Eligible Prime members will get instructions straight from Amazon via email or in their account. Be sure to accept the refund within 15 days of receiving the notification.
The Federal Trade Commission reached a record $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon and executives Neil Lindsay and Jamil Ghani, resolving allegations that the company tricked millions into Prime subscriptions and made cancellations unnecessarily difficult.
Settlement details:
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$1B civil penalty — the largest ever for an FTC rule violation.
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$1.5B in refunds — compensating ~35M affected consumers.
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Amazon must end deceptive enrollment and cancellation practices.
Required changes:
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Clear, visible option to decline Prime (no more “No, I don’t want free shipping” traps).
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Upfront disclosure of Prime’s cost, auto-renewal, billing, and cancellation terms.
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Simple, streamlined cancellation using the same method as sign-up.
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Oversight by an independent third-party to ensure compliance.
FTC Chair Andrew N. Ferguson called it a “monumental win” against subscription traps that “cheat ordinary Americans out of their hard-earned pay.”
Amazon has 90 days to issue $51 payments to eligible customers who were misled into Prime sign-ups. To qualify, users must meet specific criteria—such as having used 10 or fewer Prime benefits within any 12-month period of their subscription.
They will also notify additional customers that they may file a claim if they believe they were unintentionally enrolled in Prime or persuaded to stay by cancellation offers.
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