AT&T has nearly 100 million wireless subscribers now. If they can gin up a reason to add a $5 annual charge to every subscriber's bill, that's an extra $500 mil

AT&T has nearly 100 million wireless subscribers now. If they can gin up a reason to add a $5 annual charge to every subscriber's bill, that's an extra $500 million to the bottom line. Many customers won't notice a bogus charge like that. A few will silently gripe, figuring it isn't worth their time fighting. A few will complain to AT&T. Nobody will need to go to arbitration to get their $5 back, because AT&T will give it back if they're persistent. Even with maybe ten percent refunds, AT&T will have stolen away $450 million. Class-action lawsuits definitely have been abused in the past and consumers often don't fare that well (whee, coupons) but the "arbitration" alternative doesn't give companies any incentive to treat customers fairly.