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Given how expensive arbitration is, I'm not surprised they are changing this. When you have 75k disputes, it's probably cheaper to get sued through the regular

Given how expensive arbitration is, I'm not surprised they are changing this. When you have 75k disputes, it's probably cheaper to get sued through the regular judicial system than to pay arbitration for everything. Arbitration really only works when the two parties need speed. Like two large business entrenched in a multi-million dollar contract issue. Not for when you have disputes with your customers. My guess is that this is a problem caught through an audit. They realized they were siphoning millions of dollars of arbitration fees to solve menial conflicts.

KirillPanov 5y ago
> Keller Lenkner has secured more than $375 million in settlements for more than 100,000 individual arbitration clients over about two years. Nah, you don't need an audit to notice $187 million/year flying out the door. I have never needed to sue anybody, but if someday I do, my first phone call will be to Keller Lenkner. These guys are true hackers.
mcherm 5y ago
> Arbitration really only works when the two parties need speed. I disagree. Arbitration also works when one party wants to win all the time and the arbitrators will allow that. At least, it normally works under those circumstances... Amazon's change of policy here is an exception.
kmeisthax 5y ago
Not to mention, the courts have a system specifically to cheaply handle disputes that a large number of people might have. It's called a class action lawsuit. Y'know, the thing every company thought they were opting out of when they pushed these arbitration clauses on us?
jjeaff 5y ago
There is no way it is cheaper to get sued through the regular court system. But the thing is, the burden for a consumer to sue in the regular court system is much higher, and they must pay for their own legal fees. So I'm sure the idea will be that they will have fewer cases to deal with by getting rid of the arbitration. Also, they can move to get multiple similar suits combined into a single lawsuit.

KirillPanov 5y ago

> Keller Lenkner has secured more than $375 million in settlements for more than 100,000 individual arbitration clients over about two years. Nah, you don't need an audit to notice $187 million/year flying out the door. I have never needed to sue anybody, but if someday I do, my first phone call will be to Keller Lenkner. These guys are true hackers.

mcherm 5y ago

> Arbitration really only works when the two parties need speed. I disagree. Arbitration also works when one party wants to win all the time and the arbitrators will allow that. At least, it normally works under those circumstances... Amazon's change of policy here is an exception.

kmeisthax 5y ago

Not to mention, the courts have a system specifically to cheaply handle disputes that a large number of people might have. It's called a class action lawsuit. Y'know, the thing every company thought they were opting out of when they pushed these arbitration clauses on us?

jjeaff 5y ago

There is no way it is cheaper to get sued through the regular court system. But the thing is, the burden for a consumer to sue in the regular court system is much higher, and they must pay for their own legal fees. So I'm sure the idea will be that they will have fewer cases to deal with by getting rid of the arbitration. Also, they can move to get multiple similar suits combined into a single lawsuit.