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Leaving Amazon Prime is tough to do.
A group of public interest advocates have told U.S. regulators they think Amazon deliberately makes it difficult to cancel an Amazon Prime subscription, its customer loyalty program.
In a letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday, a group led by consumer watchdog Public Citizen asked the commission to investigate whether Amazon.com Inc. has violated consumer protection laws with its process for canceling Prime membership subscriptions.
The letter draws on a report made by the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC), which investigates the “manipulative” design choices in Amazon Prime’s subscription model.
The report, which was researched in the U.S., U.K., and E.U., says that Prime’s subscription model is a “roach motel,” where getting in is easy, but escape is an ordeal.
The steps involved in cancelling Prime are designed to unfairly and deceptively undermine the will of the consumer.
To cancel Prime, the consumer is led through a series of six pages and is ultimately pushed toward maintaining their membership, the NCC claims . The pages include “dark patterns” and deceptive “visual interference” techniques such as yellow warning triangles with an exclamation point inside and text buttons stating “keep my benefits”.
A spokesperson for Amazon told Bloomberg that it is “clear and easy” to cancel Prime online, by phone or by opting out of automatic renewal.
“Customer trust is at the heart of all of our products and services and we strongly disagree with any claim that our cancellation process creates uncertainty,” the spokesperson said. “The information we provide in the online cancellation flow gives a full view of the benefits and services members are canceling.”
TCA reached out to the FTC for comment on the recall and will update the story when we hear back. Amazon Prime, which costs $119 USD per year, is a subscription only service offering free shipping, video streaming and more to its users. According to Statistica, as of Dec. 2019, an estimated 112 million people in the U.S. were subscribed to Prime.
Although complaints often land with the FTC with minimal action taken, Bloomberg reports that at least one of the parties involved in Thursday’s letter, the Center for Digital Democracy, has encouraged commissioners to take actions in the past.
Retail giant Amazon has faced a number of claims of deceptive practices over the years, and has been hit with a range of class action lawsuits alleging the online retail giant falsely advertises its Prime membership to consumers.
Have you experienced difficulty with canceling your Amazon Prime membership? Share your experience in the comments below.
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54 thoughts onAmazon Prime Subscription Too Hard to Cancel, Watchdogs say
Please add me it’s hard to cancel.
Took advantage of student prime. Sign up page does not give amount to be billed either in monthly or yearly rate. Purposely gave credit card with an amount to small to be charged. Yep- yearly is being charged versus monthly. No amounts shown or notice that putting in credit card information results in a charge.
Have tried several times to cancel. Still being charged
Have a hard time canceling
I had to cancel my debit card. They waited months every year until i would deposit money and then take it.
I am an Amazon Prime customer. I havent cancelked yet, but I hope I dont have problems cancelling.
Must Add me pls
Add me pls
Add me
I’ve keep being charged for prime even after canceling the subscription. Last time it happened was 2020 when they charged the account and I wasn’t even subscribed. Finally called and fought for over an hour with multiple customer service reps. Plus they have raised they prices outrageously. Price gouging is what Amazon is doing.