Banks v. Consumers (Guess who wins)

Businessweek has an article about arbitration for credit card disputes. Chances are, if you have a credit card, the contract says that disputes will be resolved by arbitration. You generally won't have the right to resolve them in court.

However, the game is heavily stacked in favor of the card companies. Businessweek details the fact that the National Arbitration Forum, the company responsible for most arbitration in the credit card arena, has cultivated many links with credit card companies. The business relationship is such that if NAF were a judge, their decisions might well get thrown out due to conflicts of interest.

In addition, there were several instances where the arbitrators played procedural games, such as failing to inform consumers about the arbitration. And the writers interviewed several former arbitrators who quit because of concerns over fairness.

In fact, some consumers who are knowledgeable enough to contest their decisions, and who have had the resources to hire lawyers, have got the results thrown out in court.