Amazon will pay $2.5 billion to settle the FTC’s Prime lawsuit

Amazon has agreed to wage $2.5 billion to settee a suit from the Federal Trade Commission, which claimed it tricked millions of customers into subscribing to Prime and made it hard to cancel.

Under the agreement, Amazon volition wage a $1 cardinal civilian penalty, on with $1.5 cardinal that it volition wage backmost to an estimated 35 cardinal customers impacted by the company’s “deceptive” sign-up process. Amazon indispensable besides halt its “unlawful enrollment and cancellation practices” for Prime.

A assemblage was primitively acceptable to decide the result of a suit during a proceedings successful Seattle, but present that’s been chopped abbreviated by the settlement. The FTC filed its lawsuit against Amazon successful 2023, accusing it of utilizing “dark patterns” to deceive radical into signing up for Prime. It besides alleged Amazon executives were aware of these practices, and besides made it “exceedingly difficult” for customers to cancel their Prime memberships by having them spell done unnecessary steps.

Now, the FTC volition necessitate Amazon to alteration its Prime signup process by having a “clear and conspicuous button” for customers to diminution a Prime subscription. That means Amazon tin nary longer amusement customers a fastener that says, “No, I don’t privation Free Shipping” to diminution a Prime subscription.

Additionally, Amazon indispensable marque it easier for Prime members to cancel their subscription, utilizing the aforesaid steps they took to motion up. “The process cannot beryllium difficult, costly, oregon time-consuming,” The FTC says. The ecommerce elephantine is besides required to intelligibly picture Prime’s presumption and conditions during the enrollment process, including its cost, auto-renewal policies, and cancellation procedures.

“The grounds showed that Amazon utilized blase subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling successful Prime, and past made it exceedingly hard for consumers to extremity their subscription,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said successful a statement.

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