TV Fraud Plaintiff Can’t ‘Evade Arbitration,’ Says Best Buy Reply Brief

Plaintiff Sergio Rodriguez’s Oct. 9 opposition to Best Buy’s Sept. 8 motion to compel his claims to arbitration (see 2310110054) confirms that Rodriguez “agreed to individual arbitration” when he registered for the My Best Buy loyalty program and used BestBuy.com to make two purchases, said Best Buy’s reply Tuesday (docket 8:23-cv-01194) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Santa Ana in support of its motion to compel. Rodriguez’s July 3 fraud lawsuit against Best Buy and Samsung alleges the Samsung QLED 4K TV he bought in 2022 didn’t have the Xcelerator Turbo+, FreeSync and HDMI 2.1 features that were advertised. Rodriguez’s opposition “concedes he signed up for My Best Buy and concedes he made two online purchases,” said Best Buy’s reply. Before completing those transactions, Best Buy notified Rodriguez, in language “approved by other courts,” that by proceeding, he was agreeing to the My Best Buy terms and BestBuy.com terms that contained the arbitration provisions, it said. “Unable to escape these facts,” Rodriguez’s opposition “conflates actual knowledge with constructive knowledge,” it said. His opposition also cites “outdated law” to argue unconscionability, and it “cherry-picks language” to suggest that the arbitration agreement is “narrower” than it really is, it said. Those arguments “all fail,” it said. Best Buy “carried its burden” to show Rodriguez agreed to the terms, including an arbitration agreement, and that his opposition “provides nothing that would allow him to evade arbitration,” it said.