Amazon Prime members will soon receive money from ‘historic’ $2.5B settlement
Current and former Amazon Prime members will be a part of what the Federal Trade Commission is calling a “historic” $2.5 billion settlement.
The lawsuit claims Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and knowingly made it difficult for consumers to cancel.
As a result, the online retail giant is required to pay a $1 billion civil penalty as well as an additional $1.5 billion in refunds to customers who were “harmed by their deceptive Prime enrollment practices.”
Amazon is also required to discontinue “their deceptive Prime enrollment practices,” and “unlawful enrollment and cancellation practices for Prime.”
The lawsuit states that Amazon’s practices violated the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.
In a Sept. 25 statement , Amazon said that its company and “executive have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers. We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world. We will continue to do so, and look forward to what we’ll deliver for Prime members in the coming years.”
Who qualifies and how to file a claim
According to the Federal Trade Commission , customers will automatically receive a $51 payment if they are a U.S. Amazon Prime member who meets two main criteria.
First, they must have been unintentionally enrolled or hindered from canceling their membership between June 23, 2019 and June 23 of this year — meaning they either signed up through a “challenged enrollment flow” like a specific checkout or Prime Video page, or they tried to cancel their subscription but were unsuccessful.
Additionally, the customer must have been a low user, meaning they used no more than three Amazon Prime benefits including Prime Music or Prime Video products offered for free to Prime subscribers in any 12-month period following Amazon Prime enrollment.
Qualifying customers will receive automatic payments by Dec. 25, the commission said. The maximum payment is $51.
Users can check their Prime signup status by going to “memberships and subscriptions” and click on “payment history.”
The form to file for a settlement will become available to Prime customers in 2026, the commission said.
Once it is available, users will have 180 days to file.
According to the commission, links to the settlement website will be available on Amazon’s website and the Amazon Prime page.
Amazon will review the claims within 30 days to determine who qualifies for the program.
“Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,” said Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan. “These manipulative tactics harm consumers and law-abiding businesses alike. The FTC will continue to vigorously protect Americans from ‘dark patterns’ and other unfair or deceptive practices in digital markets.”
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