FTC Sues Amazon For Tricking Consumers Into Signing Up For Prime

According to the latest reports, the Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon alleging that it has tricked millions of users into signing up for its Prime subscription service. FTC says that Amazon used deceptive user interface designs to trick users into signing up for Prime. Moreover, a few days back, a complaint was also filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. It took aim at Amazon Prime for allegedly attempting to keep users subscribed who desired to cancel their memberships.

A deceptive User Interface Was Used To Trick Users For Signing Up Into Amazon Prime

FTC complaint stated:

“Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as ‘dark patterns’ to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions.”

The point worth mentioning here is that Amazon topped 200 million paid Prime subscribers in 2021. With Prime, Amazon was able to generate billions in revenue from subscriptions and incentivize customers. Reports claim that the company intentionally made it much harder to cancel subscriptions as compared to enrolling in Prime. The company has been alleged to create a “labyrinthine” cancellation process planned to distract or prevent consumers from following through on their intent.

Amazon called the FTC’s claims false on the facts and the law. The company even stated that it did not receive notice before the complaint was filed. The company said:

“We also find it concerning that the FTC announced this lawsuit without any notice to us during our discussions with FTC staff members to confirm they understand the facts, context, and legal issues, and before we were able to have a dialog with the Commissioners themselves before they filed a lawsuit. While the absence of that normal course engagement is extremely disappointing, we look forward to proving our case in court.”

As a result of the complaint, Amazon took some measures in response to FTC pressure. It simplified users’ ability to cancel their Prime subscriptions. However, before that, the company denied customers to cancel their Prime subscriptions online. It would not be wrong to say that Wednesday’s complaint against Amazon is the first major lawsuit against the company by FTC. What will be the new strategy of the company to deal with these allegations? Let’s see what comes next. Stay tuned for more updates.

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