Two more supporting beams have crumbled and now, with astonishing speed, the entire edifice of the mandatory credit card arbitration system is collapsing.
A second major arbitration firm -- the American Arbitration Association -- said Tuesday that it has suspended all consumer arbitration activities. And JPMorgan Chase, one of the nation's largest credit card issuers, announced Wednesday that it would stop filing such claims against consumers.
These moves came just days after a forced and full retreat staged by the National Arbitration Forum, the nation's largest credit card arbitration firm. It surrendered in response to pending action in Congress and several lawsuits, including a sharply worded action filed last week by Minnesota's attorney general.
binding arbitration That lawsuit echoed complaints long lodged by consumers and their advocates. They say that mandatory arbitration has been quietly slipped into the fine print of millions of credit card, cell phone and other consumer contracts, to the detriment of consumers.
Defenders of the system say arbitration provides quicker, cheaper resolution of billing and other disputes; critics say it stacks the deck against consumers and forces them to waive their rights, often unknowingly, to sue in court.
'The beginning of the end'
"This is the beginning of the end for forced arbitration in all consumer contracts," Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a federation of consumer interest organizations around the nation, said Thursday.
"It will lead to a fairer marketplace," he said. "Forced arbitration has allowed firms to ignore consumer complaints and perpetuate unfair practices, knowing that the consumer had no recourse other than a stacked kangaroo court."
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-binding-arbitration-system-crumbling-1282.phpForced arbitration is a license to steal for credit card companies, etc. From your post, it sounds as that is exactly what they have been doing.