GoKawiilAmazon’s updated terms of service now contain a clause that may take many subscribers by surprise. The online giant is revoking your right to file a class-action lawsuit against it if a dispute arises, according to its Conditions of Use page.
On Friday, Amazon sent an email to subscribers explaining that it will now settle any disputes via arbitration. Customers who have continued to use the corporation’s services after Aug. 14 implicitly waived their rights to bring new class-action suits against the online retail giant.
The language used in the Conditions of Use page states this new legal limitation outright.
“You and we agree that any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of any Amazon service, or to any products or services sold or distributed by Amazon or through amazon.com, will be resolved by binding arbitration rather than in court,” the document reads. “There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. A neutral arbitrator will resolve the dispute or claim and must follow the terms of this agreement as a court would.”
A class-action waiver is also included, which prevents customers from filing requests for arbitration together. Although Amazon is allowed to resolve batches of arbitration proceedings under detailed mass arbitration rules, each dispute must be filed individually.
Amazon’s language frames the change as a positive for its customers, since the company pledges to “pay most of the cost” for customers who choose to arbitrate disputes.
A representative for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A company spokesperson told CNET’s sibling site PCMag over email that Amazon has and will continue to “continually update our Conditions of Use to better serve our customers.”
“We determined that reinstating the arbitration clause will offer customers a fast, cost-effective way to resolve disputes while still giving them the option of going to small claims court,” the spokesperson wrote.
But at the end of the day, that arbitration clause may serve to stifle customer disputes by making it more difficult to seek financial restitution.
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