According to Hank Johnson, U.S. representative (D-Ga.) and member of the House Judiciary Committee that most consumers have no idea because they are signing away the right to sue when hey fill out a job application, put an elderly parent in a nursing home, sign up fro a credit card, get a cellphone, or buy a car or a home. He further said that most of these contracts come with a mandatory arbitration clause. That means any dispute they have with the service provider will be decided our of court by an arbitrators or a panel of several arbitrators.
"It's an unfair system. The arbitrators are generally chosen by the company. Comsumers are often forced to travel to arbitration hearings, which can be held thousands of miles from their homes. And there's no meaningful way to appeal the decision."
Hank Johnson told Donna Rosato, senior writer of Money magazine (July,2009; page 16), "That's why Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and I have proposed new legislation that would give consumers the right to take a service to court to settle their grievance. We're not trying to ban arbitration. We just want consumers to have a choice.
"It's an unfair system. The arbitrators are generally chosen by the company. Comsumers are often forced to travel to arbitration hearings, which can be held thousands of miles from their homes. And there's no meaningful way to appeal the decision."
Hank Johnson told Donna Rosato, senior writer of Money magazine (July,2009; page 16), "That's why Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and I have proposed new legislation that would give consumers the right to take a service to court to settle their grievance. We're not trying to ban arbitration. We just want consumers to have a choice.
