(a) Scope of Arbitration Agreement. You agree that any dispute or claim relating in any way to your access or use of the Services as a User of the Services, to any advertising or marketing communications regarding OrderCollie or the Services, to any products or services sold or distributed through the Services that you received as a User of our Services, or to any aspect of your relationship or transactions with OrderCollie as a User of our Services will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that (1) you may assert claims in small claims court if your claims qualify, so long as the matter remains in such court and advances only on an individual (non-class, non-representative) basis; and (2) you or OrderCollie may seek equitable relief in court for infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights (such as trademarks, trade dress, domain names, trade secrets, copyrights, and patents). This Arbitration Agreement shall apply, without limitation, to all claims that arose or were asserted before the Effective Date of this Agreement.
CASES HAVE BEEN FILED AGAINST ORDERCOLLIE—AND OTHERS MAY BE FILED IN THE FUTURE—THAT ATTEMPT TO ASSERT CLASS ACTION CLAIMS, AND BY ACCEPTING THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT YOU ELECT NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN SUCH CASES.
IF YOU AGREE TO ARBITRATION WITH ORDERCOLLIE, YOU ARE AGREEING IN ADVANCE THAT YOU WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN OR SEEK TO RECOVER MONETARY OR OTHER RELIEF IN ANY SUCH CLASS, COLLECTIVE, AND/OR REPRESENTATIVE LAWSUIT. INSTEAD, BY AGREEING TO ARBITRATION, YOU MAY BRING YOUR CLAIMS AGAINST ORDERCOLLIE IN AN INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION PROCEEDING. IF SUCCESSFUL ON SUCH CLAIMS, YOU COULD BE AWARDED MONEY OR OTHER RELIEF BY AN ARBITRATOR.
(b) Informal Resolution. You and OrderCollie agree that good-faith informal efforts to resolve disputes often can result in a prompt, low-cost and mutually beneficial outcome. You and OrderCollie therefore agree that, before either you or OrderCollie demands arbitration against the other, we will personally meet and confer, via telephone or videoconference, in a good-faith effort to resolve informally any claim covered by this mutual Arbitration Agreement. If you are represented by counsel, your counsel may participate in the conference, but you shall also fully participate in the conference. The party initiating the claim must give notice to the other party in writing of its, his, or her intent to initiate an informal dispute resolution conference, which shall occur within 60 days after the other party receives such notice, unless an extension is mutually agreed upon by the parties. To notify OrderCollie that you intend to initiate an informal dispute resolution conference, email info@ordercollie.com, providing your name, telephone number associated with your OrderCollie account (if any), the email address associated with your OrderCollie account, and a description of your claim. In the interval between the party receiving such notice and the informal dispute resolution conference, the parties shall be free to attempt to resolve the initiating party’s claims. Engaging in an informal dispute resolution conference is a requirement that must be fulfilled before commencing arbitration. The statute of limitations and any filing fee deadlines shall be tolled while the parties engage in the informal dispute resolution process required by this paragraph.
(c) Arbitration Rules and Forum. This Arbitration Agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) in all respects. If for whatever reason the rules and procedures of the FAA cannot apply, the state law governing arbitration agreements in the state in which you reside shall apply. Before a party may begin an arbitration proceeding, that party must send notice of an intent to initiate arbitration and certifying completion of the informal dispute resolution conference pursuant to paragraph 12(b). If this notice is being sent to OrderCollie, it must be sent by email to the counsel who represented OrderCollie in the informal dispute resolution process, or if there was no such counsel then by mail to General Counsel, at 303 2nd Street, Suite 800, San Francisco, CA, 94107. The arbitration will be conducted by ADR Services, Inc. under its rules and pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. Arbitration demands filed with ADR Services, Inc. must include (1) the name, telephone number, mailing address, and e-mail address of the party seeking arbitration; (2) a statement of the legal claims being asserted and the factual bases of those claims; (3) a description of the remedy sought and an accurate, good-faith calculation of the amount in controversy, enumerated in United States Dollars (any request for injunctive relief or attorneys’ fees shall not count toward the calculation of the amount in controversy unless such injunctive relief seeks the payment of money); and (4) the signature of the party seeking arbitration. Disputes shall be subject to ADR Services, Inc.’s most current version of its Arbitration Rules, available as of December 21, 2020 at https://www.adrservices.com/services/arbitration-rules or by calling ADR Services, Inc. at 310-201-0010. The fees that shall apply to arbitrations administered by ADR Services, Inc. are set forth on ADR Services, Inc.’s website, available as of December 21, 2020 at https://www.adrservices.com/rate-fee-schedule/. Specifically, the fees set forth in ADR Services, Inc.’s Mass Employment Arbitration Fee Schedule shall apply when twenty (20) or more arbitration claims are filed which: (1) involve the same or similar parties; (2) are based on the same or similar claims which arise from the same or substantially identical transactions, incidents, or events requiring the determination of the same or substantially identical questions of law or fact; and (3) involve the same or coordinated counsel for the parties. In all other circumstances, the fees set forth in ADR Services, Inc.’s General Fee Schedule shall apply, except that OrderCollie will pay the portion of the initial case opening fees (if any) that exceeds the filing fee to file the case in a court of competent jurisdiction embracing the location of the arbitration. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitration fees will be governed by ADR Services, Inc.’s rules. If the arbitrator finds that you cannot afford to pay ADR Services, Inc.’s filing, administrative, hearing and/or other fees and cannot obtain a waiver of fees from ADR Services, Inc., OrderCollie will pay them for you. If ADR Services, Inc. is not available to arbitrate, the parties will mutually select an alternative arbitral forum. You may choose to have the arbitration conducted by telephone, video conference, based on written submissions, or in person in the county where you live or at another mutually agreed location.
(d) Arbitrator Powers. The arbitrator, and not any federal, state, or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability or formation of this Arbitration Agreement including, but not limited to any claim that all or any part of this Arbitration Agreement is void or voidable. All disputes regarding the payment of arbitrator or arbitration-organization fees including the timing of such payments and remedies for nonpayment, shall be determined exclusively by an arbitrator, and not by any court. The arbitration will decide the rights and liabilities, if any, of you and OrderCollie. Except as expressly agreed to in Section 12(g) of this Agreement, the arbitration proceeding will not be consolidated with any other matters or joined with any other proceedings or parties. The arbitrator will have the authority to grant motions dispositive of all or part of any claim or dispute. The arbitrator will have the authority to award, on an individual basis, monetary damages and to grant any non-monetary remedy or relief available to an individual under applicable law, the arbitral forum’s rules, and this Agreement (including this Arbitration Agreement). The arbitrator will issue a written statement of decision describing the essential findings and conclusions on which any award (or decision not to render an award) is based, including the calculation of any damages awarded. The award shall be binding only among the parties and shall have no preclusive effect in any other arbitration or other proceeding involving a different party. The arbitrator shall follow the applicable law. The arbitrator has the same authority to award relief on an individual basis that a judge in a court of law would have. The arbitrator’s decision is final and binding on you and OrderCollie.
(e) Waiver of Jury Trial. YOU AND ORDERCOLLIE WAIVE ANY CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY RIGHTS TO SUE IN COURT AND RECEIVE A JUDGE OR JURY TRIAL. You and OrderCollie are instead electing to have claims and disputes resolved by arbitration, except as specified in Section 12(a) above. There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited.
(f) Waiver of Class or Consolidated Actions. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY AGREED TO IN SECTION 12(G) OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU AND ORDERCOLLIE AGREE TO WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO RESOLVE CLAIMS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT ON A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, OR REPRESENTATIVE BASIS. ALL CLAIMS AND DISPUTES WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT MUST BE ARBITRATED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT ON A CLASS OR COLLECTIVE BASIS EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN SECTION 12(G). CLAIMS OF MORE THAN ONE CUSTOMER OR USER CANNOT BE ARBITRATED OR LITIGATED JOINTLY OR CONSOLIDATED WITH THOSE OF ANY OTHER CUSTOMER OR USER EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN SECTION 12(G). If, however, this waiver of class or consolidated actions is deemed invalid or unenforceable with respect to a particular claim or dispute, neither you nor OrderCollie is entitled to arbitration of such claim or dispute. Instead, all such claims and disputes will then be resolved in a court as set forth in Section 20. This provision does not prevent you or OrderCollie from participating in a class-wide settlement of claims.
(g) Batch Arbitrations. To increase efficiency of resolution, in the event 100 or more similar arbitration demands against OrderCollie, presented by or with the assistance of the same law firm or organization, are submitted to an arbitration provider selected in accordance with the rules described above within a 30-day period, the arbitration provider shall (i) group the arbitration demands into batches of no more than 100 demands per batch (plus, to the extent there are less than 100 arbitration demands left over after the batching described above, a final batch consisting of the remaining demands); and (ii) provide for resolution of each batch as a single arbitration with one set of filing and administrative fees and one arbitrator assigned per batch. You agree to cooperate in good faith with OrderCollie and the arbitration provider to implement such a batch approach to resolution and fees.
(h) Opt Out. OrderCollie’s updates to these Terms of Use do not provide a new opportunity to opt out of the Arbitration Agreement for customers or Users who had previously agreed to a version of OrderCollie’s Terms of Use and did not validly opt out of arbitration. OrderCollie will continue to honor the valid opt outs of customers or Users who validly opted out of the Arbitration Agreement in a prior version of the Terms of Use. If you are a customer or User who creates an OrderCollie account for the first time on or after November 10, 2020, you may opt out of this Arbitration Agreement. If you do so, neither you nor OrderCollie can force the other to arbitrate as a result of this Agreement. To opt out, you must notify OrderCollie in writing no later than 30 days after first becoming subject to this Arbitration Agreement. Your notice must include your name and address, your OrderCollie username (if any), the email address you currently use to access your OrderCollie account (if you have one), and a CLEAR statement that you want to opt out of this Arbitration Agreement. You must send your opt-out notice to: info@ordercollie.com. If you opt out of this Arbitration Agreement, all other parts of this Agreement will continue to apply to you.
(i) No Effect on Independent Contractor Agreement. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN THIS AGREEMENT, NOTHING IN THIS AGREEMENT SHALL SUPERSEDE, AMEND, OR MODIFY THE TERMS OF ANY SEPARATE AGREEMENT(S) BETWEEN YOU AND ORDERCOLLIE RELATING TO YOUR WORK AS AN EMPLOYEE OR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT GOVERNING YOUR SERVICES AS A CONTRACTOR. FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBT, IF YOU ARE A CONTRACTOR, OPTING-OUT OF THE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION 12 HAS NO EFFECT ON YOUR AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE DISPUTES COVERED BY YOUR INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT WITH ORDERCOLLIE.
(j) Survival. This Arbitration Agreement will survive any termination of your relationship with OrderCollie.
(k) Modification. Notwithstanding any provision in the Agreement to the contrary, we agree that if OrderCollie makes any future material change to this Arbitration Agreement, it will not apply to any individual claim(s) that you had already provided notice of to OrderCollie.