Amazon to refund $2.5 billion in Prime settlement
Amazon plans to refund millions of dollars after settling an FTC lawsuit over Prime membership and cancellation issues.
Amazon will issue refunds to eligible Prime customers after a settlement the Federal Trade Commission called “historic.”
The retail giant agreed to the settlement to resolve a 2023 antitrust lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission in which federal authorities alleged that Amazon forced millions of consumers to sign up for Prime memberships, making it extremely difficult to cancel them.
In a statement after announcing the settlement on September 25, Amazon said it had “always followed the law” and “worked incredibly hard to make it clear and easy for customers to both sign up for and cancel their Prime membership.” As part of the settlement, Amazon agreed to make several changes to its website.
The amount each customer will receive from the $2.5 billion settlement is based on the total amount of Amazon Prime membership fees paid during the subscription period. However, according to the court order, that amount will be capped at $51 per customer.
Here’s what you need to know about Amazon Prime payments.
Do I need to file a claim in the Amazon settlement?
At first it wasn’t.
Automatic payments will be sent to Amazon customers who have redeemed their Prime benefits three or fewer times during a 12-month enrollment period. Customers eligible for automatic payments will receive them by December 24th.
Amazon previously confirmed to USA TODAY that eligible customers will receive monetary compensation, rather than Amazon credits or gift cards. Payments are processed by a third-party billing administrator.
Third-party billing administrators will send information on how to bill users who do not qualify for automatic payments by January 23, 2026. Eligible claimants must submit forms by July 23, 2026.
Who is eligible to receive payments from Amazon Payments?
According to the court order, Amazon customers must be enrolled in Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025 to be eligible for settlement payments.
Customers are only eligible to receive payments if they unsuccessfully try to cancel their Prime subscription, or if they sign up for Prime through what the documents refer to as an “enrollment claims flow.”
A “dispute” flow means a subscription initiated through a specific page on the Amazon website, such as the “universal Prime decision page, shipping option selection page, Prime Video registration flow, or single-page checkout,” according to the court order.
