Amazon accused of tricking Prime customers

The US has accused Amazon of tricking customers into signing up for automatically renewing Prime subscriptions and making it hard to cancel.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the country's user rights watchdog, made the claims successful a lawsuit.

More than 200 cardinal radical globally subscribe to Prime, a subscription to Amazon that offers shipping perks, entree to streaming movies and more.

Amazon did not remark immediately.

"Amazon tricked and trapped radical into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not lone frustrating users but besides costing them important money," FTC Chair Lina Khan said announcing the suit, which was filed successful national tribunal successful Seattle.

The FTC said Amazon utilized website designs that pushed customers into agreeing to enrol successful Prime and person the subscription automatically renew arsenic they were making purchases.

According to the FTC, Amazon attempted to marque it hard for users to opt retired of auto-enrolment due to the fact that "those changes would besides negatively impact Amazon's bottommost line".

The institution besides allegedly enactment customers seeking to cancel done a cumbersome "four-page, six-click, 15 option" process, which the FTC said was known internally arsenic "Iliad" successful a motion to the Greek epic astir the "long, arduous Trojan War".

The FTC said the company's tactics broke laws aimed astatine protecting shoppers.

Amazon altered the cancellation process soon earlier the suit was filed, the bureau added.

It is seeking a tribunal bid to unit Amazon to alteration its practices, arsenic good arsenic fiscal penalties successful an unspecified amount.

Prime costs $139 a twelvemonth oregon $14.99 monthly successful the US and £95 per twelvemonth successful the UK.

About 70% of subscribers are based successful the US, according to the FTC.

The FTC has repeatedly warned online firms against utilizing "dark patterns" to manipulate shoppers.

It had been investigating Amazon's Prime programme since 2021.

It said the institution had attempted to hold the probe connected aggregate occasions, including by refusing to present documents successful a timely manner.

The suit marks the 3rd enactment from the FTC involving Amazon successful caller weeks.

The institution agreed to wage $25m past period to settee charges it had interruption kid privateness laws by keeping recordings children made connected Alexa.

It agreed to wage different $5.8m to resoluteness claims that Ring, the doorbell institution Amazon purchased successful 2018, had violated privateness protections by giving unit unrestricted entree to lawsuit videos and failing to instrumentality precautions against hackers.