> The problem is simply that people don't read this stuff in the first place. They simply sign without reading, assuming/hoping/praying that the terms are reasonable.

that's not the problem. I see these arbitration clauses all the time, yet I sign anyway. Because I can't function without a credit card, without a cellphone, without internet hookups to my house, etc. It's not reasonable to say that I have to forego these services, or that I need to carefully shop for those vanishingly few providers that currently don't have such a clause, only for them to add one in when the contract renews in a year.

What choice does the consumer really have if these clauses are unavoidable?

edit: waqf's comment makes this point way better.