{"id":1954365,"date":"2023-06-22T15:51:03","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T19:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ftc-sues-amazon-for-tricking-and-trapping-people-into-prime\/"},"modified":"2023-06-22T15:53:44","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T19:53:44","slug":"ftc-sues-amazon-for-tricking-and-trapping-people-into-prime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ftc-sues-amazon-for-tricking-and-trapping-people-into-prime\/","title":{"rendered":"FTC sues Amazon over deceptive Prime practices."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fftc-sues-amazon-for-tricking-and-trapping-people-into-prime%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1954365&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The FTC Takes Legal Action Against Amazon for Deceptive Practices<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Amazon for allegedly \u201ctricking and trapping\u201d customers into signing up for Amazon Prime and making it hard to cancel subscriptions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The FTC filed a federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/system\/files\/ftc_gov\/pdf\/amazon-rosca-public-redacted-complaint-to_be_filed.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complaint<\/a> Wednesday alleging that Amazon \u201cknowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The behemoth e-commerce company used \u201cmanipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs\u201d to trick consumers into signing up for automatically renewing Prime subscriptions, and then made the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-trade-commission-warns-of-sophisticated-dark-patterns-used-to-trick-consumers\/\" title=\"Federal Trade Commission Warns of Sophisticated \u201cDark Patterns\u201d Used to Trick Consumers\">cancellation process<\/a> unnecessarily long and complicated, the consumer protection agency alleged in its complaint.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money,\u201d FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/news-events\/news\/press-releases\/2023\/06\/ftc-takes-action-against-amazon-enrolling-consumers-amazon-prime-without-consent-sabotaging-their\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington, accuses Amazon of violating both the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers\u2019 Confidence Act.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon responded with a flat denial of wrongdoing, saying customers \u201clove\u201d their Prime subscriptions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe FTC\u2019s claims are false on the facts and the law,\u201d Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/06\/21\/ftc-lawsuit-amazon-prime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> in a statement. \u201cThe truth is that customers love Prime, and by design we make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up for or cancel their Prime membership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs with all our products and services, we continually listen to customer feedback and look for ways to improve the customer experience, and we look forward to the facts becoming clear as this case plays out,\u201d Doyle said.<\/p>\n<p>In one colorful detail, the FTC said Amazon named the Prime cancellation process the \u201cIliad,\u201d referring to \u201cHomer\u2019s epic about the long, arduous Trojan War.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmazon designed the Iliad cancellation process (\u2018Iliad Flow\u2019) to be labyrinthine,\u201d the FTC\u2019s complaint said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Amazon\u2019s leadership slowed or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ftc-sues-amazon-for-sabotaging-customer-attempts-to-quit-prime-service\/\" title=\"FTC sues Amazon over Prime service cancellation hurdles.\">rejected user experience<\/a> changes that would have simplified the cancellation process for Prime customers because the changes would have affected Amazon\u2019s bottom line, the complaint claims.<\/p>\n<p>Prime was launched in 2005 and now has more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-government-sues-amazon-alleges-company-tricked-and-trapped-customers\/\" title=\"US Government sues Amazon, claims customer deception.\">200 million members worldwide<\/a>. During the pandemic, Prime subscriptions <a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/amazon-prime-has-200-million-members-142910961.html?guccounter=1&#038;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnLw&#038;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKSoMSrcCJNwDxBqlbdAd4K8O3iTn_dBMLSx0zKw_9o8hHXnhnV5IcSPRUCmNQEyWdDeJSSNmRTFgkVuGRa4sKV8vsWy5hMnSjhjkNzoat0D5L1vj_oR9YDC9SZYbpMT9nTz2l6lJWtoPT4dg_TSBQjsZWUwo7vW-il3HoGPw6Ii\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">jumped<\/a> by 50 million in about a year.<\/p>\n<p>A Prime subscription offers Amazon customers perks, including one or two-day delivery, free delivery and returns, the Prime Video streaming service, and certain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-brief-history-of-book-burning-amazon-censorship-and-canceled-dr-seuss-are-simply-the-latest-high-tech-examples\/\" title=\"A Brief History Of Book Burning: Amazon Censorship And \u2018Canceled\u2019 Dr. Seuss Are Simply The Latest High-Tech Examples\">e-books<\/a>, video games, and grocery shopping services. Prime subscriptions cost $139 a year or $14.99 a month.<\/p>\n<p><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Amazon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/amazon-ftc-lawsuit-prime-subscriptions-consent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> that it made $9.6 billion from Prime subscriptions in just the first three months of this year, a 17% increase over that period last year.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint also accuses Amazon of repeatedly trying to delay the FTC\u2019s investigation by \u201cbad faith\u201d responses to requests for documents.<\/p>\n<p>The FTC\u2019s investigation into Amazon Prime began in March 2021.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time the FTC has targeted Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Amazon <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/federal-trade-commision-sues-amazon-prime-ftc-dark-patterns\/13410559\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">settled<\/a> with the FTC for $25 million after allegations it saved recordings of children\u2019s voices and their location data through its voice assistant Alexa. Also in May, Amazon agreed to pay another $5.8 million in customer refunds after the FTC accused the company of privacy violations involving its Ring doorbell cameras.<\/p>\n<p>The scrutiny comes as Amazon works to expand into new markets, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/amazon\/2023\/amazon-fulfillment-service-woos-grocery-sellers-away-walmart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">groceries<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2022\/08\/17\/how-amazons-continued-expansion-into-healthcare-could-buoy-the-sector\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">health care<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FTC is suing Amazon, accusing them of deceiving customers into signing up for Amazon Prime and making it difficult to cancel subscriptions. The federal complaint alleges that Amazon knowingly tricked millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Prime, using manipulative tactics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":1954366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1954365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1954365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1954366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1954365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1954365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1954365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}