The FTC says Amazon tricked shoppers into subscribing by disguising Prime enrollment buttons|Tony Webster|CC BY 2.0
A federal trial this week in Amazon’s birthplace of Seattle will determine whether the ecommerce giant misled customers into enrolling in Prime and deliberately made cancellations difficult.
The case stems from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suing Amazon in 2023, alleging more than a decade of violations, including the 2010 Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.
The FTC says Amazon tricked shoppers into subscribing by disguising Prime enrollment buttons. It also created a cancellation system that forced users through three confirmation pages for unsubscribing.
Internal Amazon emails reportedly described the problem as an “unspoken cancer.”
Amazon denies wrongdoing, arguing its disclosures are clear and cancellation is a simple process.
However, US District Judge John Chun found last week that Amazon violated the 2010 law as it collected billing information before disclosing Prime’s terms.
Prime, which costs $14.99 monthly, has over 200 million members and brought in $12 billion in subscription revenue last quarter, up 12% year over year.
In recent times, Amazon donated $1 million to President Donald Trump’s January inauguration, it is streaming his hit show, The Apprentice, and producing a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.