Treiber & Straub, Inc. v. UPS, 474 F.3d 379 (7th Cir. 2007).
I think this case gives a more “substantive” holding than some of the other cases which merely hold that procedural items are enforceable, such as forum selection, class action waivers, etc. This case actually enforces UPS’s online shipping website’s Terms of Use to the detriment of the shipper.
In this case, a user shipped a ring worth $100,000 via UPS’s online shipping website. He submitted the ring in a package for shipping with the shipping label. UPS then lost or misplaced the package.
In order to ship the ring the user had to click not once, but twice, to agree to UPS’s websites shipping Terms of Use. The terms provided that UPS would not be responsible for any item of “unusual value” which it stated was anything over $50,000 (which is the maximum amount UPS let you insure an item for).
The shipper then put in a claim with UPS, and UPS disclaimed stating it did not have to pay him anything because it was an item of unusual value. The shipper then sued for the value of the ring and the court upheld UPS’s Terms of Use, finding that UPS provided adequate notice on its website to anyone shipping an item.
The Court held that using a clickwrap agreement for online transactions was “common in Internet commerce” where “one signifies agreement by clicking on a box on the screen.” The court reasoned that merely because the user chose not to read the terms, that does not let him avoid any of the provisions he does not like.