Check your email: Amazon is sending money to users involved in $2.5B settlement
If you're an Amazon shopper, you may want to check your email for a notification about receiving money from the retail-giant.
Amazon shoppers involved in a historic $2.5 billion deceptive business practice settlement brought against Amazon by the Federal Trade Commission have already begun receiving payments .
Payments will continue being dispersed from now through Dec. 24.
Under the settlement, eligible Amazon Prime members will receive a refund of their subscription fees up to a maximum of $51. The FTC urges customers to accept the funds within 15 days of receiving the email.
The refunds stem from a landmark lawsuit filed by the FTC charging that Amazon made it overly difficult for customers to unsubscribe from its Prime services.
The lawsuit claims Amazon enrolled millions of consumers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and knowingly made it difficult for consumers to cancel.
"Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money," said FTC 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.
As a result, the online retail giant is required to pay $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."
Current and former Amazon Prime members may now be entitled to a part of the settlement.
The lawsuit alleges that Amazon's practices violated the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act and is only the third ever ROSCA case that the FTC was able to obtain a civil penalty.
The settlement is the largest civil penalty ever obtained in a case involving an FTC rule violation.
The FTC estimates nearly 35 million customers were impacted by unwanted Prime enrollment or deferred cancellation.
Who qualifies?
To qualify for part of the settlement, you must:
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Have signed up for a Prime membership in the U.S. between June 23, 2019, and June 25, 2025.
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Have tried to cancel your subscription within that same time frame but did not follow through.
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Be a Prime member in the U.S. as the settlement was done through the FTC.
To know when you signed up for Prime, go to "memberships and subscriptions" and click on "payment history."
How to get your funds, if eligible
Some customers will automatically get a $51 payment within the next 90 days, including subscribers who signed up for Prime via the Prime decision page, the shipping option select page, single page checkout or Prime Video enrollment flow.
Customers may also qualify for automatic payment if they haven't used more than three Prime benefits in one fiscal year.
Amazon will email eligible users a link to accept their refunds via PayPal or Venmo, or mail a physical check to you if you do not accept the electronic refund.
You do not need to file a claim — only if you did not automatically get refunded. Customers who used more than three but only up to 10 benefits in a year may need to submit a claim next year when Amazon opens the claim process.
Don't get scammed
The FTC warns that it will never call or text customers asking for money to process your refund, and advises the public to beware of this scam tactic.
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