FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime Enrollment and Termination Process

The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon.com Inc on Wednesday for intentionally duping millions of consumers into its Amazon Prime Service paid subscription without consent and sabotaging their attempts to cancel it.

In a complaint that was filed by the agency, it claims that Amazon violated the FTC Act by accusing Amazon of knowingly deceiving its consumers using “dark patterns,” to bluff consumers into enrolling in their automatically-renewing program. Dark patterns are deceptive design tactics meant to navigate users toward a specific choice.

FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement, “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money.” She further added, “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.”

Amazon spokesperson Heather Layman discarded the accusations by calling them false on the facts and the law. Contradicting the claims, Layman said that their customers love Prime, and we have made it quite clear and simple for them to sign up for or cancel their membership. We constantly pay attention to customer feedback and look for ways to enhance the customer experience, just like with all of our products and services. We anticipate the facts coming to light as the case progresses.

Incorporated in 2005, Prime has over 200 million members worldwide. While some members pay $139 a year, others ay $14.99 a month in order to obtain faster shipping and other perks such as free delivery, returns and the streaming service Prime Video.

Speaking of the company’s performance in the stock market, FTC’s accusations have shaken traders’ confidence as the company’s shares closed slightly lower on Wednesday.  Meanwhile, the FTC has been looking into Amazon’s Prime enrollment and termination procedures since March 2021. When the FTC demanded testimony from founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy regarding Amazon’s Prime policies, tensions between the two parties erupted. The FTC disagreed with Amazon’s claim that the request would be excessively burdensome.

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