Karmactive Staff
Sunita Somvanshi
Amazon Prime Settlement Eligibility Checker
Find out if you might qualify for a refund up to $51
Step 1: When did you sign up for Amazon Prime?
Step 2: How did you sign up for Prime?
Step 3: Did you try to cancel Prime?
Amazon will pay a historic $2.5 billion to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the company tricked customers into Prime memberships and made them tough to cancel.
The settlement, announced September 25, 2025, includes a $1 billion civil penalty – the largest in FTC history for a rule violation – and $1.5 billion in consumer refunds. The agreement came days into a trial in Seattle federal court.
“The Trump-Vance FTC made history and secured a record-breaking, monumental win for the millions of Americans who are tired of deceptive subscriptions that feel impossible to cancel,” said FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson.
According to the FTC, Amazon used “subscription traps” that enrolled people in Prime without clear consent. Internal documents revealed Amazon nicknamed its cancellation process “Iliad,” after Homer’s lengthy poem about the Trojan War.
The settlement requires Amazon to make Prime easier to manage by including clear buttons to decline memberships, eliminating misleading options like “No, I don’t want free shipping,” and creating a simpler cancellation process. An independent supervisor will monitor compliance with refund distribution.
“Amazon and our executives have always followed the law and this settlement allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers,” said Amazon in a company statement. Amazon admitted no wrongdoing in the agreement.
Some eligible customers who signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, through certain enrollment flows will receive automatic refunds of up to $51. Amazon will notify eligible customers and set up a claims process for others affected by the company’s practices.
The case was brought under the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), a 2010 law requiring clear disclosures for online subscriptions and simple cancellation methods.
Amazon’s Prime service, which costs $139 annually or $14.99 monthly, provides fast shipping, video streaming, and other benefits. With over 200 million members globally, Amazon’s subscription services (which include Prime membership fees) generated about $44.4 billion in net sales in 2024.
The settlement does not resolve a separate, larger FTC lawsuit accusing Amazon of monopolistic behavior. That trial is scheduled for February 9, 2027.
Former FTC chair Lina Khan, who ran the agency when the lawsuit was filed, said in a social media post that the settlement rescued Amazon “from likely being found liable for having violated the law,” allowing it to “pay its way out.” She added, “A $2.5 billion fine is a drop in the bucket for Amazon and, no doubt, a big relief for the executives who knowingly harmed their customers.”
The FTC’s investigation began in 2021; the lawsuit was filed in 2023 under Chair Lina Khan.
