- Nov 17, 2019
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NEW YORK -- Amazon was sued Wednesday by Federal Trade Commission for what it called a years-long effort to enroll consumers without consent into its Prime program and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. 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 the program. It said the option to purchase items on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was more difficult in many cases. It also said that consumers were sometimes presented with a button to complete their transactions — which didn't clearly state it would also enroll them into Prime.
Internally, Amazon called the process “Iliad," a reference to the ancient Greek poem about lengthy siege of Troy during the Trojan war.
Company leaders slowed or rejected changes that made canceling the subscription easier, the complaint said. It argued those patterns were in violation of the FTC Act and another law called the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.
abcnews.go.com
If you pay attention during checkout (which you always should on any site), it isn't difficult to check, uncheck or click your way through the maze of nags. I've caught myself a couple of times and had to go back and review.
In a complaint filed in the U.S. 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 the program. It said the option to purchase items on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was more difficult in many cases. It also said that consumers were sometimes presented with a button to complete their transactions — which didn't clearly state it would also enroll them into Prime.
Internally, Amazon called the process “Iliad," a reference to the ancient Greek poem about lengthy siege of Troy during the Trojan war.
Company leaders slowed or rejected changes that made canceling the subscription easier, the complaint said. It argued those patterns were in violation of the FTC Act and another law called the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.
Amazon is accused of enrolling consumers into Prime without consent and making it hard to cancel
The Federal Trade Commission is suing Amazon for what it calls a yearslong effort to enroll consumers without consent into Amazon Prime and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions
If you pay attention during checkout (which you always should on any site), it isn't difficult to check, uncheck or click your way through the maze of nags. I've caught myself a couple of times and had to go back and review.
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