Show HN: Chase did a bad thing, so we did a good thing

What happened?

Recently, JP Morgan Chase made a number of changes to some of their services, introducing a binding arbitration clause into their terms of service for some of their credit card accounts.

Chase offered the chance to opt-out of this section of the agreement, but in order to do that, you’ll have to physically mail a letter. And who even has stamps lying around anymore?

We thought this process could be a little easier. Just enter your information, click submit, and an opt-out letter will be automatically sent via snail-mail to Chase for you – stamp and all.

FAQs

What does “Binding Arbitration” really mean?+–

Let’s break it down.

Arbitration is simply a method of resolving disputes that involves the two sides presenting their arguments to an arbitrator (usually a lawyer or retired judge) or panel of arbitrators. This arbitrator will ultimately decide who is right, who is wrong, and what to do about it. In effect, the arbitrator serves as judge and jury. This is usually done as a quick and quiet alternative to duking it out in court – which for large corporations can be a lengthy, costly, and newsworthy affair.

Binding arbitration (sometimes referred to as “forced arbitration”) essentially means that you give up your right to take someone to court as part of a lawsuit. Additionally, you give up your right to join forces with others in your situation and take a company to court in a class-action lawsuit. You can read more about Chase and forced arbitration here,here, andhere.

What do I need to do to opt-out?+–

In order to opt-out from Chase’s new forced arbitration clause, you must mail – that’s right – mail a physical letter to their PO box by August 9, 2019 stating your rejection of the policy. In the letter you must include your name, account number, billing address, signature, and request to opt-out. We put together this tool to make all of that happen at the click of a button .

What are the pros and cons of opting-out?+–

Pro: By opting-out, if Chase does something unethical or illegal (remember Wells Fargo?) to its customers, you can personally bring a class action in a public court and you secure the right to benefit from a class action brought by other Chase customers (as is the more common course of action for groups of consumers). Without opting-out, your only course of action will be to settle out of court through an arbitrator, which is commonly viewed as bad for consumers.

Con: Opting-out will mandate that you would not be able to enter arbitration with Chase without their consent. If you take issue with a future policy or action taken by Chase, your only guaranteed course of action will be to take Chase to court in a lawsuit, which – when dealing with a large corporation – has the potential of being a more lengthy and costly process than arbitration.

How does this site work?+–

Once you enter your information, sign the form, and click submit, your data is securely submitted to a PCI-compliant vault, printed, then mailed straight to Chase using Lob. We will not store your name, account number, or address and this data will never touch our servers. Very Good Security will encrypt your account information and send us back a secure token – which is the only form of your account information stored on our end.

How much does using this site cost me?+–

Nothing! We’ll cover the cost of printing and mailing your letter.

So what’s the catch?+–

We think requiring a mailed letter in order to opt-out from a policy is bad for consumers and genuinely want to help. We don’t want any of your account information. We just ask that you give us your email address so we can send you a confirmation email and provide you a copy of your letter for your records. We will never sell or share your information with anyone without your explicit permission. If you give us permission to, we may send you an email sometime in the future to let you know about possible class actions against Chase (which you can now participate in!) and other related stuff that we’re building. Don’t worry though, we’ll make it super easy to unsubscribe if you aren’t interested. You can read our full privacy policy here.

I’m not sure I feel comfortable giving you my account information…+–

That’s fine! You can certainly go through the opt-out process all by yourself, you stamp-haver, you. We put together a nice template that you can download here stating your rejection of the agreement. Just fill in your name, account number, and address – then print, sign, and mail the letter to:

Chase Customer Service
P.O. Box 15298
Wilmington, DE 19850-5298

Be sure the letter arrives no later than August 9, 2019. If you want to provide your email, we’ll send you a reminder to send out your letter before the 9th. That part isn’t mandatory though.

What is the actual language in the agreement sent by Chase?+–

From the email JP Morgan Chase sent customers:

“Can I (the customer) reject this agreement to arbitrate?

Yes. You have the right to reject this agreement to arbitrate if you notify us no later than 8/9/2019. You must do so in writing by stating that you reject this agreement to arbitrate and include your name, account number, address and personal signature. Your notice must be mailed to us at P.O. Box 15298, Wilmington, DE 19850-5298. Rejection notices sent to any other address, or sent by electronic mail or communicated orally, will not be accepted or effective.”

Where can I read more about this?+–

Who are you and why did you build this?+–

We’re a group of like-minded companies who like building things that help people. This idea was devised and built by the teams at HM Bradley and Radvocate.

Just a few more clicks before we have everything we need to send to Chase. Just check the box below and type your name as a signature, click submit, and we’ll mail your letter.