Arizona AG files lawsuit over ’deceptive’ Amazon Prime cancellation process

Amazon lawsuits overview: 

• Who: Arizona Attorney General Kristin K. Mayes filed a pair of lawsuits against Amazon.com.
• Why: Mayes claims that Amazon made canceling Prime an unnecessarily difficult process and unfairly favored some retailers over others, Mayes claimed.
• Where: The Amazon lawsuits were filed in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Arizona Attorney General Kristin K. Mayes filed a pair of lawsuits against Amazon.com claiming the company unfairly favored some retailers and unnecessarily made Amazon Prime cancellation difficult under policies that are no longer in effect.

Amazon referred to its complex Prime cancellation process as “Project Iliad” and used it to cut cancellations by 17% between its 2016 launch and 2017. The complex process was not changed until April 2023.

“This layered and confusing cancellation process relied on ‘dark patterns,’ i.e., methods of deception derived from behavioral psychology that exploit cognitive biases to influence and manipulate consumer choices,” the Amazon Prime cancellation lawsuit says.

The cancellation process included at least six steps, including offers for a lower price, warnings about losing discounts and benefits and triangles with warning notes and a series of confusing other options to choose from, the lawsuit says.

Lawsuit claims Amazon cancellation process violates Arizona anti-fraud law

Amazon’s alleged favoring of certain retailers violates the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, the lawsuit says.

Amazon chooses one product for the “Buy Box” after a customer search, giving the indication that option is the best option for a consumer. But that isn’t always true, the lawsuit claims —  the algorithm allegedly favors Amazon first-party retail offers or offers from third-party sellers who participate in Fulfillment By Amazon.

Nearly 98% of the purchases on Amazon come from the “Buy Box,” the lawsuit says.

“The result is that consumers routinely overpay for items that are available at lower prices from other sellers on Amazon – not because consumers don’t care about price, or because they’re making informed purchasing decisions, but because Amazon has chosen to display the offers for which it will earn the highest fees,” the Amazon lawsuit claims.

Another lawsuit alleging that Amazon.com intentionally makes it hard to cancel Amazon Prime memberships was filed in federal court in Washington in November 2022.

Have you had difficulty canceling an Amazon Prime subscription? Let us know in the comments.

The Amazon Prime cancellation lawsuits are State of Arizona, ex rel., Kristin K. Mayes, Attorney General v. Amazon.com Inc., Case Nos. unknown, in the Superior Court in the State of Arizona in and for the County of Maricopa.

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