Consumer Transactions

Every day, individual consumers enter into transactions with businesses for products or services for their personal, family or household use. In many instances, the form agreement relating to the transaction between the business and the individual consumer contains a clause providing for binding arbitration and/or non-binding mediation.

• When a dispute arises between an individual consumer and a business, NAM offers dispute resolution services pursuant to NAM’s Comprehensive Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures in effect at the time the claim is filed.
• Consumer cases are those in which the business has a standardized, systematic application of an arbitration clause in the agreement.
• A consumer is generally defined as an individual who seeks or acquires goods or services, primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

PLEASE NOTE: These standards do not apply to the use of arbitration in resolving disputes arising from commercial transactions between lenders and commercial borrowers or companies and commercial customers or other financial services, such as investments and real estate transactions. Nor do they apply if the agreement to arbitrate was negotiated by the individual consumer and the company.

NAM shall have the sole discretion to determine whether the case constitutes a consumer transaction under NAM’s Comprehensive Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures.

NAM consumer-related experience includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:

• Leasing agreements
• Consumer fraud lawsuits
• Defective products
• False or misleading advertising
• Financial Services/Transactions
• Violations of consumer protection laws