Opt Out!

In case you have ignored the recent notices being sent by Paypal, I want to urge you to pay attention! Paypal is changing its policies and in order to opt out of those changes, you have to jump through some hoops. And you want to opt out, a lot.

Here is the notice Paypal has been sending:

PayPal recently posted a new Policy Update which includes changes to the PayPal User Agreement. The update to the User Agreement is effective November 1, 2012 and contains several changes, including changes that affect how claims you and PayPal have against each other are resolved. You will, with limited exception, be required to submit claims you have against PayPal to binding and final arbitration, unless you opt out of the Agreement to Arbitrate (Section 14.3) by December 1, 2012. 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.

There is just all sorts of bad there. You are giving up two very important rights: the right to a trial (you are agreeing to arbitration which is not even close to the same thing!) and the right to participate in a class action suit.

Don’t give up your rights!

Okay, so you want to opt out, how do you do that? Well, after digging through the information in the notice on the Paypal site, I finally found out what you have to do. Here is the scoop:

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.

I love how they bury this and how they require that you do this via snailmail. What bullshit, but hey, don’t let ’em win. Take the time to print out a letter with all the required information, make it clear that you reject the entire Section 14.3 Agreement to Arbitrate, and mail it to the address provided above.

And share this info with everyone you know who uses Paypal. This is a big deal. Don’t give up your rights.

**UPDATE** Someone anonymously tried to comment asking “is there a link to the opt out form?” As I do not usually approve anonymous comments I’ll not be approving that one, but I did want to reply: there is no form. That’s the point of this post–PayPal is trying to make it as hard as possible for you to opt out so you won’t bother to do it. You will have to do it yourself and PAY ATTENTION to the details! Make sure to include everything they require so they have no reason to reject your notice. I would even put across the top of your letter “OPT OUT NOTICE to the AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATION” to make it clear.