The $100,000 Importance of Understanding Contracts

October 5, 2011
reward poster

In 2010, a woman named Ronni Chasen was terribly murdered in Palm Springs, California. In response to her killing, Harold Matzner offered a $100,000 reward for information “leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the murder.” But when someone provided a tip to the police confirming that one of their suspects was the murderer, the originator of the tip didn’t receive the money. Why?

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Facebook’s Updated Privacy Policy

September 30, 2011
facebook cartoon

Facebook has changed its look…again. And Facebook has changed its interface…again. And Facebook has changed its privacy policy…again. So to keep up with the Joneses, Pro and Contracts is checking out Facebook’s revised privacy policy to see what is new, what is different, and whether there is newly-public information on your Facebook page.

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PlayStation 3′s New Arbitration Clause: Lucky Us

September 20, 2011
Playstation 3 picture

It has already been well noted by the media that Sony has added an Arbitration clause to its new PlayStation 3 Terms of Service. But knowing about the arbitration clause and understanding it are two different things. And since this is a great topic for Pro and Contracts’ new Arbitration Insanity series, I couldn’t help [...]

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Planet Fitness’s No-Meathead-Zone

September 16, 2011
Planet Fitness logo

After seeing a recent spot on The Daily Show about discrimination against bodybuilders at Planet Fitness, I thought it would be interesting to comb through Planet Fitness’s policies to see what precisely is prohibited or enforced at Planet Fitness locations (of which there are over 500 throughout the United States).

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What is Arbitration, and How Does It Affect You?

September 13, 2011
v is for vendetta mask

An introduction to Pro and Contracts’ new series on Arbitration looks generally at arbitration including its use in resolving consumer disputes with large companies.The type of arbitration that is so maligned in consumer culture is usually referred to as “Mandatory Arbitration,” or “Mandatory Binding Arbitration.” What is it, why is it used, and is it fair?

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Verizon Wireless Customer Agreement Arbitration Provision

September 9, 2011
arbitration moot court

As part of a new series on arbitration, this week we will look specifically at the Arbitration provision in Verizon Wireless’s Customer Agreement. As has been continually expressed groups such as Consumerist, arbitration provisions are generally bad news for the consumer, but necessary if you want the product or service to which it is attached.

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RadioShack’s “Hassle-Free” Replacement Service Plan

August 26, 2011
old radio shack logo

In a recent post on Consumerist, someone wrote briefly about his ridiculous experience trying to use RadioShack’s “Hassle-Free” Replacement Service Plan. But apparently their definition of “replace” is a little different. See how different, and look inside a terrible contract.

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Greatest Hits: Comcast Cable Contract

August 19, 2011

As by far the largest provider of digital media services in the country (including cable television, internet, and digital phone), Comcast [Comcast] has many Fine Print Friday readers as customers. Since we always just sign off on the agreement so we can watch our favorite shows and surf our favorite web sites, the question is: What did we agree to?

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