supplements any right to attorney's fees and expenses you may have under applicable law. If you would be entitled to a larger amount under applicable law, this provision does not preclude the arbitrator from awarding you that amount. However, you may not recover duplicative awards of attorney's fees or costs. Although under some laws Company may have a right to an award of attorney's fees and expenses from you if it prevails in an arbitration, we will not seek such an award.
h. The arbitrator may award monetary and injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party's individual claim. YOU AND COMPANY AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES AND NOT AS PLAINTIFFS OR CLASS MEMBERS IN ANY PURPORTED REPRESENTATIVE, GROUP OR CLASS ACTION OR ARBITRATION, OR IN THE CAPACITY OF A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL. Further, unless both you and Company agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative, group or class proceeding. The arbitrator may award any relief that a court could award that is individualized to the claimant and would not affect other customers. Neither you nor we may seek non-individualized relief that would affect other customers. If a court decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any of this paragraph's limitations as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim (and only that claim) must be severed from the arbitration and may be brought in court. All other claims remain subject to this Arbitration Agreement.
i. If the total amount in dispute exceeds $75,000 or either party seeks any form of injunctive relief, either party may appeal the award to a three-arbitrator panel administered by AAA by a written notice of appeal within thirty (30) days from the date of entry of the written arbitration award. An award of injunctive relief shall be stayed during any such appeal. The members of the three-arbitrator panel will be selected according to AAA rules. The three-arbitrator panel will issue its decision within one hundred and twenty (120) days of the date of the appealing party's notice of appeal. The decision of the three-arbitrator panel shall be final and binding, subject to any right of judicial review that exists under the FAA.
j. Notwithstanding any provision in these Terms to the contrary, we agree that if we make any material change to this arbitration provision (other than a change to any notice address, website link or telephone number), that change will not apply to any dispute of which we had written notice on the effective date of the change. Moreover, if we seek to terminate this arbitration provision, any such termination will not be effective until at least thirty (30) days after written notice of such termination is provided to you, and shall not be effective as to disputes which arose prior to the date of termination.