Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle U.S. lawsuit that it 'tricked' people into Prime

[Peacenik]

Still hate the government?

Still think corporations are great?

Here's what one of the biggest did to you:

"Amazon has agreed to pay a historic $2.5 billion to settle a landmark case over its Prime membership program. The U.S. government had alleged the company's web designs manipulated tens of millions of people into paying for subscriptions that were purposefully hard to cancel.

Amazon, without admitting wrongdoing, will pay $1 billion in civil penalties to the government and another $1.5 billion in payments to affected consumers, according to court documents. The company, in its statement, said it and its executives "have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers.""

Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle U.S. lawsuit that it 'tricked' people into Prime​

Deceptive coercion and purposely difficult possibilities to cancel.

It was illegal. They are being forced by the government to stop ripping people off.

Big corporations - 0

Big government - +1

 

[Peter]

This is exactly why libatarian systems are such a terrible idea.

Companies without strong oversight will take the absolute piss and rip you off whenever they can.

 

[Peacenik]

Amazon is not admitting in words that they did wrong. They are instead paying billions because they did wrong. That is an admission in actions if not words.

Subscribers pay $15 a month for "free" shipping whether they order something or not. And good luck trying to cancel.

 

[VySky]

Interesting. What kind of hoops did they make customers jump through to cancel?

 

[pedex]

This is exactly why libatarian systems are such a terrible idea.

Companies without strong oversight will take the absolute piss and rip you off whenever they can.

Court systems and laws don't exists in all libertarian governments?

 

[Cope]

Amazon is not admitting in words that they did wrong. They are instead paying billions because they did wrong. That is an admission in actions if not words.

Subscribers pay $15 a month for "free" shipping whether they order something or not. And good luck trying to cancel.

And also get a streaming service.

I've never tried to cancel though, so I do wonder about that.

 

[Peacenik]

"The federal lawsuit accused Amazon of illegally using "manipulative, coercive, or deceptive" designs to "trick" shoppers into enrolling in auto-renewing Prime subscriptions, which currently cost $139 a year or $14.99 a month. Regulators also alleged that Amazon purposefully built a convoluted, multi-step cancellation process to discourage people from quitting — and repeatedly backtracked on plans to simplify the process as this led to fewer subscribers."

The purposely made it difficult to cancel.

Imagine a struggling budget, trying to make it on a limited income, having difficulty paying for things and keeping up. Then they try to cancel Prime, but they can't do it. It keeps reinstating itself and taking the "free shipping" money out of their bank accounts even if they can no longer afford to order anything.

 

[Peacenik]

No wonder Bezos is so rich.

 

[Peacenik]

"Amazon still faces another, bigger federal lawsuit, in which the FTC has accused the company of functioning as a monopoly. The tech giant has described it as "wrong on the facts and on the law." That trial is expected in early 2027, in front of the same judge, John Chun of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington."

 

[The AntiDonald]

And also get a streaming service.

I've never tried to cancel though, so I do wonder about that.

Same. And I order alot of stuff from Amazon all the time. The shipping savings alone make up for my annual prime membership.

 

[The AntiDonald]

"The federal lawsuit accused Amazon of illegally using "manipulative, coercive, or deceptive" designs to "trick" shoppers into enrolling in auto-renewing Prime subscriptions, which currently cost $139 a year or $14.99 a month. Regulators also alleged that Amazon purposefully built a convoluted, multi-step cancellation process to discourage people from quitting — and repeatedly backtracked on plans to simplify the process as this led to fewer subscribers."

The purposely made it difficult to cancel.

Imagine a struggling budget, trying to make it on a limited income, having difficulty paying for things and keeping up. Then they try to cancel Prime, but they can't do it. It keeps reinstating itself and taking the "free shipping" money out of their bank accounts even if they can no longer afford to order anything.

If it gets that bad, cancel the credit card and get a new one. You have to use a credit card if you want auto renew.
How hard is that?

 

[The AntiDonald]

"Amazon still faces another, bigger federal lawsuit, in which the FTC has accused the company of functioning as a monopoly. The tech giant has described it as "wrong on the facts and on the law." That trial is expected in early 2027, in front of the same judge, John Chun of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington."

Our courts are unbelievably slow !

 

[Peter]

Court systems and laws don't exists in all libertarian governments?

The whole point is that government and legal systems are as minimalistic as possible.
They are against holding companies accountable and that the consumer will always make the best choices.

 

[Peacenik]

If it gets that bad, cancel the credit card and get a new one. You have to use a credit card if you want auto renew.
How hard is that?

How does one 'cancel' a credit card with an unpaid balance?

And doesn't Prime allow people to sign up using a debit card?

(For those wise people who have to ask - and were never an Amazon customer - Those who object to the 'terms and conditions' because they actually try to read those things. Most people do not read them because they are so difficult to read. It's a link with dozens of pages of legalese with embedded links to more pages of legalese, making it extremely difficult to even read everything one is agreeing to when they check the box. That's too deceptive, so some wise people disagree. They simply do not sign legal documents they cannot understand, so they never sign up for things like Amazon.)

 

[Peacenik]

Our courts are unbelievably slow !

Amazon has the kind of lawyers Trump uses. Imagine that. A trial is already stalled all they way out to 2027 because billionaires are involved. If it was a working person justice would be swift.

 

[The AntiDonald]

How does one 'cancel' a credit card with an unpaid balance?

And doesn't Prime allow people to sign up using a debit card?

(For those wise people who have to ask - and were never an Amazon customer - Those who object to the 'terms and conditions' because they actually try to read those things. Most people do not read them because they are so difficult to read. It's a link with dozens of pages of legalese with embedded links to more pages of legalese, making it extremely difficult to even read everything one is agreeing to when they check the box. That's too deceptive, so some wise people disagree. They simply do not sign legal documents they cannot understand, so they never sign up for things like Amazon.)

You can tell them it was stolen. Debit or credit, you get a new one.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Interesting. What kind of hoops did they make customers jump through to cancel?

None at all.

Amazon does what so many subscription services do - automatic renewal with no notification of price increases.

Cancelling is beyond simple - just go to account settings. What is deceptive is that consumers think they are still paying $99 a year like they did when they signed up - when in fact Amazon has nearly doubled the price.

 

[pedex]

The whole point is that government and legal systems are as minimalistic as possible.
They are against holding companies accountable and that the consumer will always make the best choices.

Size has little to do with priorities. We've had antitrust laws since like 1934 that are barely used.

 

[VySky]

Amazon does what so many subscription services do - automatic renewal with no notification of price increases.

I never noticed, do they offer the option when signing up to opt out of auto renewal? I've needed to pay careful attention when subscribing to different services as auto is usually checked.

 

[bomberfox]

"The federal lawsuit accused Amazon of illegally using "manipulative, coercive, or deceptive" designs to "trick" shoppers into enrolling in auto-renewing Prime subscriptions, which currently cost $139 a year or $14.99 a month. Regulators also alleged that Amazon purposefully built a convoluted, multi-step cancellation process to discourage people from quitting — and repeatedly backtracked on plans to simplify the process as this led to fewer subscribers."

The purposely made it difficult to cancel.

Imagine a struggling budget, trying to make it on a limited income, having difficulty paying for things and keeping up. Then they try to cancel Prime, but they can't do it. It keeps reinstating itself and taking the "free shipping" money out of their bank accounts even if they can no longer afford to order anything.

Yeah several companies did that before. This shit needs to really hurt the people who put this in place.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I never noticed, do they offer the option when signing up to opt out of auto renewal? I've needed to pay careful attention when subscribing to different services as auto is usually checked.

Most people view Prime as a decent value. If you order a lot the free shipping more than pays for it. The one that irks me is Sirius who literally quadruple prices every year - hoping you won't notice. Unless you call and threaten to cancel - they Siriusly gouge you.

 

[gbg3]

I have complained to my husband about Amazon's tactics for a long time. I order from them fairly often - probably placing an order about 6 times a year. I think it is very deceptive how they have that tiny little "no thanks" (or something like that because I'm not looking at the website right now) to Prime button which is very easy to miss, and if you miss it and you also don't choose the second (slower) free shipping option, you are automatically enrolled in Prime. I think it's an obvious trick/tactic which likely captures many a busy person who isn't paying close attention.

 

[snakestretcher]

Amazon is not admitting in words that they did wrong. They are instead paying billions because they did wrong. That is an admission in actions if not words.

Subscribers pay $15 a month for "free" shipping whether they order something or not. And good luck trying to cancel.

It's actually really simple to cancel Prime. Took me all of ten seconds to find this:

End Your Amazon Prime Membership - Amazon Customer Service

It's easy to end your Amazon Prime membership, or cancel your free trial.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Peacenik]

It's actually really simple to cancel Prime. Took me all of ten seconds to find this:

End Your Amazon Prime Membership - Amazon Customer Service

It's easy to end your Amazon Prime membership, or cancel your free trial.

www.amazon.co.uk

That's in the UK.

 

[madman]

Still hate the government?

Still think corporations are great?

Here's what one of the biggest did to you:

"Amazon has agreed to pay a historic $2.5 billion to settle a landmark case over its Prime membership program. The U.S. government had alleged the company's web designs manipulated tens of millions of people into paying for subscriptions that were purposefully hard to cancel.

Amazon, without admitting wrongdoing, will pay $1 billion in civil penalties to the government and another $1.5 billion in payments to affected consumers, according to court documents. The company, in its statement, said it and its executives "have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers.""

Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle U.S. lawsuit that it 'tricked' people into Prime​

Deceptive coercion and purposely difficult possibilities to cancel.

It was illegal. They are being forced by the government to stop ripping people off.

Big corporations - 0

Big government - +1

this is what happens when you have big gov REGULATION!!!!!!


ohhh, you only like the regulation that you like. ahhh, i seee


not directed at you , Peacenik