Amazon Settlement Overview
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused Amazon of enrolling customers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and making it unnecessarily difficult to cancel. As part of a $2.5 billion settlement, Amazon and the FTC addressed claims that Amazon "knowingly misled millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime."
Settlement Details
- $1.5 billion is reserved for payments to approximately 35 million affected consumers.
- $1 billion is a civil penalty, the largest ever in an FTC rule violation case.
- The eligible period for Prime sign-ups is from June 23, 2019, to June 23, 2025.
Eligibility and Payment Distribution
Prime users who enrolled during the specified period may be entitled to a payment. The settlement divides eligible users into two groups:
- The first group will receive payments automatically if they signed up through a “challenged enrollment flow” and have used no more than three Prime benefits.
The FTC stated Amazon was “knowingly misleading millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime.”
Amazon’s Position
Amazon agreed to the settlement but did not admit any wrongdoing related to the allegations.
How to Claim Your Share
Details on claiming payments for the second group of eligible users will be provided separately by the FTC.
Summary: Amazon settled with the FTC over unauthorized Prime enrollments, allocating $1.5 billion to compensate affected users while paying a historic $1 billion civil penalty.