Business General Terms and Conditions of Service

• Claims arising out of or relating to any aspect of the relationship between us, whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory;
• Claims that arose before this or any prior Agreement; and
• Claims that may arise after the termination of this Agreement.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, either You or Optimum may bring claims in small claims court in Your jurisdiction, if that court has jurisdiction over the parties and the action and the claim complies with the prohibitions on class, representative, and private attorney general proceedings and non-individualized relief discussed below. If the law of Your jurisdiction allows small claims actions to be removed or appealed for a trial de novo in a court of general jurisdiction, that appeal instead shall be resolved in an individual arbitration under this arbitration provision. You may also bring issues to the attention of federal, state, and local executive or administrative agencies.

Resolving Your dispute with Optimum through arbitration means You will have a fair hearing before a neutral arbitrator instead of in a court before a judge or jury. YOU AGREE THAT BY ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT, YOU AND OPTIMUM EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY AND THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION.

Opting Out of Arbitration. IF YOU HAVE BEEN AN EXISTING SUBSCRIBER FOR AT LEAST 30 DAYS BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT AND HAVE PREVIOUSLY ENTERED INTO AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT WITH OPTIMUM OR A PREDECESSOR COMPANY, THIS OPT OUT PROVISION DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU.

IF YOU BECAME A SUBSCRIBER WITHIN THE 30 DAYS IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT, AND DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION, YOU MUST NOTIFY OPTIMUM IN WRITING WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT.

IF YOU BECAME A SUBSCRIBER AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT, AND DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, YOU MUST NOTIFY OPTIMUM IN WRITING WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE OPENING OF YOUR OPTIMUM ACCOUNT. IN ALL INSTANCES, NOTICE SHALL BE PROVIDED BY EMAILING US AT [email protected] OR BY MAIL TO: OPTIMUM SHARED SERVICES, 200 Jericho Quadrangle, Jericho, NY 11753, ATTN: ARBITRATION.

TO BE VALID, AN OPT-OUT NOTICE MUST: (1) INCLUDE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, OPTIMUM ACCOUNT NUMBER, PHYSICAL SIGNATURE IF SENT BY MAIL OR ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE IF SENT VIA EMAIL, AS WELL AS A CLEAR STATEMENT THAT YOU ARE REJECTING THE ARBITRATION PROVISION IN THIS AGREEMENT; AND (2) BE RECEIVED BY OPTIMUM WITHIN THE APPLICABLE 30 DAY TIME PERIOD ABOVE.

YOUR DECISION TO OPT OUT OF THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION WILL HAVE NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OPTIMUM OR THE DELIVERY OF OPTIMUM SERVICES TO YOU. OPTING OUT OF THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION HAS NO EFFECT ON ANY OTHER PRIOR OR FUTURE ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WITH OPTIMUM.

1. Notice Of Dispute. A party who intends to commence arbitration must first send the other party a written Notice of Dispute and engage in a good-faith negotiation of the dispute in an effort to resolve it without the need for arbitration. To be valid, Your Notice of Dispute must include: (1) Your name; (2) the account number and service address; (3) an email address and telephone number at which You may be reached during business hours; (4) a description of the nature and basis of your claims or dispute (including where applicable specific dates); (5) an explanation of the specific relief sought; (6) Your physical or electronic signature; and (7) if You have retained an attorney, Your signed statement authorizing Optimum to disclose your confidential account records to Your attorney if necessary in resolving Your claim. For Your convenience, You may download a Notice of Dispute form from our website at . Once you have written the letter or filled out the Notice, send it to us by certified mail at Optimum Shared Services, 200 Jericho Quadrangle, Jericho, NY 11753, Attn: Customer Disputes. Optimum will send any Notice of Dispute to You at the billing address on file with the account.
2. 60 Day Wait Period. Whoever sends the Notice of Dispute must give the other party 60 days after receipt to investigate the claim. During that period, either party may request an individualized discussion (by phone call or videoconference) regarding settlement, which shall take place at a mutually agreeable time (which can be after the 60-day period). You and an Optimum legal or business representative (or outside counsel) must personally participate, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Your lawyers (if any) also can participate. If Optimum has not been able to resolve your dispute to your satisfaction within the later of 60 days from when we received your Notice of Dispute or the date of the individualized discussion regarding settlement, you may start arbitration proceedings. The Notice of Dispute and discussion requirements are essential in order to give the parties a meaningful chance to resolve disputes informally. If any aspect of these requirements has not been met, the parties agree that a court can enjoin the filing or prosecution of an arbitration, and, unless prohibited by law, the arbitration administrator shall neither accept nor administer the arbitration nor assess fees in connection with such an arbitration. The submission of a Notice of Dispute will toll the statute of limitations for the claim until the later of 60 days from when we received your Notice of Dispute or the date of the individualized discussion regarding settlement.

Arbitration Process. The arbitration will be administered by the AAA under the AAA's Consumer Arbitration Rules, as modified by this arbitration provision. You may obtain copies of those rules from the AAA at . If the AAA will not enforce this arbitration provision as written, it cannot serve as the arbitration organization to resolve Your dispute. If this situation arises, or if the AAA for any reason cannot serve as the arbitration organization, the parties shall agree on a substitute arbitration organization or ad hoc arbitration, which will enforce this arbitration provision as to the dispute. If the parties are unable to agree, the parties shall mutually petition a court of appropriate jurisdiction to appoint an arbitration organization or ad hoc arbitrator that will administer arbitration under this arbitration provision as written. If there is a conflict between this arbitration provision and the AAA rules, this arbitration provision shall govern.

A single arbitrator will resolve the dispute between You and Optimum. Participation in arbitration may result in limited discovery. The arbitrator will honor claims of privilege recognized by law and will take reasonable steps to protect confidential or proprietary information, including subscriber personally identifiable information.

All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except that issues relating to arbitrability, the scope or enforceability of this arbitration provision, the interpretation of its prohibitions of class, representative, and private attorney general proceedings and non-individualized relief, and compliance with the requirements of Sections 26.c and 26.g shall be for a court of competent jurisdiction to decide. The Arbitrator is limited and bound by terms of this arbitration provision. Although the arbitrator shall be bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving the same customer to the extent required by applicable law, an arbitrator's ruling will not be binding in other proceedings involving different customers. The arbitrator will make any award in writing but need not provide a statement of reasons unless requested by a party. An award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction over the parties for purposes of enforcement.

Unless the parties agree otherwise, any arbitration hearing will take place in the county (or parish) of Your service address. If the amount in dispute is less than $50,000, Optimum agrees that You may choose whether the arbitration is conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, by a telephonic or videoconference hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by AAA rules.

If the amount in dispute exceeds $75,000 or the claim seeks any form of injunctive relief, either party may appeal the award to a three-arbitrator panel administered by AAA under its Optional Appellate Arbitration Rules (including its rules governing allocation of fees and costs) by a written notice of appeal within thirty (30) days from the date of entry of the written arbitration award. The award shall be stayed during any such appeal. The members of the three-arbitrator panel will be selected according to AAA rules. The three-arbitrator panel will issue its decision within one hundred and twenty (120) days of the date of the appealing party's notice of appeal. The decision of the three-arbitrator panel shall be final and binding, subject to any right of judicial review that exists under the FAA.

Arbitration Fees. Except as otherwise provided in this arbitration provision, if Optimum initiates an arbitration, Optimum will pay all arbitration filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees.

If You initiate an arbitration, You will be responsible for paying a portion of the arbitration fees as follows: If You are seeking claims of $1,000 or less, Your share of the fees will be capped at $100, and If you are seeking claims of between $1,001-$10,000, Your share of such fees will be capped at $200. If You are seeking claims of more than $10,000, the filing, administrative and arbitrator fees will be allocated in accordance with the AAA rules. If You cannot pay Your share of these fees, You may request a fee waiver from the AAA. In addition, Optimum will consider reimbursing Your share of these fees if You indicate You cannot afford them and, if appropriate, will pay directly all such fees upon Your written request prior to the commencement of the arbitration. You are responsible for all additional costs and expenses that You incur in the arbitration, including, but not limited to, attorneys' or expert witness fees and expenses, unless the arbitrator determines that applicable law requires Optimum to pay those costs and expenses.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the arbitrator concludes that Your claim is frivolous or has been brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the AAA rules shall govern the allocation of arbitration fees, and You agree to reimburse Optimum for any amounts Optimum may have paid on Your behalf.

Mass Arbitration Procedures. If 25 or more claimants submit Notices of Dispute or file arbitrations raising similar claims and are represented by the same or coordinated counsel, all the cases must be resolved in staged bellwether proceedings. You agree to this process even though it may delay the resolution of your claim. In the first stage, each side shall each select up to 15 cases (30 cases total) to be filed in arbitration and resolved individually by different arbitrators. In the meantime, no other cases may be filed in arbitration, and the AAA shall not accept, administer, or demand payment of fees for arbitrations commenced in violation of this Mass Arbitration Procedures section. If the parties cannot agree how to resolve the remaining cases after the conclusion of the first stage of bellwether proceedings, the process will be repeated until all claims are resolved.

If this Mass Arbitration Procedures section applies to a Notice of Dispute, any statute of limitations applicable to the claims set forth in that Notice of Dispute will be tolled from the time the first cases are selected for bellwether proceedings until that Notice of Dispute is selected for a bellwether proceeding, withdrawn, or otherwise resolved. A court will have the authority to enforce this Mass Arbitration Procedures section, including by enjoining the mass filing or prosecution of arbitrations or the assessment or collection of AAA fees.

Waiver of Class and Representative Actions. YOU AGREE TO ARBITRATE YOUR DISPUTE AND TO DO SO ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS; CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, AND PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ARBITRATIONS AND ACTIONS ARE NOT PERMITTED. You and Optimum agree that each party may bring claims against the other only in Your or its individual capacity and may not participate as a class member or serve as a plaintiff in any purported class, representative, or private attorney general proceeding. This arbitration provision does not permit and explicitly prohibits the arbitration of consolidated, class, or representative disputes of any form. In addition, although the arbitrator may award any relief that a court could award that is individualized to the claimant and would not affect other Optimum account holders, neither You nor Optimum may seek, nor may the arbitrator award, non-individualized relief that would affect other account holders. Further, the arbitrator may not consolidate or join more than one person's claims unless all parties affirmatively agree in writing.

If any of the prohibitions in the preceding paragraph is held to be unenforceable as to a particular claim, or request for relief (such as a request for public injunctive relief) then You and Optimum agree that such claim or request for relief (and only that claim or request) shall be decided by a court after all other claims and requests for relief are arbitrated. In that instance, or any instance when a claim between You and Optimum proceeds to court rather than through arbitration, You and Optimum each waive the right to any trial by jury through this Agreement.