Inconspicuous Arbitration Provision In Consumer Adhesion Contract Is Unconscionable.
"We conclude the arbitration provision is unconscionable largely because it was hidden on the back side of a money transfer order form, in tiny 6-point print that we deem virtually illegible . . . . MoneyGram's Arbitration Provision shows every sign of having been designed to take unfair advantage of its customers." Fisher v. MoneyGram International Inc., A158168 (1/4 7/27/21) (Streeter, Tucher, Brown).
The plaintiff, Jonathan Fisher, is described as a 63-year-old Vietnam War-era veteran in 2016, with poor eyesight. Fisher alleged that MoneyGram was regularly used by scammers to transfer funds, that he had been scammed while using MoneyGram to transfer funds, and that MoneyGram was on notice, having been the subject of an earlier FTC permanent injunction requiring MoneyGram "to establish, implement, and maintain a comprehensive anti-fraud program to protect its consumers. . . But Fisher claims MoneyGram failed to abide by the injunction."
The opinion states that "[E]ven if he had tried to read the tiny print, he would not have been able to do so -- even wearing his trifocal glasses -- at least not without a magnifying glass." For the edification of our readers, we have reproduced 8-point print in the comment below. Our blogging platform does not allow us to go down any further to 6-point print.
COMMENT: According to my Typepad blog platform, this is 8 point type.
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