Amazon Prime Refunds Of Up To $200 Are Coming To Millions of Americans

Millions of Amazon Prime members may receive refunds up to $200 starting Thursday through an expanded $2.5 billion settlement over unauthorized enrollments and difficult cancellation processes.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon in June 2023 after investigating complaints that customers were enrolled in Prime without clearly agreeing to the recurring charge and then ran into a maze when they tried to cancel.

The agency alleged Amazon used confusing checkout screens and other “dark patterns” to steer people into subscriptions. It also said the cancellation process forced customers through multiple pages and offers before they could finally end their membership.

The settlement for U.S. Amazon Prime customers was expanded after much of the $1.5 billion set aside for consumers remained undistributed. By early September, Amazon had issued about $845 million in refunds, but consumers had collected only about $235 million. Amazon and the FTC jointly asked the court to change the payout rules, allowing refunds to go automatically to millions more Prime customers and increasing the maximum amount an eligible consumer could receive.

The expanded settlement covers eligible Prime enrollments and cancellation attempts between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025. The new round includes consumers who used 11 to 20 Prime benefits during any 12 months of their enrollment during that period.

Here’s what Amazon Prime customers need to know:

More Prime customers are now eligible for refunds. The expanded program adds customers who were enrolled between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, and used 11 to 20 Prime benefits during any 12-month period of their membership.

Earlier refund rounds generally covered customers who used 10 or fewer benefits.

Refunds begin Oct. 1. They may not arrive immediately. Amazon has until Jan. 25 to complete this round of payments, and consumers have at least 60 days to accept them.

There is nothing to file. Refunds will be sent automatically by PayPal, Venmo or mailed check. Consumers do not need to submit a claim or fill out paperwork.

Refunds can now total as much as $200. Consumers who already received and accepted a refund of up to $51 could get another payment of up to $149. Amazon will send those additional payments if consumers have received less than $1 billion from the settlement after the current refund rounds are completed. The extra payments would begin by the end of April 2027.

Watch for refund scams. The FTC says it is not contacting consumers about the Amazon refunds. Anyone who calls claiming to be from the FTC about a payment is a scammer. Amazon also will not ask consumers to pay a fee to receive a refund.

The FTC warns consumers not to give personal information to anyone who promises “special access” to a refund or guarantees one in exchange for a fee.

Other FTC refunds to know about: Amazon is far from the only company sending money back to consumers. The FTC currently has dozens of active refund programs, including cases involving AT&T data throttling, Grubhub, Ring, Credit Karma, Fortnite, BetterHelp, the University of Phoenix and Equifax. The agency keeps a running list of active refund programs.

Consumers who think they may be owed money should check the FTC’s list rather than rely on an unexpected call, text or email. The agency warns that it will never demand money, tell consumers to transfer funds to get a refund or promise a prize in exchange for payment.

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