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Seattle — Amazon heads to court this week to face accusations from the Federal Trade Commission that it tricked shoppers into signing up for Prime memberships and then made it unnecessarily difficult for them to cancel.
The FTC filed the lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that Amazon employed manipulative user-interface designs to deceive millions of customers into automatically renewing their Prime subscriptions. The government also claims the company deliberately complicated the cancellation process, forcing subscribers through a confusing maze to end their memberships.
Amazon denies any wrongdoing. In a statement, a company spokesperson insisted that Amazon executives “acted properly” and “always put customers first.”
They added they are “confident that the facts will show” they did nothing wrong. An FTC spokesperson declined to comment.
Jury selection for the trial begins Monday at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, followed by opening arguments and potential witness testimony on Tuesday. The trial is expected to last up to four weeks, with the jury deciding the outcome.
The case spotlights Amazon’s Prime membership program, which offers benefits like free shipping, faster delivery, and access to the Prime Video streaming service for $14.99 per month or $139 annually.
This isn’t Amazon’s only legal battle with the FTC. A separate lawsuit accuses the company of employing anti-competitive practices to inflate prices and stifle competition. Amazon denies those allegations as well.