Colorado’s most politically engaged consumer rights groups have a holiday message, a gift that keeps on giving all year long: read the fine print.

Products that could prove faulty might leave buyers (and victims) with arbitration instead of a justice, members of the Colorado Consumer Protection Coalition warned in Denver Thursday.

“Corporations shouldn’t be able to use the fine print to skirt responsibility for everything ranging from choking hazards for kids to wage theft, and yet that’s exactly what many businesses do when they bury forced arbitration clauses in their contracts,” said David Seligman, a staff attorney for Towards Justice, said in a statement. “At this time of year, when fine print terms come with most of the gifts we buy, it is important for us to fight to make sure that we don’t check our basic legal rights to hold wrongdoing corporations accountable in court.”

The coalition is made up of well-known left-leaning groups that advocate for civil rights and protections for older people, labor, seniors, faith-based organizations, as well as civic and community organizations n Colorado.

They cited products such as the well-publicized exploding Samsung Note 7 phones and flammable FullBeauty children’s nightgowns. Several “hot gifts” this year carry mandatory arbitration agreements, including the Nintendo Switch and Lego Star Wars sets.

The groups alleged “forced arbitration means consumers have given up their day in court.” Arbitration means relying on a private proceeding “in which the corporation usually chooses the arbitration firm, dictates the place and time of the session, sticks consumers with the bill for the ‘private judge.’ Even if the arbitration yields an unfair outcome, the decision is unappealable.”

“Companies prefer to tilt the scales in their own favor with arbitration,” said Rosemary Lytle, president of the NAACP Colorado Montana Wyoming State Conference.

“Whether the harm is as serious as a child choking on a toy or simply annoying like losing hundreds of ‘saved hours’ in a video games, consumers should have the right to hold corporations responsible for the safety and quality of their products. It’s time to balance the scales so all Coloradans, from all walks of life, have a fair chance when wronged.”