Subaru of America, Inc.'s SMS Terms and Conditions
Last updated: October 6, 2022
Please read these SMS Terms & Conditions (the “SMS Terms”) carefully. By enrolling or otherwise agreeing to receive text messages from or on behalf of Subaru or by otherwise providing your phone number to Subaru, you agree to these SMS Terms, as well as Subaru’s Privacy Policy, which are incorporated herein by reference and can be viewed at the link provided here or at Subaru.com. For purposes of these SMS Terms, “Subaru,” “the Company,” “we,” or “us” shall mean Subaru of America, Inc. and any of its parents, subsidiaries, divisions, or affiliates.
PLEASE READ: THIS AGREEMENT CONTAINS AN ARBITRATION PROVISION WITH CLASS ACTION WAIVER THAT AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS. IT REQUIRES THAT DISPUTES BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY IN BINDING ARBITRATION OR SMALL CLAIMS COURT. DISPUTES IN ARBITRATION AND SMALL CLAIMS COURT ARE RESOLVED WITHOUT A JURY TRIAL AND WITH LESS DISCOVERY AND LESS APPELLATE REVIEW THAN IN COURT.
Opting into Text Messages
By opting into any Subaru promotional text program, you expressly consent to receive recurring marketing text messages that may be sent using automated technology (including an autodialer or other automated system for selecting or dialing telephone numbers), by or on behalf of Subaru, at the cell phone number provided. Consent to receive texts is not a condition of purchasing any goods or services.
By voluntarily providing your cell phone number to Subaru, you consent to receive transactional, operational, or informational text messages at the phone number provided, including, but not limited to, billing, confirmation of remote vehicle commands, vehicle alerts, and product recalls that may be sent using any automated technology (including an automated telephone dialing system or any other automated system for selecting or dialing telephone numbers), by or on behalf of Subaru, at the cell phone number provided.
How to Opt Out
To stop receiving text messages from Subaru, you agree to reply STOP to the number sending the message. After replying STOP, you may receive additional communications confirming that your request has been received and processed, and you may continue to receive text messages for a short period while Subaru processes your request. Below is more information on the types of text messages you may receive, and how to opt out of text messages from Subaru. In all cases, consent to receive texts is not a condition of purchasing any goods or services, and message and data rates may apply:
Message Frequency
Message frequency may vary based on the texting program.
Supported Mobile Carriers
Most mobile carriers in the United States support text messages, but please note we may not be able to deliver messages to all mobile carriers. Mobile carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
Cost
Message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from or on behalf of Subaru, and messages you send to us. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider.
Eligibility and Change in Phone Number
By opting into Subaru’s text messaging program(s) or by otherwise providing your cell phone number to Subaru, you warrant that you are 18 years of age or older. You further warrant that you are the current subscriber or authorized user of the phone number you have provided. If you change, forfeit, or deactivate the phone number you have provided to Subaru, you agree to notify Subaru immediately. By updating your phone number, you consent to receive text messages that you previously consented to at your original phone number, including messages that may be sent using automated technology (including an autodialer or other automated system for selecting or dialing telephone numbers).
Changes to the SMS Terms or Our Telephone Numbers
These SMS Terms may be updated by Subaru at any time without prior notice. By continuing to be enrolled in any Subaru promotional text program, or by providing your cell phone number for transactional, operational, or informational text messages, you agree to any changes.
In addition, we reserve the right to change and/or consolidate our telephone numbers (including short and long codes). If you do not want to receive text messages from new telephone numbers, your sole remedy is to opt out.
Arbitration Provision
A. Definitions
This Arbitration Provision shall be interpreted broadly. As used in this Arbitration Provision, these terms are defined as follows:
i. “Dispute” means any claim or controversy arising from or relating to Your relationship with Subaru, for example any: (a) theories of liability, whether based in contract, tort, statute, or otherwise, including but not limited to claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, its implementing regulations, or similar state statutes; (b) claims that arose before this Agreement; (c) claims that arise after the cancelation or expiration of this Agreement; and (d) claims that are the subject of purported class action litigation. “Dispute” does not, however, include any issues relating to the existence, scope, validity, or enforceability of this Arbitration Provision.
ii. “You” means You and any intended or unintended beneficiaries of Your rights under this Agreement.
iii. “Subaru” means Subaru and any of its predecessors, successors, assigns, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, service providers, and independent contractors, and each of their officers, directors, employees, and agents.
B. Arbitration or Small Claims Court
All Disputes shall be resolved individually in either: (a) binding arbitration; or (b) small claims court if the claim is for money damages and the amount claimed is within the jurisdiction of that court. In arbitration, there is a neutral arbitrator rather than a judge. In arbitration and small claims court, there is no jury and there is less discovery and less appellate review than in court.
C. Procedures for Arbitration
i. This Arbitration Provision is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act. Arbitrations shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) pursuant to its Consumer Arbitration Rules (the “AAA Rules”) as modified by the version of this Arbitration Provision that is in effect when Notice of a Dispute is given. The AAA Rules can be obtained from the AAA by visiting its website (www.adr.org) or calling its toll-free number (1-800-778-7879). If there is a conflict between this Arbitration Provision and the rest of this Agreement, this Arbitration Provision will govern. If there is a conflict between this Arbitration Provision and the AAA Rules, this Arbitration Provision will govern. If the AAA will not administer an arbitration in accordance with this Arbitration Provision, You and Subaru will agree on (or, if necessary, petition a court of competent jurisdiction to appoint) an arbitration organization that will do so.
ii. The party commencing an arbitration should follow the instructions on the AAA website, including sending the AAA a “Demand for Arbitration” (available on its website), paying a filing fee, and mailing a copy of the Demand for Arbitration to the opposing party. If You commence the arbitration, You must send a copy to Subaru of America, Inc., One Subaru Drive, Camden, NJ 08103, ATTN: LEGAL- ARBITRATION OF DISPUTE. If Subaru commences the arbitration, Subaru must send a copy to Your residential address.
iii. If multiple arbitrations involving similar claims against Subaru are pending, You and Subaru shall jointly petition the AAA to coordinate those matters to promote efficiency. That coordination may include, for example, having similar matters assigned to the same arbitrator (either for all purposes or for the purpose of deciding an issue that turns on the same factual or legal questions) or having pre-hearing discovery apply to multiple matters. Nothing in this paragraph, however, provides any right or authority for a Dispute to be resolved as part of a class action, collective action, or other representative action. (See Section G, below.)
iv. Unless You and Subaru agree otherwise, an arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator and any hearing will take place in the county where You reside.
v. The arbitrator will issue a written decision that explains the essential findings and conclusions. The arbitrator’s award may be entered in a court of competent jurisdiction only as necessary to enforce the award.
vi. Neither the fact nor the substance of any settlement demand, offer, or negotiation may be revealed to the arbitrator before a final award has been issued.
D. Right to Arbitral Fees and Costs
The payment of the AAA’s fees and costs will be governed by the AAA Rules except as follows:
i. If Subaru commences an arbitration, Subaru will pay all of the AAA’s fees and costs.
ii. If You commence an arbitration and state under penalty of perjury that You cannot afford to pay the AAA filing fee, Subaru will pay the filing fee if the AAA does not waive that fee. If Subaru determines that Your representation regarding Your ability to pay was false, however, it may seek to recover that fee from You.
iii. If You commence an arbitration and the aggregate value of Your claim is less than $10,000, (a) You will only be responsible for paying the lesser of the AAA filing fee or the filing fee that You would have paid in the small claims court in the county where you reside, and (b) Subaru will pay the rest of the AAA’s fees and costs. If Subaru has received more than twenty-five (25) Notices of Dispute or Demands for Arbitration asserting similar claims, however, the payment of the AAA’s fees and costs will be governed by the AAA Rules.
iv. No matter who commences an arbitration, if the arbitrator finds that a claim was frivolous or asserted for an improper purpose, the party asserting the claim will reimburse the other party for any fees and costs that the party asserting the claim would have been obligated to pay under the AAA Rules.
v. No matter who commences an arbitration, You may pay up to half of the AAA’s fees and costs if You wish to do so
E. Right to Attorneys’ Fees and Costs in Arbitration
You may hire attorneys to represent You in arbitration. You are responsible for their fees and costs. You may recover them from Subaru to the same extent as in court. If the arbitrator finds that a claim was frivolous or brought for an improper purpose, the other party may recover its attorneys’ fees and costs to the same extent as in court.
F. Effect of Rejecting Settlement Offers
If the outcome of a legal action is less favorable to the party seeking relief than a settlement offer that party rejected, that party must pay all of the fees and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) incurred by the other party after the offer was made.
G. Waiver of Class and Representative Actions
i. WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, YOU AND SUBARU WAIVE THE RIGHT TO PROSECUTE OR PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, COLLECTIVE ACTION, OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE ACTION, OR OTHERWISE SEEK REDRESS FOR ALLEGED INJURIES TO THIRD PARTIES. This waiver is a material and essential part of this Arbitration Provision and cannot be severed from it.
ii. WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, YOU AND SUBARU WAIVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK PUBLIC INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. This waiver is not a material or essential part of this Arbitration Provision and can be severed from it by a court of competent jurisdiction. If, after exhaustion of all appeals, such a court refuses to enforce this waiver with respect to a particular claim or request for relief, You and Subaru will jointly petition the court to decide that claim or request for relief only after all other claims and requests for relief have been decided.
H. Right to Reject This Arbitration Provision
You may opt out of this Arbitration Provision by sending Subaru written notice by certified mail, postmarked no later than thirty (30) days after the Effective Date, to Subaru of America, Inc., One Subaru Drive, Camden, NJ 08103, Attention: Legal Department. Notices not mailed to that address and postmarked by that date will not be effective. Your decision will not adversely affect Your relationship with or service from Subaru.
I. Right to Reject Changes to this Arbitration Provision
You may reject changes to this Arbitration Provision by sending Subaru written notice by certified mail, postmarked no later than thirty (30) days after Your first receipt of notice of a change, to Subaru of America, Inc., One Subaru Drive, Camden, NJ 08103, Attention: Legal Department. Notices not mailed to that address and postmarked by that date will not be effective. Your decision will not adversely affect Your relationship with or service from Subaru.
J. Survival
This Arbitration Provision shall survive the cancellation or expiration of the Agreement.
WAIVER OF JURY TRIALS
WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, YOU AND SUBARU WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY.
How To Contact Us
If you need further assistance, text HELP to the number sending the message, or contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783 or Subaru.com/contactus.