Charlotte Bess v. DirecTV, Inc.

              1
NOTICE
Decision filed 03/18/08. The text of
this dec ision may be changed or
corrected prior to the filing of a
Petition for Rehea ring or the
disposition of the same.
NO. 5-05-0394
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
FIFTH DISTRICT
________________________________________________________________________
CHARLOTTE BESS, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) St. Clair County.
)
v. ) No. 99-L-55A
)
DIRECTV, INC., ) Honorable
) Robert P. LeChien,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding.
________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE DONOVAN delivered the opinion of the court:
The defendant, DirecTV, Inc. (DirecTV), appeals from an order of the circuit court
of St. Clair County denying its motion to stay proceedings and to compel arbitration.
DirecTV argues that the circuit court erred in finding that the arbitration agreement was
procedurally and substantively unconscionable and, therefore, unenforceable. Initially, this
court issued an opinion in this case affirming the circuit court's judgment. Bess v. DirecTV,
Inc., No. 5-05-0394 (July 10, 2007). After considering the merits of DirecTV's petition for
rehearing, we now reverse.
BACKGROUND
DirecTV provides television programming services via satellite to consumers
throughout the nation. To obtain these services, a potential DirecTV subscriber calls
DirecTV and orders one or more of DirecTV's programming packages. DirecTV then
activates the subscriber's service and mails the subscriber a copy of a contract, called
"Customer Agreement" (Customer Agreement), along with the initial billing statement. The
Customer Agreement sets forth the parties' rights and obligations and explains the terms and