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Contracts Keyed to Knapp
Hines v Overstock.com, Inc.
Facts
Hines (P) returned a vacuum cleaner she had bought from an on-line “closeout” retailer named Overstock.com, Inc. (Overstock) (D) and was given back the amount in which she bought the vacuum cleaner with after a $30 restocking fee was effected. Due to this, Hines (P) brought a purported class action against Overstock (D) in the federal district court in New York for breach of contract, fraud, and other grounds, challenging the restocking fee. Her reason for returning the vacuum was based on the advice which she received that she would suffer no cost upon the return of the vacuum cleaner and that the fee that was deducted by Overstock (D) was never disclosed.According to Overstock (D), all its online purchases were governed by its terms and conditions and required that all disputes would be resolved through arbitration as well as a transfer to a different forum which was the state court in Utah. Hence, Overstock (D) prayed the court should dismiss the suit, stay for arbitration or transfer the suit. But Hines (P) argument was that she had no seen the terms and conditions when she had made the purchase of the vacuum cleaner and that a reasonable would have seen such terms and conditions, and as such, it was not enforceable. She further explained that the terms and conditions in question could only be seen by a user who scrolls down the page(s) and that there was no need for her to scroll down the pages because she was directed each step of the way to click on to a bar to take her to the next step to complete the purchase. The district court however ruled on the motion.
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