Terms of Use
Welcome to mettagroup.org. We offer support for your meditation practice, including telephone-based and online subscription services, providing our members with access to guided-meditation, meditation mentoring and meditation instruction classes  We’ve put together here some detailed terms and conditions. You should read and understand them as they govern your use of our service.
These Terms of Use provide that all disputes between you and mettagroup.org will be resolved by BINDING ARBITRATION. YOU AGREE TO GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO GO TO COURT to assert or defend your rights under this contract (except for matters that may be taken to small claims court). Your rights will be determined by a NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR and NOT a judge or jury and your claims cannot be brought as a class action. Please review the Arbitration Agreement below for the details regarding your agreement to arbitrate any disputes with mettagroup.org.
These Terms of Use are also a resource for you to get a deeper understanding of how our service works, including the kinds of data we collect, the way we bill, how we interact with you and other useful details about our service. We encourage you to revisit these Terms of Use when you have a question about the service or want to know how something works. For your convenience, we’ve indexed the Terms of Use so as to help you more easily navigate and access areas of interest. We hope you enjoy your mettagroup.org experience.
Acceptance of Terms of Use
These Terms of Use, which include our Privacy Policy and End User License Agreement (“EULA”) govern your use of the mettagroup.org service, including all features and functionalities, instant streaming, our website and user interfaces, and all content and software associated therewith (the “mettagroup.org service” or “service”). By using, visiting, or browsing the mettagroup.org service, you accept and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you should not use the mettagroup.org service, including our website and user interfaces.
These Terms of Use govern your use of the mettagroup.org service and you should read them carefully. The mettagroup.org service is provided by mettagroup.org, Inc., or one of its affiliated entities, (collectively referred to as “mettagroup.org”) as indicated during sign-up or as otherwise communicated to you. These entities may change from time to time.
Changes to Terms of Use
mettagroup.org reserves the right, from time to time, with or without notice to you, to change these Terms of Use, including the Privacy Policy and EULA, in our sole and absolute discretion. The most current version of these Terms of Use can be reviewed by visiting our website and clicking on “About Dana & Policies” located at the top of the pages of the mettagroup.org website. The most current version of the Terms of Use will supersede all previous versions.
Privacy and Communications Preferences
Any personally identifying information submitted through the mettagroup.org service is subject to our Privacy Policy, the terms of which are incorporated herein. Please review our Privacy Policy to understand our practices. The date of any changes to our Privacy Policy will be noted at the bottom of the policy. By using our service, you are consenting to receive certain communications from us. For example, mettagroup.org may send you newsletters about new mettagroup.org features, special offers, promotional announcements and customer surveys via email or other methods. If you no longer want to receive the newsletters, other promotional announcements or non-transactional communications, you can unsubscribe at any time by sending us an email: unsubscribe@mettagroup.org.
By using the mettagroup.org service, you consent to receiving electronic communications from mettagroup.org. These communications will include notices about Account History (e.g., change in password or Payment Method, confirmation e-mails and other transactional information) and information concerning or related to our service. These communications are part of your relationship with mettagroup.org and you receive them as part of the mettagroup.org subscription. You agree that any notice, agreements, disclosure or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that such communications be in writing.
Subscription and Billing
You can find the specific details regarding your subscription with mettagroup.org at anytime by visiting our website: http://stores.mettagroup.org/ and clicking on the “Account History” link.
Billing
By starting your mettagroup.org subscription, you are expressly agreeing that we are authorized to charge you a monthly subscription fee at the then current rate, and any other charges you may incur in connection with your use of the mettagroup.org service to the Payment Method you provided during registration (or to a different Payment Method if you change Account History information). Please note that prices and charges are subject to change with notice. As used in these Terms of Use, “billing” shall indicate either a charge or debit, as applicable, against your Payment Method. The subscription fee will be billed at the beginning of the paying portion of your subscription and each month thereafter unless and until you cancel your subscription. Visit our website and click on the “Account History” link on to see the commencement date for your next renewal period. We automatically bill your Payment Method each month on the calendar day corresponding to the commencement of your paying Subscription. Subscription charges are fully earned upon payment. In the event your paying subscription began on a day not contained in a given month, we bill your Payment Method on the last day of such month. For example, if you started your mettagroup.org subscription on January 31st, your next payment date is February 28th and your Payment Method would be billed on that date. You acknowledge that the amount billed each month may vary from month to month for reasons that may include differing amounts due to promotional offers, and you authorize us to charge your Payment Method for such varying amounts. For certain Payment Methods, the issuer of your Payment Method may charge you a foreign transaction fee or related charges. Check with your bank and credit card issuers for details.
Subscription fees and charges are fully earned upon payment. PAYMENTS ARE NONREFUNDABLE AND THERE ARE NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR PARTIALLY USED PERIODS. At any time, and for any reason, we may provide a refund, discount, or other consideration to some or all of our members (“credits”). The amount and form of such credits, and the decision to provide them, are at our sole and absolute discretion. The provision of credits in one instance does not entitle you to credits in the future for similar instances, nor does it obligate us to provide credits in the future, under any circumstance. We may change the fees and charges in effect, or add new fees and charges from time to time, but we will give you advance notice of these changes by email. If you want to use a different Payment Method or if there is a change in Payment Method, such as your credit card validity or expiration date, you may edit your Payment Method information by visiting our website and clicking on the “Account History” link, available at the top of the pages of the mettagroup.org website. If your Payment Method reaches its expiration date and you do not edit your Payment Method information or cancel Account History (see, “Cancellation” below), you authorize us to continue billing that Payment Method and you remain responsible for any uncollected amounts.
Ongoing Subscription
Your mettagroup.org subscription will continue month- to-month unless and until you cancel your subscription or we terminate it. You must cancel your subscription before it renews each month in order to avoid billing of the next month’s subscription fees to your Payment Method. We will bill the monthly subscription fee to the Payment Method you provide to us during registration (or to a different Payment Method if you change Account History information). Subscription fees are fully earned upon payment.
Cancellation
You may cancel your mettagroup.org subscription at any time. WE DO NOT PROVIDE REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR ANY PARTIAL-MONTH SUBSCRIPTION. To cancel, please send an email to admin@mettagroup.org requesting to cancel.
Right to Terminate
We reserve the right to terminate or restrict your use of our service, without notice, for any or no reason whatsoever.
How Our Service Works
mettagroup.org is an online subscription service providing its members with access to telephone-based conference-call guided-meditation sessions, podcasts, one-on-one meditation mentoring over Skype and online and brick-and-mortar meditation instruction classes.
We reserve the right in our sole and absolute discretion to make changes from time to time and without notice in how we operate our service. Any description of how our service works should not be considered a representation or obligation with respect to how the service will always work. We are constantly making adjustments to our service and often these adjustments are not completely captured within these Terms of Use.
Availability
The availability of telephone-based conference-call guided-meditation sessions, podcasts, one-on-one meditation mentoring over Skype and online and brick-and-mortar meditation instruction classes will change from time to time. The quality of the display of Skype and the quality of the podcasts and conference-calls may vary from computer to computer, and device to device, and may be affected by a variety of factors, such as your location, the bandwidth available through and/or speed of your Internet connection. You are responsible for all Internet access and telephone charges. Please check with your Internet provider for information on possible Internet data usage charges, and your telephone carrier for long distance charges. mettagroup.org makes no representations or warranties about the quality of your Skype watching experience on your display or your conference-call connection experience on your telephone.
Passwords
The member who created the mettagroup.org account and whose Payment Method is charged is referred to here as the Account Owner. The Account Owner has access and control over the mettagroup.org account. The Account Owner’s control is exercised through use of the Account Owner’s password and therefore to maintain exclusive control, the Account Owner should not reveal the password to anyone. In addition, if the Account Owner wishes to prohibit others from contacting mettagroup.org Customer Service and potentially altering the Account Owner’s control, the Account Owner should not reveal the Payment Method details (e.g.,, last four digits of their credit or debit card, or their email address if they use PayPal) associated with their account.
BY SHARING THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE PASSWORD, THE ACCOUNT OWNER AGREES TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ASSURING THAT HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS COMPLY WITH THE TERMS OF USE AND SUCH ACCOUNT OWNER SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTIONS OF THE HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS.
Feeds
Members from certain countries may have access to RSS feeds as a convenient way to pass information about your mettagroup.org account or that is publicly available on the mettagroup.org site to your RSS reader or an RSS-associated website of your choice. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It allows information to be published in a standard XML format that can be accessed via a URL. mettagroup.org may also choose, at any time, to provide feeds in other formats, such as Atom. All use of the RSS and other feeds (“Feeds”), including obtaining a Feed from the mettagroup.org website or receiving it into an application or website or displaying the content received from such Feeds, is at your own option and risk, and is covered by the Terms of Use for the mettagroup.org Feeds, found here. By using the mettagroup.org Feeds, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use for mettagroup.org Feeds. In particular, you acknowledge and agree that you are consenting to the information about Account History being transferred to the location of the Feed as enabled by you and that your use of a Feed may cause personally identifying information to be associated with you, even if such information is not provided by the Feed.
Account Access/Identity Protection
In order to provide you with ease of access to Account History and to help administer the mettagroup.org service, mettagroup.org implements technology that enables us to recognize you as the account holder and provide you with direct access to Account History without requiring you to retype any password or other user identification when you revisit the mettagroup.org service. You are responsible for updating and maintaining the truth and accuracy of the information you provide to us relating to Account History.
You are also responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of Account History and password and for restricting access to your mettagroup.org ready device. If you disclose your password to anyone or share Account History and/or devices with other people, you take full responsibility for their actions. Where possible, users of public or shared devices should log out at the completion of each visit. If you sell or return a mettagroup.org ready device, you should logout and/or deactivate the device before doing so. Similarly, if your mettagroup.org ready device is lost or stolen, please deactivate the mettagroup.org ready device. If you fail to log out or deactivate your device, subsequent users may access the mettagroup.org service through Account History and may be able to access certain of Account History information. To deactivate a device, go to Manage mettagroup.org ready devices and computers.
If you find that you’re a victim of identity theft and it involves a mettagroup.org account, you should notify Customer Service. Then, you should report this instance to all your card issuers, as well as your local law enforcement agency. Also, you should be mindful of any communication requesting that you submit credit card or other account information. Providing your information in response to these types of communications can result in identity theft. Always access your sensitive account information by going directly to the mettagroup.org website and not through a hyperlink in an email or any other electronic communication, even if it looks official. mettagroup.org reserves the right to place any account on hold anytime with or without notification to the member in order to protect itself and its partners from what it believes to be fraudulent activity. mettagroup.org is not obligated to credit or discount a subscription for holds placed on the account by either a representative of mettagroup.org or by the automated processes of mettagroup.org.
Disclaimers of Warranties and Limitations on Liability
THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE, INCLUDING OUR WEBSITE AND USER INTERFACES, AND ALL CONTENT AND SOFTWARE ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, OR ANY OTHER FEATURES OR FUNCTIONALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE, ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITH ALL FAULTS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. WE AND OUR LICENSORS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE, OUR WEBSITE AND USER INTERFACES, AND ALL CONTENT AND SOFTWARE ASSOCIATED THEREWITH. METTAGROUP.ORG DOES NOT GUARANTEE, REPRESENT, OR WARRANT THAT YOUR USE OF THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, AND YOU AGREE THAT METTAGROUP.ORG MAY ELIMINATE OR OTHERWISE MODIFY ANY OR ALL ASPECTS OF THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE, INCLUDING FEATURES, WITHOUT COMPENSATION OR NOTICE TO YOU. METTAGROUP.ORG SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS LIABILITY FOR THE USE OF SOFTWARE (INCLUDING THEIR CONTINUING COMPATIBILITY WITH OUR SERVICE).
Without limiting the foregoing, we and our licensors assume no liability or responsibility for any of the following: (i) errors or omissions in the content delivered by the mettagroup.org service or on the mettagroup.org website or user interfaces; (ii) recommendations or advice of Customer Service; (iii) any failure or interruption in the availability of the mettagroup.org service and/or website or user interfaces, (iv) delivery and or display of any content contained on the mettagroup.org website, user interfaces, or otherwise through the mettagroup.org service; and (vii) any losses or damages arising from the use of the content provided on the mettagroup.org website, user interfaces, or otherwise through the mettagroup.org service itself, including any losses or damages arising from downloading of related software, downloading and/or use of any other software, including the remote desktop tool offered by Customer Service, optical media discs or any conduct by users of the mettagroup.org service, website or user interfaces.
TO THE EXTENT ALLOWABLE BY LAW, WE AND OUR LICENSORS DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, FOR EXAMPLE, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. In addition, we do not represent or warrant that the information accessible via our site is accurate, complete or current. We do not represent or guarantee that your use of the mettagroup.org service will be free from interruption, loss, corruption, attack, viruses, interference, hacking, or other security intrusion and we disclaim any liability with respect thereto. No oral or written information or advice given by us or our authorized representative shall create a warranty or otherwise constitute a representation binding upon mettagroup.org or its affiliated parties.
IN NO EVENT SHALL METTAGROUP.ORG, OR ITS SUBSIDIARIES OR ANY OF THEIR SHAREHOLDERS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE (JOINTLY OR SEVERALLY) TO YOU FOR PERSONAL INJURY OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE, OUR WEBSITE AND USER INTERFACES, AND ALL CONTENTS AND SOFTWARE ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, OR OTHERWISE RELATED TO THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE, INCLUDING ANY OPTICAL MEDIA DISCS, FEATURES OR FUNCTIONALITIES ASSOCIATED THEREWITH. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES FOR LOSSES ARISING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE METTAGROUP.ORG SERVICE, INCLUDING OUR WEBSITE AND USER INTERFACES, AND ALL CONTENT AND SOFTWARE ASSOCIATED THEREWITH (OTHER THAN AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW IN CASES INVOLVING PERSONAL INJURY) EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF ONE MONTH’S SUBSCRIPTION FEE ON YOUR SUBSCRIPTION PLAN. THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY EVEN IF THE ABOVE STATED REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE. IF ANY APPLICABLE AUTHORITY HOLDS ANY PORTION OF THIS SECTION OR OTHER SECTIONS OF THESE TERMS OF USE, INCLUDING ANY PORTION OF THE PRIVACY POLICY OR THE EULA, TO BE UNENFORCEABLE, THEN THOSE PORTIONS DEEMED UNENFORCEABLE SHALL BE SEVERED AND THE TERMS OF USE SHALL BE ENFORCED ABSENT THOSE PROVISIONS AND ANY LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE FULLEST POSSIBLE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
METTAGROUP.ORG MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES CONCERNING METTAGROUP.ORG READY DEVICES OR THE COMPATIBILITY OF THE DEVICE WITH OUR SERVICE. Additional disclaimers or limitations of liability may be contained in the various third party software end user license agreements you may have agreed to in order to access our service.
Copyright
The mettagroup.org service, including all content included on the mettagroup.org website and user interfaces, or delivered to members as part of the service, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, logos, designs, photographs, button icons, images, audio/video clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and software, are the property of mettagroup.org or its licensors and are protected by United States and international copyright, trade secret or other intellectual property laws and treaties. The compilation of all content and any software or other materials provided by mettagroup.org on our website and user interfaces, or in connection with the mettagroup.org service are the exclusive property of mettagroup.org and its licensors and are protected by the copyright and trade secret laws in the territories in which the mettagroup.org service operates and by international treaty provisions. Content shall not be reproduced or used without express written permission from mettagroup.org or its licensors. You agree to adhere to the restrictions set forth under “Limitations on Use.” You agree not to decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble any software or other products or processes accessible through the mettagroup.org service, not to insert any code or product or manipulate the content of the mettagroup.org service in any way, and not to use any data mining, data gathering or extraction method. mettagroup.org reserves the right to terminate your subscription hereunder if mettagroup.org, in its sole and absolute discretion, believes that you are in violation of mettagroup.org software restrictions, or other unauthorized copying or use of our proprietary content in violation of the copyrights of mettagroup.org and its licensors. mettagroup.org does not promote, foster or condone any infringing activity. The use of the mettagroup.org service is solely for your personal and non-commercial use. Please see the instructions at the end of these Terms of Use for notifying us of the presence of any allegedly infringing content of the mettagroup.org service, including any on the mettagroup.org website and user interfaces.
Use of Information Submitted
mettagroup.org is free to use any comments, information, ideas, concepts, reviews, or techniques or any other material contained in any communication you may send to us (“Feedback”), including responses to questionnaires or through postings to the mettagroup.org service, including the mettagroup.org website and user interfaces, without further compensation, acknowledgement or payment to you for any purpose whatsoever including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing and marketing products and creating, modifying or improving the mettagroup.org service. Furthermore, by posting any Feedback on our site, submitting Feedback to us, or in responding to questionnaires, you grant us a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free irrevocable license, including the right to sublicense such right, and right to display, use, reproduce or modify the Feedback submitted in any media, software or technology of any kind now existing or developed in the future.
Please note mettagroup.org does not accept unsolicited materials or ideas for use or publication, and is not responsible for the similarity of any of its content or programming in any media to materials or ideas transmitted to mettagroup.org. Should you send any unsolicited materials or ideas, you do so with the understanding that no additional consideration of any sort will be provided to you, and you are waiving any claim against mettagroup.org and its affiliates regarding the use of such materials and ideas, even if material or an idea is used that is substantially similar to the idea you sent.
Service Testing
From time to time, we test various aspects of our service, including our website, user interfaces, service levels, plans, promotions, features, Â and pricing, and we reserve the right to include you in or exclude you from these tests without notice.
Your Conduct in Accessing the mettagroup.org Service
By accessing the mettagroup.org service, including the mettagroup.org website and user interfaces, you agree to use the mettagroup.org service, including all features and functionalities associated therewith, the website and user interfaces and all content and software associated therewith in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including public performance limitations or other restrictions on use of the service or content therein. In addition, you agree not to upload, post, e-mail or otherwise send or transmit any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment associated with the mettagroup.org service. You also agree not to interfere with the servers or networks connected to any portions of the mettagroup.org service or to violate any of the procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the mettagroup.org service. You also agree not to impersonate any other person while using the mettagroup.org service, conduct yourself in a vulgar or offensive manner while using the mettagroup.org service, or use the mettagroup.org service for any unlawful purpose.
Limitations on Use
You must be 18 years of age or older to become a member of the mettagroup.org service. In certain jurisdictions, the age of majority may be older than 18, in which case you must satisfy that age in order to become a member. While individuals under the age of 18 may utilize the service, they may do so only with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian, under such person’s account and otherwise subject to these Terms of Use. mettagroup.org service is not intended to be used by children, without involvement, supervision, and approval of a parent or legal guardian. Unless otherwise specified, the mettagroup.org service, and any content viewed through our service, are for your personal and non-commercial use only and we grant you a limited, non exclusive, non transferable, license to access the mettagroup.org service for that purpose. Except for the foregoing limited license, no right, title or interest shall be transferred to you. You may not download (other than through page caching necessary for personal use, or as otherwise expressly permitted by these Terms of Use), modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, duplicate, publish, license, create derivative works from, or offer for sale any information contained on, or obtained from or through, the mettagroup.org service, without our express written consent. mettagroup.org does not promote any infringing activity. You may not circumvent, remove, alter, deactivate, degrade or thwart any of the content protections in the mettagroup.org service. You may not frame or utilize any framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) of mettagroup.org without our express written consent. You may not purchase search terms or use any meta tags or any other “hidden text” utilizing the mettagroup.org name or trademarks without our express written consent. Any unauthorized use of the mettagroup.org service or its contents will terminate the limited license granted by us and will result in the cancellation of your subscription.
Links and Pages
Some of the hyperlinks on the mettagroup.org website may lead to other websites or other content that are not controlled by, or affiliated with, mettagroup.org. In addition, other websites may link to the mettagroup.org website or mettagroup.org may include links to the websites of businesses, including those that have associations with us through certain programs. For example, mettagroup.org may include pages that display and provide information on Applications, mettagroup.org ready devices or other products. These pages may provide links to third party sites where mettagroup.org members may obtain or purchase such Applications and devices. mettagroup.org has not reviewed these websites and is not responsible for the offerings of any of these sites or the content, privacy policies or terms of use of these websites or Applications. You acknowledge and agree that mettagroup.org is not responsible or liable for, and does not otherwise warrant, the actions of these third parties, the products or contents on their websites, or the performance of any Applications and devices. You should carefully review their privacy statements and other terms and conditions of use. You should also refer to the section of these terms titled “How Our Services Work.”
Promotions
Promotional codes may be redeemed on our website when you checkout. Promotional code can only be used once and cannot be redeemed for cash, resold or combined with any other offers. A valid Payment Method will be required when you redeem the promotion code.
Claims of Copyright Infringement
It is the policy of mettagroup.org to respect the intellectual property rights of others. mettagroup.org does not condone the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of copyrighted content. If you believe your work has been reproduced or distributed in a way that constitutes copyright infringement or are aware of any infringing material available through the mettagroup.org service, please notify us by completing the claims form found here.
Governing Law
These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of California, U.S.A. without regard to conflict of laws provisions. If any provision or provisions of these terms shall be held to be invalid, illegal, unenforceable or in conflict with the law of any jurisdiction, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby, and shall remain in full force and effect.
Arbitration Agreement
You and mettagroup.org agree that any dispute, claim or controversy arising out of or relating in any way to the mettagroup.org service, including our website, user interfaces, these Terms of Use and this Arbitration Agreement, shall be determined by binding arbitration instead of in courts of general jurisdiction. Arbitration is more informal than a lawsuit in court. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, allows for more limited discovery than in court, and is subject to very limited review by courts. Arbitrators can award the same damages and relief that a court can award. You agree that, by agreeing to these Terms of Use, the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision, and that you and mettagroup.org are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. This arbitration provision shall survive termination of this Agreement and the termination of your mettagroup.org subscription.
If you elect to seek arbitration, you must first send to mettagroup.org, by certified mail, a written Notice of your claim (“Notice”). The Notice to mettagroup.org should be addressed to: General Counsel, mettagroup.org, 230 S Coronado St, #39, Los Angeles, CA 90057 (“Notice Address”). If mettagroup.org elects to seek arbitration, it will send, by certified mail, a written Notice to the address used for your subscription account. A Notice, whether sent by you or by mettagroup.org, must (a) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; and (b) set forth the specific relief sought (“Demand”). If mettagroup.org and you do not reach an agreement to resolve the claim within 30 days after the Notice is received, you or mettagroup.org may commence an arbitration proceeding or file a claim in small claims court. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by mettagroup.org or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator. You may download or copy a form Notice and a form to initiate arbitration at www.adr.org. If you are required to pay a filing fee, after mettagroup.org receives notice at the Notice Address that you have commenced arbitration, it will promptly reimburse you for your payment of the filing fee, unless your claim is for greater than US$200. The arbitration will be governed by the Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (collectively, “AAA Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), as modified by this Agreement, and will be administered by the AAA. The AAA Rules and Forms are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879, or by writing to the Notice Address. The arbitrator is bound by the terms of this Agreement. All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, including issues relating to the scope and enforceability of this arbitration agreement. Unless mettagroup.org and you agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county (or parish) of your billing address. (If you reside outside of the United States, any arbitration hearings will take place in your country of residence at a location reasonably convenient to you, but will remain subject to the AAA Rules including the AAA rules regarding the selection of an arbitrator). If your claim is for US$200 or less, we agree that you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, through a telephonic hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules. If your claim exceeds US$200, the right to a hearing will be determined by the AAA Rules. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based. If the arbitrator issues you an award that is greater than the value of mettagroup.org’s last written settlement offer made before an arbitrator was selected (or if mettagroup.org did not make a settlement offer before an arbitrator was selected), then mettagroup.org will pay you the amount of the award or US$200, whichever is greater. Except as expressly set forth herein, the payment of all filing, administration and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA Rules.
YOU AND METTAGROUP.ORG AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and mettagroup.org agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims with your claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. If this specific provision is found to be unenforceable, then the entirety of this arbitration provision shall be null and void. The arbitrator may award declaratory or injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party’s individual claim.