Amazon has been accused by the US of misleading people into signing up for Prime subscriptions that automatically renew and making it tough to cancel.
The allegations were made in a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer rights watchdog.
Over 200 million people worldwide have Amazon Prime subscriptions, which come with free shipping, access to streaming media, and other benefits.
Amazon did not respond right away.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Seattle, and according to FTC Chair Lina Khan, “Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money.”
According to the FTC, Amazon employed website layouts that pressured users to sign up for Prime and have their subscriptions renew automatically when they made purchases.
The FTC claims that Amazon made it challenging for users to opt out of auto-enrolment because “those changes would also negatively affect Amazon’s bottom line”.
The FTC said that the corporation subjected consumers who wanted to cancel to a lengthy “four-page, six-click, fifteen option” process that was internally referred to as “Iliad” in honor of the Greek classic about the “long, arduous Trojan War”.
