Amazon accused of enroling consumers into Prime without consent and making it hard to cancel

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon was sued Wednesday by the Federal Trade Commission for allegedly engaging in a yearslong effort to enrol consumers without consent into Amazon Prime and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions.

In a complaint filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, the agency accused Amazon of using deceptive designs, known as “dark patterns,” to deceive consumers into enrolling in Prime, which provides subscribers with perks such as faster shipping for a fee of $139 annually, or $14.99 a month.

The FTC said Amazon made it difficult for customers to purchase an item without also subscribing to Prime.

In some cases, consumers were presented with a button to complete their transactions — which didn't clearly state it would also enrol them in Prime.

Getting out of a subscription was often too complicated, and Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would have made cancelling easier, the complaint said.

Internally, Amazon called the process “Iliad,” a reference to the ancient Greek poem about the lengthy siege of Troy during the Trojan War.

The FTC argued that Amazon's practises violated the FTC Act and another law called the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act.

Launched in 2005, Prime has more than 200 million members worldwide who are entitled to perks such as free delivery, returns and the streaming service Prime Video. 

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