With how long you have to stay on hold these days, I'm honestly not sure it is. You can file small claims completely online with a simple text form (at least in my country) and any response will always be in writing.
Then they can spend the $400/hr on a lawyer to draft a response to the small claims court request that the consumer should refile with the AAA. Then the consumer could send a reply, and they another $400/hr lawyer will have to reply to the reply. And then...
The lawyer is getting paid whether you file something or not. They're employees of the company. I think they care less about their cost to their employer and more about wasting their time on petty stuff (when they could be doing important stuff).
It's a difference that doesn't change the outcome for the sort of thing you're responding to here, but certainly a difference that matters in other circumstances.
For example, Disney will gladly spend far more fighting someone selling counterfeit Disney shirts out of the boot of his car than any profits from sales they'd lose to that counterfeiter. But if they don't fight him, they lose their trademark.
