Interesting article.
I expect the trouble & cost of even a small-claims hearing is enough to put off most people though.
A point worth noting is the value of a professionally-written, to-the-point letter (and follow-ups) to the offending company. It's easy to forget these days that a signed 'hard copy' letter is worth 100 emails -- especially in legal terms.
Ultimately anything that helps to avoid meetings with lawyers has got to be a good thing