Friday, February 27, 2015
Today’s online shoppers aren’t bothering to read the fine print when they shop, often jeopardizing their legal rights if something goes wrong, according to a recent survey from FindLaw.com. More than half of online shoppers (54 percent) say the either quickly skim or ignore any user agreements, terms of service or other legal language they are agreeing to.The survey found that just 22 percent of online shoppers read and understood every word thoroughly; 24 percent read most agreements and attempted to understand them.
“Most people don’t realize that they are often giving away some of their legal rights when they click ‘Agree,’” says Stephanie Rahlfs, attorney-editor at FindLaw.com. “Many websites require that customers scroll through and review legal language and click a button stating that they agree with the terms before completing their purchase. But that’s largely meaningless if the person doesn’t actually read the agreement.”
Many e-commerce websites have terms and conditions that limit a customer’s ability to sue in the event of a dispute. Customers are instead required to use arbitration. Some attempts to sue websites – either through individual or class-action lawsuits – have been dismissed by the courts because the customers agreed to the website’s conditions.
Despite a $100 billion dollar surge in online shopping since 2011, the numbers from the survey remain largely unchanged from that year.
Source: FindLaw.com
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