Court Case Begins Over Claims Amazon Misled Customers Into Prime Sign-Ups
Amazon’s planned subscription services trial, which has been brewing for years, finally begins this week, with the retailer facing increased scrutiny over how it allows members to cancel their Prime memberships.
Amazon Prime trial lawsuit, brought by the Federal Trade Commission during the Biden administration in 2023, says Amazon used “misleading online designs” to trick millions of people into signing up for the Amazon Prime membership case while at the same time implementing an “artificially and deliberately complex system” that made it difficult to opt-out.
Amazon subscription lawsuit 2025 alleges the online retailer used “dark patterns” to entice consumers into agreeing to the auto-renewing subscription service. The agency also said the process to cancel Amazon tricked Prime signups was “difficult, time consuming and intentionally designed to be burdensome, in order to discourage consumers from completing the cancellation process.”
In a statement to CNN, an Amazon spokesperson denied the allegations, saying: “The bottom line is that neither Amazon nor the individual defendants did anything wrong. We remain confident the facts will show these executives acted properly, and we always put customers first.”
Amazon’s Prime subscription has proven to be one of its most lucrative businesses, with the service priced at $14.99 a month or $139 a year. The service, which was originally only for faster deliveries, has since expanded into a bundle that provides consumers access to streaming content, grocery delivery, fuel discounts, exclusive shopping deals, and more. While the company does not disclose the number of Prime subscribers in the US, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimated it had 197 million members as of March 2025.
Amazon deceptive practices trial is expected to last around a month. Jury selection begins Monday, with opening arguments taking place Tuesday. If the jury finds that Amazon violated consumer protection law, the judge will decide the amount of damages the company will need to pay.
Amazon court case today also shows that as early as 2016, Amazon allegedly had an intentionally complex multi-step cancellation process for the Prime service. In court documents, the FTC says Amazon internally called the process the “Iliad Flow,” a reference to Homer’s epic poem that tells the story of the 10-year Trojan War.
