The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken legal action against Amazon, alleging that the company engaged in a lengthy campaign to enroll consumers in its Prime program without their consent and made it challenging for them to cancel their subscriptions.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the FTC accused Amazon of using deceptive tactics, referred to as “dark patterns,” to mislead consumers into joining the program. The FTC claimed that the option to make purchases on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was intentionally made more difficult in many instances. Additionally, consumers were sometimes presented with a button to finalize their transactions, without clear indication that it would also enroll them in Prime.
The regulatory agency, under the leadership of Chair Lina Khan, a prominent critic of Big Tech, further alleged that Amazon’s management deliberately impeded or rejected changes aimed at simplifying the cancellation process for subscriptions.
The FTC asserted that these patterns of behavior violated the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.
Prime, launched in 2005, boasts over 200 million members worldwide who pay $139 annually or $14.99 monthly for expedited shipping and other benefits like free delivery and returns.
In its announcement of the lawsuit, the FTC stated that although the complaint was significantly redacted, it contained substantial evidence to support its accusations against Amazon.
Furthermore, the agency accused the company of attempting to obstruct its investigation into Prime, which commenced in 2021, on multiple occasions.
Chair Lina Khan commented in a statement, “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money. These manipulative tactics harm consumers and law-abiding businesses alike.”
Amazon has not yet responded to the request for comment.
In recent years, Amazon has faced increased regulatory scrutiny due to its expanding e-commerce dominance and ventures into various sectors, including groceries and healthcare.
Earlier this year, Amazon unsuccessfully requested that Chair Lina Khan recuse herself from separate antitrust investigations involving the company, arguing that her prior public criticism of Amazon’s market power made it impossible for her to be impartial. Khan gained prominence in the antitrust field with her extensive scholarly work, “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” while she was a law student at Yale.
This lawsuit comes shortly after another victory for the FTC in a case involving Amazon. Just a few weeks ago, Amazon agreed to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle allegations of violating a child privacy law by storing children’s voice and location data recorded by its popular voice assistant, Alexa. Additionally, the company agreed to provide $5.8 million in customer refunds for alleged privacy violations related to its doorbell camera, Ring.
{Matzav.com}
I was a victim of this Prime theft and thankfully was reimbursed.