Amazon settlement overview:
- Who: Amazon.com Inc. agreed to pay $309 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed by consumers.
- Why: Consumers alleged Amazon shortchanged them on refunds for returned items.
- Where: The Amazon class action lawsuit was filed in Washington federal court.
- How to Make a Claim: Details on how to file a claim were not immediately available. Sign up for our free newsletter to receive claim-filing instructions once they’re available, and check out what settlements are paying out this month.
Amazon.com has agreed to pay $309 million, in addition to approximately $570 million already issued to customers, to resolve a class action lawsuit alleging the e-commerce giant shortchanged customers on refunds for returned items.
Amazon, which denies the allegations of wrongdoing, has issued about $570 million in unpaid refunds as of Dec. 1 and agreed to pay $309 million into a settlement fund for millions of customers who claim they tried to return products but were improperly denied refunds.
A motion seeking preliminary approval of the Amazon class action settlement was filed on Jan. 23 in Washington federal court.
As part of the proposed agreement, Amazon will also implement changes to its return and refund practices, including regular monitoring to make sure returns are processed within the company’s return policy timelines and providing clearer notifications to customers when refunds are approved or denied, the motion says.
Amazon return policy settlement provides more than $1B in benefits to consumers
The proposed Amazon class action settlement would benefit anyone who initiated the return of a physical product bought through Amazon from Sept. 5, 2017, to the time class data is prepared and who either did not receive a refund, received an incorrect refund or were later improperly charged after a refund was issued, according to the agreement.
“After years of litigation and months of negotiation, the parties have agreed to a resolution of plaintiffs’ claims concerning Amazon’s return policy and refund practices, providing in excess of $1 billion of benefits for the class,” the motion says.
The monetary relief from the Amazon class action settlement will likely represent a full recovery for every class member, plus interest.
The motion comes after U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead in October stayed the proceedings in light of the parties having reached a tentative resolution.
The court in 2023 merged multiple proposed class actions brought by shoppers who alleged Amazon promised “free, no-hassle returns” but routinely failed to refund customers who had sent back items.
The customers asserted that items are often misidentified or separated while processing refund requests, and that the retailer does not correct these errors because most customers do not notice.
Early this year, Amazon agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve claims that it failed to provide simple mechanisms for consumers to cancel their Prime memberships.
What do you think of the proposed Amazon class action settlement? Join the discussion in the comments!
The Amazon customers are represented by Alicia Cobb, Matthew Hosen, Nolan K. Anderson, Andrew H. Schapiro, Adam Wolfson, Justin C. Griffin and Alyssa G. Olson of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Aaron M. Zigler, Lawrence Ashe and Nidya S. Gutierrez of Zigler Law Group LLC.
The Amazon return policy settlement is In re: Amazon Return Policy Litigation, Case No. 2:23-cv-01372, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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577 thoughts onAmazon class action settlement to pay $309M to customers allegedly shortchanged on refunds
It my
I returned items to Amazon & I also contacted them to informed informed them I didn’t get packages & they banned me from having packages delivered to my location where I live. I have a $45.00 credit & they told me I can only order digital orders only. I want to start a Class Action Lawsuit againt Amazon. I have been a longtime Amazon customer. Can you please help me?
Add me
Add me, please.
Def add me I’ve been with Amazon and was spending tons of money on Amazon because my husband was a paraplegic and required a lot of expensive supplies like chucks that the medical insurance didn’t cover I’ve made returns and had this happen to me more times than I can count . So sick of people getting taken advantage of
Add me
Add me. I have been with Amazon since 2012. This has happened to me.
please add me have been a member for a very long time
ADD ME.
Jane Underwood, Chula Vista, CA
ADD ME, please! Long time Amazon Prime member. Add me to this lawsuit, please! Amazon is, in effect, DENYING ME A REFUND for a camera that was DAMGED BY THEIR DELIVERY CONTRACTOR. Amazon has been outsourcing their package deliveries in my area to rogue, incompetent, careless personnel. I ordered a camera ($108 using my credit card and gift cards purchased by my bf) which was to be delivered to my front door, as all my packages are by UPS, FedEx, etc. Instructions are in my Amazon profile, and the package was delivered during day light, but not left at my door. Instead, the driver went to the side of the house, moved two trash cans, and THREW THE PACKAGE OVER A LOCKED GATE! The gate is almost 5 feet high, and it required a toss to the concrete slab on the other side of the gate. I reported the problem to Amazon, requesting a replacement, which was denied! Further, I was told I’d have to return the item and wait for up to 30 days for a refund! BUT I can’t get my refund without driving 30 miles via freeway (60 miles roundtrip) to a Whole Foods in Del Mar!! Amazon has made it all but impossible for me to return the damaged (by THEIR EMPLOYEE) item. The trip is a nightmare drive way out of my way, to a place where I have no other business whatsoever, with over an hour and half total time investment at minimum, using my own gasoline ($6 gallon now)! What if I didn’t drive, as many women my age do not, particularly on the congested and dangerous 5 freeway? The other options are even worse–Staples in El Cajon or an “Amazon store”, none in my city. The City of Chula Vista, where I reside, is a large city geographically so, it’s not like I’m in a rural area. Amazon used UPS as a return location but that is no longer an option. So Amazon is denying me a refund for a useless, damaged camera that was mishandled by a person they hired to deliver my package! I refuse to drive to East County to a Staples or to North County to visit a store I hate–Whole Foods–using many hours of my valuable time, many gallons of my expensive gasoline, and risking damage to my car in a precarious parking lot with undersized spaces and very aggressive customers. I was in the Whole Foods parking lot only once, to see a doctor in an adjacent office, and I am/was unwilling to return. The doctor was excellent but no way I was going to make the long drive and do parking lot battles. I checked out Whole Foods and it is definitely not a place I’d shop. I also read that the Amazon return lines are very long. It’s like Amazon wants to punish me, and hold my refund due hostage, for having the nerve to not accept a battered package containing a fragile electronic item. Amazon owes me $108!!!