FTC Amazon Prime Settlement

[JoeWras]

NOTE: there's no reason to make this political. Please keep politics out. I'm simply wondering if anyone else got a surprise check and how much. /NOTE

Yesterday, out of the blue, I got a check for $8 and a few pennies. I thought it was a class action I forgot about because it looks exactly like what you get with a class action check. Well, I guess it is a class action of sorts, sourced by the FTC.

This was a quite a mystery because:
a) first I heard of it
b) no action needed on my part, I was one of the "automatic" payments
c) the heck if I know or understand what I did to cause this

Apparently I got an email a few months ago that google threw in the spam or blocked completely, probably because gmail users were mad at the sender and marked it as spam. I never saw it. Also, I think a period opens up today for people to request a reimbursement, that is, they are not automatic like me. Check your spam.

It is somewhat cloaked in mystery. I can't find details on what I did. It sounds like I did something like check a box somewhere that caused a subscription. I don't like that I don't know what I did. I'm usually pretty picky about that. I do subscribe to Amazon music and I'm wondering if that is part of the issue.

On this board, people had hundreds of comments on the Facebook settlement. I've seen nothing from ya'll about this. Am I the only idiot who checked a box somewhere and now I get a massive $8 back?

 

[Fermion]

There *should* have been a suit and settlement over commercials on Prime but I am not sure if there is/was. If you signed up for Prime and paid a year, they should not have been able to change your plan to have commercials until your next sign up period, but they did.

 

[JoeWras]

There *should* have been a suit and settlement over commercials on Prime but I am not sure if there is/was. If you signed up for Prime and paid a year, they should not have been able to change your plan to have commercials until your next sign up period, but they did.

Ah, perhaps that's it. I have no idea. But I'd expect a lot of people on this board would be included in that. The FTC says it is 35M users.

 

[Fermion]

Ah, perhaps that's it. I have no idea. But I'd expect a lot of people on this board would be included in that. The FTC says it is 35M users.

I looked it up. The lawsuit over commercials to people who had already paid for a Prime membership that year was thrown out with prejudice by a Washington state judge. Evidently it is because Amazon can freely change any benefits and you agree to that when you click the "I agree" fine print that nobody has ever read.

 

[JoeWras]

FTC's statement on this is short on details and found here: FTC Secures Historic $2.5 Billion Settlement Against Amazon

I signed up for Prime ages ago, well before 2019 (date named in the legal document, which is difficult to read) and I have not (yet) tried to unsubscribe.

The FTC alleged Amazon created confusing and deceptive user interfaces to lead consumers to enroll in Prime without their knowledge. Compounding these deceptive enrollment practices, Amazon also created a complex and difficult process for consumers seeking to cancel their Prime subscription, with the goal of preventing consumers from cancelling Prime.

Legal document: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Amazon-ROSCA-Order-Filed_0.pdf

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

Yesterday, out of the blue, I got a check for $8 and a few pennies.

Did they send it via free Prime shipping?

If that's the case, I should keep an eye out for ours next week, as with our paid Prime membership, we get free 5-day shipping.
(Note - It used to be free 6-day shipping so it seems to be getting better with the construction of more distribution centers. Sometimes we even get a package in as little as three days.)