Is credit card arbitration fair?

Investigative reporter Gary Weiss takes a look at the procedures related to credit card arbitration -- the way that consumers are forced to resolve disputes they have with issuers in his latest 'Muckraker' column for Forbes. The problem, writes Weiss, is that the National Arbitration Forum that resolves these disputes is hopelessly stacked against the consumer. He writes that "Mandatory arbitration clauses, which are widely criticized for preventing brokerage customers from having their day in court, have metastasized to ordinary credit card agreements. This has resulted in inequities and injustices that makes securities arbitration seem like a fairyland of justice by comparison."

It's hard to imagine what exactly the justification for this arbitration system is -- particularly given that consumers have no choice. Why is the legal system provided for citizens under the Constitution that has worked reasonably well throughout our history inadequate for the credit card and brokerage industries?

Another recent study shows the unfairness of the arbitration system in the brokerage industry. It seems that brokers found to have engaged in malpractice routinely have their records expunged without any kind of hearing! Of course this makes background checks with the NASD for complaints relatively useless.

Senator Russ Feingold has introduced a bill that would ban mandatory arbitration clauses in employment, consumer, and franchise disputes, and Weiss believes it should be expanded to include brokerage disputes.

But of course the bill is likely to be nixed by the financial services industry's lobby -- and of course Average Joe consumers don't have a lobby. They sleep in the lobby.