Amazon to pay billions to Prime customers after allegedly ‘tricking’ them

The online retail giant Amazon was again in court this week with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accusing the company of manipulating its customers. More specifically, the judicial case has focused on tips designed to encourage users to eliminate privileged subscriptions and make it difficult for them to cancel, as indicated by various information sites.

According to the FTC, these tips include the fact that customers who have not yet subscribed to bonus can register “conveniently” with a bonus subscription with a single click at the end of a purchase. According to allegation, it is not correctly clear that a main subscription is deleted during the payment process.

Amazon stressed that this is not the case and that users also have the possibility of canceling their subscriptions at any time. However, instead of continuing the trial, Amazon accepted a regulation of $ 2.5 billion.

According to the court document (PDF), Amazon will pay the majority of the regulations to the main customers who have been misled in their subscriptions. They have to receive a total of $ 1.5 billion, the remaining $ 1 billion to the US government. As this is an American trial, it is likely that only customers in the United States will be paid.

Amazon eliminates privileged ambiguities

At the same time, Amazon also undertakes to make changes to its main subscription – or rather in its advertising. The instructions for the registration and cancellation of premium subscriptions will probably be modified to make them clearer with less ambiguity. In addition, during the payment process, customers will no longer be authorized to instantly eliminate a premium subscription in order to receive free delivery.

In addition, Amazon must provide the main existing customers with more detailed information over the duration of their valid subscriptions, when their subscriptions are renewed and what amounts will be invoiced during renewal. Users should not have to click on three pages to cancel their main subscriptions.

In a test thesis, Amazon said that “the frustrations and occasional errors of customers are inevitable, in particular for a program as popular as Amazon Prime”, but did not otherwise comment.