Consumer Law

U.S. Chamber of Commerce fudges the issue on arbitration

By Sam Glover

We have not mentioned the Arbitration Fairness Act in some time, but the AFA is still pending before Congress, and Big Business is still trying to stop it.

What is the issue? Mandatory binding arbitration. Nobody thinks arbitration is a problem when two parties agree to it. The problem is that many businesses (your credit card company, for example) insert mandatory binding arbitration clauses into their contracts, which consumers have little choice but to sign.

So the U.S. Chamber of Commerce went out and asked a bunch of people whether they supported arbitration as a way to resolve disputes. And, of course, the majority of those asked said they did support arbitration as a way to resolve disputes.

So do I. So does everyone, as long as arbitration is something both sides agree to after the dispute arises. When it is forced on the consumer beforehand, it is patently unfair.

In other words, as Public Citizen’s Watchdog Blog points out, the CoC’s poll is completely irrelevant.

For more on the problem of arbitration in consumer contracts, see Public Citizen’s report on mandatory binding arbitration from last September (PDF link).

[via Consumer Rights Watch]

Full post as published by Caveat Emptor on April 06, 2008 (boomark / email).