Amazon was hunted down by the FTC for its practices surrounding its Amazon Prime subscriptions. The FTC claimed that although Amazon made it easy for customers to sign up with its subscription service, it did not make it so easy to cancel, stating that the company made use of manipulative “dark patterns”.
Although the company did not admit any wrongdoing, it ultimately agreed to settle on a $2.5 billion settlement with the FTC. Of that, $1 billion flows to the government, while the other $1.5 billion will be offered as consumer relief to those affected in the form of refunds. Affected customers will receive up to $51 in compensation (to be issued by December 25th, 2025).
How do you know if you qualify? A few things determine this. You qualify if you signed up for Prime between June 23rd, 2019, and June 23rd, 2025, through one of the “challenged enrollment flow”, such as the shipping options page during checkout (or you attempted to cancel between these dates and were unable to). In addition, if you only made use of the Prime membership three times or fewer (additional rounds of refunds will/may apply later on for those who used it more) in any 12-month period following Amazon Prime enrollment, this should qualify you for the highest refund (with the max being “up to” $51).
Notifications should be sent out to qualified customers who meet the requirements for a refund. Make sure to keep up with the information, and of course, beware of any suspicious or fake emails from wrongdoers who might be looking to take advantage of recent events in the news, such as this. The FTC will not personally reach out to anyone, and all refunds should be automatic. For more information, you can visit the FTC’s dedicated page regarding this settlement.
