Amazon agreed to settle a federal lawsuit alleging that the company made its Prime membership program confusing or difficult to cancel and will pay $1.5 billion in refunds to customers.
We don’t know yet how much each individual might get, but here’s an outline of the potential payout and how you might claim a piece of the refund pool. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.)
Who is eligible for a refund?
Court paperwork says people may be eligible if they signed up for a U.S. Prime subscription between June 23, 2019, and June 23 of this year.
People may also be eligible if they tried and failed to cancel a U.S. Prime subscription, or mistakenly signed up for a Prime membership, during the same period.
How much money might you get?
The ultimate payout will probably depend on how many people claim refunds.
There are different tiers of potential refunds ordered by the Federal Trade Commission. People may receive automatic refunds, capped at $51, if they enrolled in a Prime subscription and “used no more than three Prime benefits” (other than free shipping) within a year.
Other people may need to submit a refund claim form.
How will you know whether you’re eligible for a refund?
The FTC says Amazon must within 30 days notify people who can apply for a refund that they are eligible to do so, with instructions to claim the money.
