Hmmm. I can see how it would be more painful for them to fight, but most people were conned <$200, and it's rather self-sacrificing to fight for that. Plus, no-one wants a reputation as litigious, but starting a CAL is less conducive to creating that reputation.
I only submitted before Nov 1st, so I'm not sure to what extent I was personally conned.
Take them to small claims court. You can self-represent (not all that complex), they've to pay a lawyer to show up -- they're already in the hole for way more than they promised. Multiply this by the number of people, yeah they'd be praying for a CAL.
But then I'm paying hundreds or thousands of dollars of my time for maybe a few hundred dollars gain. Sure, it's more expensive for them in absolute terms, but it's more expensive for me in relative terms. Not going to get hundreds of people to do this. A class-action lawsuit can actually be positive EV for everyone involved.
(Actually, I don't know whom they'd send -- I think, for small claims court, they have to send a paralegal rather than a lawyer.)
I think it'd be illuminating to see some overview stats on the submission dates and authors of all questions, accepted and not. Is something like this available somewhere?
I only submitted before Nov 1st, so I'm not sure to what extent I was personally conned.