FTC has secured a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon. FTC alleged that Amazon used deceptive practices to sign up users for Prime and made it exceedingly difficult to cancel. The settlement is in the form of:
- $1.5 billion for consumers in the form of refunds
- $1 billion civil penalty
They will also be required to cease unlawful enrollment and cancellation policies. The $1.5 billion in refunds for consumers will be capped at $51 per consumer.
Contents
Who’s Eligible?
If you signed up for or tried to cancel your prime membership between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025 you are eligible. To see when you signed up you can go to Memberships and Subscriptions and then Payment history.
How Much Will I Receive?
The $1.5 billion in refunds for consumers will be capped at $51 per consumer. This does not mean you will get $51, but a share of the total $1.5 billion capped at $51 per consumer.
When Will I Receive My Refund?
Amazon is planning to send out the refund in two waves.
- Wave one: This is for users that signed up for Amazon prime via a “challenged enrollment flow” and haven’t used more than three prime benefits. These refunds will go out within 90 days. This wave will automatically get the full $51 and these users do not have to submit a claim.
- Wave two: Within 30 days of finishing the payments for wave two, Amazon will send out a group email with a link to a settlement website where other affected users can file a claim. This wave is for those who were unable to cancel their memberships or who signed up via a challenged enrollment flow but used less than 10 prime benefits.
What Is A Challenged Enrollment Flow?
- any version of the Universal Prime Decision Page, the Shipping Option Select Page, Prime Video enrollment flow or the Single Page Checkout
Our Verdict
I suspect most readers will not be eligible for the automatic refund due to using too many Prime benefits. We will repost once the settlement website goes live so people can submit manual claims if they are eligible.
