Whoop clarifies 'Terms of Use' after user outcry

Whoop has backtracked on its recent update to the Terms of Use after a wave of angry posts and messages from its user community. Earlier this month, the fitness tracker maker quietly added a mandatory arbitration clause and a class-action waiver to its contract, and backdated those changes to May 8 — the day the new Whoop 5.0 and MG hardware shipped. Users only found out 16 days later when an email landed in their inboxes, triggering an outcry on Reddit.

For those interested, here’s a link to an archived version of Whoop’s TOS page before May 8, 2025. The page doesn’t mention anything about a mandatory arbitration clause or a class-action waiver.

In a follow-up email sent late yesterday, Whoop admitted the original notice was misleading. The company clarified that the updated terms apply only “going forward” from the date users received notification. In plain language, the binding arbitration and class-action waiver won’t kick in retroactively. Whoop apologized for “any confusion caused by the earlier message” and said it wanted to be “clear on how the terms take effect.”

Here’s a screenshot of the email shared by u/eeotto on Reddit:

That apology came after dozens of frustrated users flooded the r/whoop subreddit. Some warned they’ll drop their subscriptions. As one longtime member put it:

Even if there was a 1% chance of me extending the membership, now it’s gone. What a bunch of scummers. I can’t believe I spent over $1,000 over three years supporting them
— u/niko_bon

Others accused Whoop of trying to dodge accountability. “This is textbook how to bork your brand business,” wrote another user, while calls for switching to Garmin, Oura or Apple Watch grew louder.

Last week, our own story highlighted a separate headache for Whoop MG owners: multiple users reported their brand-new devices died within hours of first use. So the timing for Whoop couldn’t have been any worse for launching a flawed product alongside controversial new terms.

It’s worth pointing out that mandatory arbitration clauses are becoming common in tech contracts, but they remain unpopular. Binding arbitration largely takes disputes out of court and can limit consumer leverage. Whoop gives users 30 days to opt out by emailing [email protected], but many complain the window was effectively halved by the backdating.

In its apology note, Whoop didn’t roll back the arbitration requirement. Instead, it promised better communication on future policy changes. Whether that will rebuild trust is unclear. For now, a portion of the community has already sworn off the strap — at least until Whoop proves it can handle both its firmware and its fine print more responsibly.