Amazon Sued Over Claims It Tricks Users Into Buying Prime Subscriptions That Are Hard to Cancel

An Amazon worker walks past his Amazon Prime delivery truck in Washington on Feb. 19, 2022. Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Amazon faces a new lawsuit over claims that it tricks users into signing up for Amazon Prime subscriptions and then uses an elaborate scheme to prevent them from unsubscribing.

“For years, Amazon and its leadership have knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in its Amazon Prime service,” reads the complaint, which was filed on Feb. 29 in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware by an investor, D.M. Cohen Inc.

The plaintiff is seeking internal documents from Amazon to investigate the matter of “nonconsensual enrollment” under rules that grant investors access to corporate records if they suspect wrongdoing.

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

It also accuses Amazon of devising a “labyrinthian” cancellation process—dubbed the “Iliad Flow”—that intentionally complicates the steps that Prime subscribers needed to take to end their Prime membership, which comes at a monthly charge of $14.99.

“As with Nonconsensual Enrollment, the Iliad Flow’s complexity resulted from Amazon’s use of deceptive language and ‘dark patterns’—manipulative design elements that trick users into making decisions they would not otherwise have made,” the complaint reads.

These “dark pattern” devices include “forced action” elements, which require users to perform certain actions; “roach motel” elements, which intentionally complicate a process through needless steps to dissuade consumers from an action; “sneaking,” or hiding or disguising relevant information; and “confirmshaming,” which is a design element that uses emotive wording to guilt users into picking a favored option.

Even though Amazon started some changes in 2021 to its “deceptive practices” in response to pressure from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which included some modifications to its Iliad cancellation process in April 2023, the problem persists, according to the complaint.

The e-commerce giant is involved in ongoing litigation with the FTC, which made similar allegations about the use of “dark patterns” and an overly complicated cancellation process.

Amazon has declined to comment on the case.

However, an Amazon spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement in response to the FTC’s lawsuit that the regulator’s allegations were “false” and that its process for joining or leaving Prime is “clear and simple.”

‘Cancellation Trickery’

The FTC sued Amazon, accusing the company of both “nonconsensual enrollment” and “cancellation trickery” with respect to its Prime subscriptions.

The consumer protection agency made the allegations in a complaint filed on June 21, 2023, at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The FTC claimed in its complaint that Amazon intentionally designed its process for unsubscribing from Prime to be so onerous that the company internally referred to it as the “Iliad,” an epic story about the long and grueling Trojan War that spans more than 24 books.

“Amazon designed the Iliad cancellation process (‘Iliad Flow’) to be labyrinthine,” the agency claimed while alleging that Amazon leadership “slowed or rejected user experience changes that would have made Iliad simpler for consumers because those changes adversely affected Amazon’s bottom line.”

In order to cancel Prime, consumers must move through multiple pages in which they’re faced with confusing options, with many selections taking customers out of the “Iliad Flow,” so that in order to unsubscribe, they would have to start the process all over again.

“On the eighth and final page, Amazon presented five buttons,” the FTC said in the complaint. “Only the fifth and final button (‘End Now’) immediately canceled the membership.”

“Amazon did not design the Iliad Flow to be simple or easy for consumers. The Iliad Flow inhibits or prevents many consumers who intend to cancel from canceling their membership.”

As with the elaborately complex process of canceling Prime subscriptions, the FTC stated that nonconsensual enrollment also relied on the use of deceptively designed “dark patterns,” tricking users into making decisions that they wouldn’t otherwise make.

The problem of enrolling customers in Prime without their consent was also well known at Amazon, according to the FTC’s complaint.

However, despite the issue being flagged for action internally, Amazon and its leadership “slowed, avoided, and even undid user experience changes that they knew would reduce nonconsensual enrollment because those changes would also negatively affect Amazon’s bottom line.”

The agency also accused Amazon of slow-rolling the process of handing over information requested by investigators.

An Amazon spokesperson disputed the allegations.

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times in response to an inquiry about the FTC’s lawsuit, the Amazon spokesperson said the agency’s claims were “false on the facts and the law.”

“The 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,” the spokesperson wrote.

“As 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.”