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

"Amazon has agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle a lawsuit 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 will pay a $1 billion civil penalty, along with $1.5 billion that it will pay back to an estimated 35 million customers impacted by the company's "deceptive" sign-up process."

"Now, the FTC will require Amazon to change its Prime signup process by having a "clear and conspicuous button" for customers to decline a Prime subscription. That means Amazon can no longer show customers a button that says, "No, I don't want Free Shipping" to decline a Prime subscription."

"The FTC originally filed its lawsuit against Amazon in 2023, accusing it of using "dark patterns" to deceive people into signing up for Prime. The agency also alleged that Amazon made it "exceedingly difficult" for customers to cancel their Prime memberships by having them go through unnecessary steps."

""The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made it exceedingly hard for consumers to end their subscription," FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement."

Amazon agreed to pay $2.5 billion to resolve an FTC lawsuit alleging deceptive Prime enrollment and cancellation practices. The settlement includes a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds to about 35 million affected customers. Amazon must stop unlawful enrollment and cancellation methods and implement a clear and conspicuous opt-out button so customers can decline Prime enrollment. The settlement prevents showing misleading decline options such as a "No, I don't want Free Shipping" button. The FTC alleged Amazon used dark patterns and made cancellations exceedingly difficult by requiring unnecessary steps. A scheduled Seattle jury trial was cut short by the settlement.

Read at The Verge