When you agree to the EULA that says you will not participate in a class action lawsuit and agree to small claims court (SCC) arbitration you are doing yourself a big favor ... at least in the U.S.
The odds of getting a settlement, that actually is acceptable to you, in SCC is much greater than participating in a class action suit.
People in the U.S. have always had the ability to file a claim in SCC. Most companies do not want to send a lawyer or legal team for defense as it's simply not worth it, and you will win by default (becuase they don't show up). The company will then pay the claim and everyone is happy.
I many, many class action suits, the defending company spends a ton of money on their defense, the courts then rule on an acceptable class action amount (which could be a lot of money), and the participants of the suit get a pittance because it's divided up between all the participants.
When you become a participant in a class action lawsuit it does not cost you anything, but you agree to the outcome and wave all rights for continued litigation against the company, for the specific problem, even if the compensation sucks.
If you make a claim in SCC it will cost you something. This is completely dependant upon where you live and what your state has set forth for SCC litigation. It's usually around $100, give or take, but some states allow SCC cases to be presented for as little as $30.
If you sue a company for $500 the odds of them sending legal council is almost nil. Just to get their lawyer there will cost them more than that. So you pay $100, you win the judgement by default for $500 and you walk away with $400. This is a lot better than getting a $25 gift certificate for new products from the company ... which happens a lot with class actions.
If you decide to sue for a rather large SCC amount, it will go to arbitration. You are not required to have legal representation as you can do that yourself (not a good idea if you have no idea what you are doing), but if you win the claim those costs will be taken care of by the defendant in this case.
SCC and arbitration saves the defending company millions of dollars and the odds of you getting a reasonable settlement is greatly improved.
Do a little homework, and know your rights before you jump all over something because you think it "sounds bad".
Just another little tip from yer Ol' Uncle Kreij.