If you have ever accidentally signed up for Amazon Prime when checking out, or had a ridiculously hard time trying to cancel, you could be getting some money back soon. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is forcing Amazon to pay members back for the unnecessary difficulties with its memberships.
The FTC has secured a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon, which includes a record-breaking $1 billion civil penalty and a massive $1.5 billion in refunds for consumers who were harmed by the company’s deceptive practices. The FTC alleges that Amazon knowingly misled millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime subscriptions and then made it difficult for them to cancel.
According to the FTC, Amazon used confusing and deceptive user interfaces to trick customers into signing up without their knowledge. To make matters worse, they intentionally created a difficult cancellation process to stop people from ending their subscriptions.
This is something that was apparently a known problem within the company, with internal documents showing that executives and employees discussed these issues. One internal comment even referred to the unwanted subscriptions as an “unspoken cancer.”
A big part of the settlement is putting a stop to these shady practices and making things much more transparent for customers. Moving forward, Amazon is required to make some major changes to the Prime enrollment and cancellation process. For example, they can no longer have a button that says, “No, I don’t want Free Shipping.” Instead, there has to be a clear and obvious button for customers to decline Prime.
This is a huge win for anyone who has been frustrated by those confusing buttons during checkout. The company also has to be more upfront about the terms of the subscription. This includes disclosing the cost, how often you will be charged, whether the subscription auto-renews, and how you can cancel.
The cancellation process itself also has to be easy to use and must be available through the same method that customers used to sign up. It can’t be difficult, time-consuming, or costly. The whole idea is to create a more neutral user interface so that signing up isn’t a hundred times easier than opting out. The FTC is even requiring an independent third-party supervisor to monitor Amazon’s compliance with the consumer refund process, which is a big deal.
The $1.5 billion in consumer refunds is estimated to help around 35 million people who were affected by unwanted Prime enrollment or who struggled to cancel their membership. If you’re wondering if you’re eligible for a payout, the FTC says that customers who signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, through the checkout offers that were deemed deceptive and who didn’t use more than three Prime benefits in the year after signing up will automatically receive a $51 payout.
If you’re a customer who tried to cancel Prime during that same period and failed, you can submit a claim for payment. This is a massive win for consumers, and there shouldn’t be a single company that gets away with this kind of behavior.
- Price Per Month
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$14.99
- Price per year
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$139
- Apps Included
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Prime Video, Amazon Photes, Amazon Music With Prime
- Free Trial Period
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30 days
Source: FTC