FTC Sues Amazon Over Deceptive Prime Subscriptions

I am a Prime Subscriber. I've had primarily excellent experiences with their services.

However, I strongly support good user interfaces. I have seen Amazon make things difficult and remove perks, so I support the lawsuit on behalf of clarity, transparency, and ease of use.

I hope the FTC wins and changes are made. I would support clearly stated modest penalties on those users who try to game the system and turn Prime on and off, say for the winter holidays.

Lawsuits are pretty much the only way to keep corporations in line.  We can rarely get Federal Agencies to bring them to heel with strong rules and regulations. They are more likely to be effective if the Department of Justice files them.  But they have been loathe to bring many lawsuits.  Individual customers generally don't have the money or the power to make corporations mend their ways.  Even larger groups of customers are mostly ignored by corporate heads.  

Greed is NOT good...

I have been with Amazon on the auto-renewal for several years it is not the best but passable. I know several people who use the free Prime deal for 30 days or more yearly and then drop it with no problem. Amazon takes the hit for this regularly.

I've had Prime for years and have never tried to cancel. However, I can say with certainty that they are not the only company that makes it challenging, if not impossible to cancel a subscription/services. 

I think there should be clarity about any subscription or service that is renewed or charged automatically. Notice should be given by the company before charges are made. And, cancellation should be clear and easy for customers. 

This is bigger than Amazon. 

I'm sick of Amazon, I'm sick of Elon Musk 

I have never had a problem, canceling a subscription on Amazon.

I cancelled my membership after 7 years because they have been automatically charging my prime card for every membership they have. I only agreed to the prime membership at reduced price I proved I was low income. But they still charged full price. Then when I cancelled they automatically recharged every card I had on my account and reinstated without permission!

Amazon went down the line of credit/debit cards on her Amazon account to charge her prime membership which she canceled and they didn’t have any authorization to use any other card for membership! Deceitful & sneaky! Not a good description for such a massive company…

oversite is needed.

I googled for instructions for canceling Amazon Prime and found this. I did not try it. it does seem convoluted. 

A full step-by-step guide of how to cancel Amazon Prime
1. Log into your Amazon Prime account.

2. Click on 'Accounts & Lists' and then 'Prime Membership'.

3. Click on the 'Manage Membership'.

4. Click on 'End Membership'.

5. On a new page, click on 'Cancel My Benefits'.

6. If you are asked multiple times whether or not you want to cancel your account, click 'Continue to cancel' to move on.

7. Click on 'Cancel your Prime Membership'.

The lawsuits are fair. Amazon's greed is not.

I hate that I have to purchase stuff from Amazon. They are a terrible employer and now this lawsuit. Amazon makes huge amounts of money. Why must they treat employees and customers so cavalierly? Sue 'em. 

They need to go after almost all subscription services for this crap, honestly.

Whether it is Amazon or any other large American company, they must be held accountable for using deception on the public.  Just as Wells Fargo got busted for creating fake accounts that people didn't want or the rise in added on fees by hotels and restuarants companies and corporations need to be held accountable.  These practices are not okay.

Yes

Yes, they are more than fair.

I would vote maybe.  I'm an avid Prime User and watch movies from Prime +.  I'm pleased.  I'm sure many of the commentators were not "tricked" into it. I don't think I was.  

However, if a lot of people were actually tricked into signing up, then I guess the issue needs to be visited and Amazon then should be crystal clear.  

No - read the instructions. 

You all should be kicking out illegals, closing the borders and prosecuting Biden, Garland and Myorkas. 

How about maybe baby.... Another push poll by causes to get the response they want. People aren't stupid. They can read? It's always buyer beware 

Amazon must be held accountable for their practices, whether in taxes, labor protections, or consumer abuses. 

I'm glad the FTC is taking this seriously; it's time to hold big tech firms such as Amazon and Meta accountable. 

I am a Prime subscriber, and don't currently intend to cancel, but I feel like if you want to cancel it should be easy and accessible.