Collective mass arbitration is my favorite counter to this tactic, and is dramatically more costly for the company than a class action lawsuit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/business/arbitration-overload.html

A lot of companies got spooked a few years back and walked back their arbitration agreements. I wonder what changed for companies to decide it’s worth it again. Maybe the lack of discovery in the arbitration process even with higher costs?

You can’t “just start” a class action suit. You need to sue, get other people to sue, coordinate, and apply for class action status. That’s more time and effort than an individual suit.