Assist by AOL Terms of Service

Thank you for using Assist by AOL (the “Service”).

Yahoo and AOL joined to become a unified digital and mobile media company known as Yahoo.


BY ACCESSING AND USING THE SERVICE, YOU SIGNIFY BY ELECTRONIC MEANS YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS (the “Terms”). If you do not agree, you may not use the Service.
 
NOTICE OF ARBITRATION AGREEMENT
 
THESE TERMS CONTAIN A BINDING ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND A CLASS ACTION WAIVER.

All disputes between you and Yahoo (“Yahoo,” “we” or “us”) will be resolved by binding arbitration.  You thus give up your right to litigate disputes with us in court (except for matters that may be taken to small claims court). Disputes will be decided by a neutral arbitrator and not a judge or jury.

You are entitled to a fair hearing, but arbitration procedures are simpler and more limited than court proceedings.  Arbitrator decisions are as enforceable as any court order and are subject to very limited review by a court.
PLEASE REVIEW THE SECTION ENTITLED “HOW TO RESOLVE A DISPUTE WITH US” and see our FAQs for more information.

1. Key Terms.
The Yahoo Terms of Service (the “TOS”) combined with the supplemental terms below collectively govern your use of the Service (the “Terms”). If your plan includes Assist Device Repair and Replace, the AOL PC Protection Benefit Plan - Terms and Conditions for a Single Qualifying Product also apply. We may change these Terms from time to time. Your ongoing use of the Service after we post or notify you of the changes signifies your agreement to the updated Terms. If you do not agree, you must discontinue your use of the Service.

2. The Service.
We may modify or discontinue the Service or any feature of the Service at any time and without liability to you. You may access and use the Service only for your own use.

3. Authorization to Access Your Computer.
In order to benefit from the Service, you will need to download diagnostic tools provided by our vendors and us and give us access to your computing device (your “Device”). Specifically, you agree that we may (i) download diagnostic software to your Device, (ii) gather system data, (iii) take remote control of your Device and (iv) access or modify your Device settings. You authorize us to connect to your Device and use diagnostic software to gather system data, repair your Device, remove, disable or delete from your device code or data identified by the Service as being harmful, take remote control of your Device and change the settings on your Device while we perform the Service.

4. Your Responsibilities.
You accept certain responsibilities and risk when you use the Service. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR BACKING UP ALL DATA, APPLICATIONS AND SOFTWARE ON YOUR DEVICE BEFORE YOU ACCESS AND USE THE SERVICE. You may not transfer, loan, give or sell access to your account to anyone outside your household. We may as we determine in our sole discretion deny the Service to any unauthorized user.

YOU AGREE THAT WE HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE AT ANY TIME FOR ANY LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF YOUR DATA, SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE THAT MAY ARISE OUT OF THE SERVICE.
You must cooperate with us and promptly respond to our requests for information and to take such actions as we recommend to you when we provide you the Service.

5. We may Monitor Our Performance.
You give us permission to monitor and record our performance of delivering the Service to you. We may monitor our online sessions and telephone calls (if any) with you for purposes of improving customer service, internal training and internal market research. We may use this information as provided by our privacy policy. We may use any feedback you provide to us without restriction and without compensation to you.

6. Delivery of the Service.
We will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide the Service and make available to you during reasonable hours our technical experts to resolve your problems. However, you acknowledge that the Service may not be successful at all times because the problem may be beyond our ability to resolve it remotely or there may be compatibility issues with your Device. WE MAKE NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE PROVIDE THE SERVICE “AS IS” AND YOU ASSUME ALL RISKS WITH THE SERVICE. YOU AGREE THAT WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF SERVICE FEES PAID DURING A ONE-MONTH PERIOD.

7. Limitations.
If you receive the Service at no additional charge as part of an AOL Advantage plan, your use of the Service will be subject to the usage limits described in the plan. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, user accounts, computer systems, databases or networks connected to the Service through hacking, password mining, reverse engineering our protocols or any other means. The Service is limited to bona fide requests for assistance, and excessive, abusive or frivolous claim are prohibited.

8. Software.
The diagnostic software that we will provide to you is licensed, not sold. You must agree to the license terms presented by our vendors or us with the software in order to use the Service. You agree that we may download and utilize Software from third party Web sites and accept any applicable license agreements on your behalf. You may use the Software only in connection with the Service and for no other purpose. We may remove any Software downloaded to your Device during the Service after we have completed or terminated the Service, although we have no obligation to do so. Your use of the Software must comply with all export control laws. Our vendors and we retain all ownership rights in the Service and any software provided to you.

9. Fees.
  • You agree to pay for all subscriptions and purchases you make from us. We may charge any payment method you have provided for any such payments. We may, in our discretion, post charges to your payment method individually or we may aggregate your charges with other purchases you make through the Service. You agree that any orders you submit for electronic purchases constitute your intent and agreement to be bound by the Terms of and pay for such purchases. For your convenience, you authorize us to store your payment information and process all charges associated with the Service. If you make a purchase for a single session, you must use your service credit within 30 days after making your purchase. If you purchase a subscription version of the Service, periodic charges to your account will be billed in advance, unless otherwise expressly noted. You may be given the option to use a convenience feature that imports your payment information previously entered during a prior purchase from us, which we will use to process your Service order, and will store in connection with your account. It is your responsibility to maintain your online account, including current contact information and valid payment information, in order to continue to receive Services under monthly or other subscription plans. You can change your contact and payment information by logging on to myaccount.aol.com or through AOL KWs: My Account and Help. We may in some instances continue charging a payment method past its expiration date at our discretion and subject to the payment processors' or issuing bank's approval. Please note that once you order the Service on a periodic or subscription basis, your account will be charged as long as it remains active, even if you have not downloaded or used the Service or accessed your online account. All prices are in U.S. Dollars and all charges to your account will be made in U.S. Dollars unless we indicate another currency.
  • If you subscribe to the Service on a monthly or other periodic subscription fee, the subscription fee will be automatically charged to your credit card or other payment method that you provided to us. At the expiration of each subscription term we will automatically renew your subscription and charge the credit card or other payment method you have provided to us, unless you cancel your subscription. Your subscription will be automatically renewed at the then-current price, excluding promotional and discount pricing. At any time, you may elect not to have your subscription renewed automatically by canceling the Service as provided in "Cancellation and Unpaid Charges" below.
 
Cancellation and Unpaid Charges
  • You may cancel any subscription at any time by logging into your online account and terminating the subscription. If you are in a free trial period, your service may be discontinued immediately, and you will not receive any charges. If you are not in a free-trial period, your service will be discontinued at the end of your billing period. We may offer from time to time subscriptions that require you to commit to the service for a certain number of months. If your subscription includes a commitment term and you cancel before the end of the commitment period disclosed during purchase, an early termination fee in the amount disclosed during purchase will be automatically charged to your payment method upon cancellation. Please note that it is your responsibility to maintain your online account, including current payment information, in exchange for continuing to receive ongoing use of the Service. If your payment method or other online account information becomes invalid at any time, we may suspend or terminate your access to the Service. In such event, we will attempt to notify you, but may not do so in all cases, and you should not rely on us to ensure that your online account and payment information are current. We reserve the right to assess an additional 1.5 percent (or the highest amount allowed by law, whichever is lower) per month late charge if your payment is more than 30 days past due and to use alternate means to collect any unpaid charges. You are liable for any fees, including attorney and collection fees incurred by us in our efforts to collect any remaining balances from you.
 
Trials
  • We may offer from time to time free trials so that you may try the Service without charge or obligation ("Free Trial"). Any Free Trial is limited to one free trial per customer for the Service. Unless otherwise stated and unless you cancel your subscription prior to the expiration of the Free Trial, periodic subscription fees will be charged at the then-applicable rate upon expiration of the Free Trial period and will continue to be charged until the subscription is canceled. If you are not satisfied with the Service, you must cancel that service before the Free Trial ends to avoid charges.
 
10. Gifts.
If you receive access to the Service as a gift (a “Gift”), you understand and agree that these Terms are binding on you. Gifts are not redeemable for cash, cannot be resold, exchanged or transferred for value, cannot be combined with any other offer, and cannot be exchanged for another Gift or subscription. There is no refund or other credit given for Gifts that are not redeemed. Although Gifts can be terminated by a user at any time, there is no refund or credit for partial use of the Gifts. Gifts expire upon the terms stated in a specific Gift. Gift subscriptions and their use are void where prohibited by law.
 
11. Termination.
We may terminate the Service at any time. You may terminate the Service by canceling your subsequent subscription plan with us. You are not entitled to a refund if you cancel any pre-paid plans. In addition, any inappropriate activity or abuse of the Service (as determined by us in our sole discretion), whether or not specifically listed in these Terms, may result in suspension or termination of your access to and use of the Service.

12. How to Resolve Disputes with Us.
We offer the following process to help you resolve a complaint or dispute that you may have with us or your use of the Service. Please read this section carefully. Our customer support department, which you can reach at 1-800-827-6364, can help you resolve many of your concerns. If our customer support team is unable to resolve your complaint, you agree to take the following steps to resolve any dispute you may have with us.

Step 1. Notice of Legal Dispute

You must first try to resolve any formal complaint or dispute with us through our Notice of Legal Dispute process. You begin by submitting a “Notice of Legal Dispute” by U.S. Mail to:
Oath Inc.
Attention: Notice of Legal Dispute
Dept. 5771

11955 Democracy Dr
Reston, VA 20190-5662

A “Notice of Legal Dispute” is a written form in which you provide your name, address, contact information, your user name with us, the facts regarding your Dispute, and the relief you are requesting from us. You can get a Notice of Legal Dispute form by clicking here. You and we will attempt to resolve any Dispute through informal negotiation within sixty (60) days from the date the Notice of Legal Dispute is received by a party. After sixty (60) days, you or we may initiate arbitration as described below.

You agree that the term “Dispute” in this Agreement will have the broadest meaning possible. It applies to any dispute, action, or other controversy between you and us concerning the Services (including their price) or this Agreement, whether in contract, warranty, tort, laws or regulation. The term also applies to any dispute over the validity, enforceability or scope of this arbitration provision.

Step 2: Arbitration

If your Dispute is not resolved to your satisfaction within 60 days from when we received your Notice of Legal Dispute, you and we agree to arbitrate all Disputes between us. As we explain below, you and we also may also have the right to bring an individual action before a small claims court for certain claims. You agree that arbitration or a small claims action will be your sole and exclusive remedy to resolve any dispute with us. The Federal Arbitration Act applies to this Agreement. By agreeing to arbitrate, you are giving up the right to litigate (or participate in as a party or class member) any and all Disputes (except small claims) in court before a judge or jury. Instead, a neutral arbitrator will resolve all Disputes. To read more about arbitration, visit www.adr.org. The American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”) will conduct any arbitration under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. If you are an individual and use the services for personal or household use, the AAA’s Consumer Arbitration Rules will apply. You can review the Consumer Arbitration Rules here. You may begin arbitration with us by completing a Demand for Arbitration form, available by clicking here. The completed form(s) should be returned directly to the AAA. The AAA will assign someone to manage your case. You will be contacted with instructions for continuing the arbitration process. Be sure to keep a copy of everything you send to the administrator of your arbitration or us.

Costs

If your claim in arbitration is $75,000 or less, we will pay your filing fee, as well as other filing, AAA and arbitrator’s fees and expenses. For all other arbitrations you initiate, the AAA rules will govern payment of filing fees and the AAA’s and arbitrator’s fees and expenses. Information about filing fees for commercial arbitrations can be found in Section L-3 of AAA’s Commercial Arbitration Rules. If we, instead of you, initiate arbitration, we will pay all filing, AAA, and arbitrator’s fees and expenses. You may initiate arbitration only in your county of residence or in Loudoun County, Virginia. The AAA rules will determine whether the arbitration will take place through written submissions by you and us, by telephone, or in person.

We will not seek to recover from you our attorney’s fees or expenses in any arbitration. Fees and expenses are not counted in determining how much is involved in a Dispute. Please be advised that if an arbitrator finds that the arbitration was frivolous or brought for an improper purpose, then we will seek to recover from you our AAA arbitrator’s fees and expenses, and/or your filing fees that we paid.

Incentive

We offer the following incentive for users who arbitrate any Dispute with us for any claim that is under $10,000. If you reject our last written proposal to resolve your claim before an arbitrator was appointed (the “Proposal”), and the arbitrator awards you more than the amount of our Proposal, we will: (i) pay you the greater of the award or $1,000; (ii) pay twice your reasonable attorney’s fees, if any; and (iii) reimburse any expenses (including expert witness fees and costs) that your attorney reasonably accrues for investigating, preparing, and pursuing your claim in arbitration.

Small Claims Option

You may also litigate any Dispute in small claims court in your county of residence or Loudoun County, Virginia, USA, if the Dispute meets all requirements to be heard in the small claims court. However, if you initiate a small claims case, you are responsible for all court costs and you are not entitled to the incentives we offer to you above for arbitration.

You Waive Any Class Action Claim

Any proceedings to resolve or litigate any dispute in any forum will be conducted solely on an individual basis. Class arbitrations, class actions, private attorney general actions, consolidation of your Dispute with other arbitrations, or any other proceeding in which either party acts or proposes to act in a representative capacity are not permitted and are waived by you, and an arbitrator will have no jurisdiction to hear such claims. If a court finds that the class action waiver in this section is unenforceable as to all or some parts of a Dispute, then the class action waiver will not apply to those parts. Instead, those parts will be severed and proceed in a court of law, with the remaining parts proceeding in arbitration. If any other provision of this Dispute resolution section is found to be illegal or unenforceable, that provision will be severed with the remainder of this section remaining in full force and effect.

Additional Terms

You agree that the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia govern this contract and any claim or Dispute that you may have against us, without regard to Virginia’s conflict of laws rules. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall have no applicability.

Unless you and we agree otherwise, in the event that the Agreement to arbitrate above is found not to apply to you or to a particular claim or Dispute as a result of a decision by the arbitrator or a court order, you agree that any Disputes or claims that you may have against us reside in and will be resolved by a state or federal court located in Arlington County, Fairfax County, the City of Alexandria, or Loudoun County, Virginia and you agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action.
PLEASE NOTE THAT BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU ARE: (1) WAIVING CLAIMS THAT YOU MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE AGAINST US BASED ON THE LAWS OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS, INCLUDING YOUR OWN; (2) IRREVOCABLY CONSENTING TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF, AND VENUE IN, STATE OR FEDERAL COURTS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA OVER ANY DISPUTES OR CLAIMS YOU HAVE WITH US; AND (3) SUBMITTING YOURSELF TO THE PERSONAL JURISDICTION OF COURTS LOCATED IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESOLVING ANY SUCH DISPUTES OR CLAIMS.
Claims or Disputes must be filed within one year.

To the extent permitted by law, any claim or Dispute under this Agreement must be filed within one year in small claims court, an arbitration proceeding or in court, as applicable. The one-year period begins on the date when a Notice of Dispute is filed with us. You agree you are permanently barred to bring a claim for your Dispute if you do not file your claim within one year.

Quick Reference on our dispute process

You always can find additional information about arbitration and our dispute resolution process by reviewing our FAQs. Please note that our dispute process is mandatory and not optional for all users.

13. General Terms.
These Terms have the same effect as an agreement in writing. You agree we may provide you updates about these Terms and the Service electronically, such as by posting them on the Service or sending you an email. You must have Internet access and a standard Internet browser to review these Terms. You may print these terms if you have a printer connected to your device. If you do not want to transact with us electronically, you must cancel your Service.

Last updated: 6/13/2017