Amazon will refund millions with $2.5 billion in prime payment
Amazon will refund millions after resolving an FTC lawsuit over Prime subscription and cancellation issues.
Some Amazon customers will be able to acquire cash from retail giants as part of a $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
On September 25th, the FTC announced that it had secured a “historical” order to resolve the antitrust laws brought against Amazon in 2023. The lawsuit alleged that Amazon manipulated millions of consumers into prime subscriptions, making cancellations extremely difficult.
Under the settlement agreement, Amazon did not admit any fraudulent activities, but agreed to make some changes to its website. In a statement, the company said it was “always following the law.”
“We are working very hard to make it clear and simple that our customers sign up or cancel key memberships and provide significant value to millions of loyal key members around the world,” the statement added. “We continue to do so and look forward to what we have to offer to Prime members over the next few years.”
Here are some things you need to know about getting paid from the settlement:
Who is eligible for payments in the Amazon FTC Settlement?
According to a court order, Amazon customers who sign up for Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025 are eligible for payment for the settlement.
Customers are eligible for a settlement only if they no longer wish to cancel their Prime subscription or sign up for Prime through a document called the “challenged registration flow.”
A so-called “challenge” flow means a subscription signed up on a specific page on an Amazon website, such as a “universal prime decision page, delivery option selection page, prime video registration flow, or single page checkout” in response to a court order.
Do I need to file a request for an Amazon FTC settlement?
According to court orders, there are two stages of the Amazon settlement.
- Auto-payment: The first wave of payments will be distributed through automated payments over the next 90 days. Only eligible Amazon customers who have used the benefits of less than three times over a 12-month registration period will receive automatic payments. This group of customers does not need to file a claim to receive payment. It is unclear exactly how these payments will be issued.
- File your claim: Under the second wave, customers must submit a claim to receive payments. Claimants are eligible for this group if they use Prime Merits of less than 10 times over a 12-month registration period. Within 30 days of completing your automatic payment, Amazon must submit a billing form to qualified customers. It will then take 180 days to submit the form.
How much money can eligible customers earn from Amazon Settlement?
Customers who are eligible for cash as part of the settlement will be paid up to $51 each in either wave of payments, the court order said.
The amounts obtained by each customer are based on the total amount of Amazon Prime membership fees paid during the term of the subscription.
Melina Kahn is a national trending reporter for USA Today. She can be contacted at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
Contributors: Mary Walrath Holdridge, Jessica Ginn, Bailey Schultz, USA Today
