Amazon customers who are eligible to receive a portion of the company’s $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission have started receiving payments.
In the first of two waves of payouts, Amazon began issuing automatic payments to some customers beginning Wednesday, Nov. 12, according to the FTC.
It comes after Amazon in September agreed to settle with the FTC in an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2023. The suit alleged Amazon coerced millions of consumers into enrolling in Prime subscriptions, then made those agreements extremely difficult to cancel.
Amazon denied wrongdoing and said it has “always followed the law.”
“We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership, and to offer substantial value for our many millions of loyal Prime members around the world,” the statement added. “We will continue to do so, and look forward to what we’ll deliver for Prime members in the coming years.”
Who is eligible for money in Amazon settlement?
According to a court order in the case, Amazon customers are only eligible for a settlement payment if they meet both of the following criteria:
The “challenged” flow means any subscription started through certain pages on Amazon’s website, including the “Universal Prime Decision Page, the Shipping Option Select Page, Prime Video enrollment flow, or the Single Page Checkout,” per the court order.
Do you need to file a claim in Amazon settlement?
There are two phases of payments in the Amazon settlement.
Who’s eligible: Only Amazon customers who used their Prime benefits three or fewer times over any 12-month period of enrollment will receive an automatic payment.
Who’s eligible: Only Amazon customers who used their Prime benefits 10 or fewer times over any 12-month period of enrollment will receive a payment in this phase.
When will Amazon send out settlement payments?
Automatic payments in the first wave of payouts are available through Venmo or PayPal. If a customer does not accept their automatic payment through PayPal or Venmo within 15 days, Amazon will mail them a check to the shipping address listed on their Prime subscription, per the FTC.
Here’s the timeline of payments, per Amazon and the FTC:
Eligible customers can only get up to $51 from settlement
Customers can get a maximum of $51 from the settlement, according to the court order.
The amount of money each customer gets from the settlement is based on the total amount of Amazon Prime membership fees paid during the duration of their subscription.
Contributing: Melina Khan, USA TODAY. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Will you get a payment from $2.5B Amazon FTC settlement? Who should expect one
Reporting by Jenny Porter Tilley, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
