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Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

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Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#171

Post by Bjartr »

luigman wrote: post #165
dijit wrote: post #123

$2.5B. I genuinely can't fathom these numbers. As in: it could be $25B or $250M and it would mean the same to me. Does this materially impact Amazon? I'm ( really ) not a fan of Amazon, but to me that's an existential amount of money. I don't think I've ever worked anywhere where that kind of money wouldn't be a "ok, I guess we're closing down, turn off the lights when you leave" situation, and I've worked at some la…

Amazon made $638B in revenue, $60B profit in 2024. Yes $2.5B fine is a lot but it will not significantly hurt the company

Losing out on 2.4% of profit isn't nothing. It's not an existential therat to the company, sure, but this seems a more real consequence for wrongdoing than many other penalties I've seen against companies over the years.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#172

Post by willis936 »

Der_Einzige wrote: post #167
Brybry wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon will pay $1 billion to the government as a penalty and set aside $1.5 billion for consumers. The settlement terms have most of the details. [0] Amazon will do an automatic payout to some people for up to $51. No need to claim anything for that. I'm guessing they'll mail checks or prepaid debit cards or something. Then Amazon will make a website, within 30 days, and post it on their site (and I'm sure news medi…

I fking hate these sorts of pay out terms. Dont pay people automatically so that the remaining ones who do claim it get paid a lot more than 51$. In fact, a lottery where only 1% of victims got 5000$ would be even better. America loves its inequality. Stop making us equally poor and let the lucky few of us get a 1 oz bar of gold!

I'm sorry but your free trial of the American Dream has expired. Please enter your generational wealth code to continue experiencing lack of crush.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#173

Post by ProllyInfamous »

HardwareLust wrote: post #119

Oh boy, can't wait to get my $4 off coupon in June of 2030.

I feel your apathy, friend.

Our local parking authority (meter maids) just paid out a massive settlement (/s): each claimant gets four (4) twenty-five cent (25¢) parking credits (==$1.00), which expire within one month. They also raised parking rates by about that much, per hour.

Winning! /s

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#174

Post by crazygringo »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #153
crazygringo wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s usually cheaper if you can source it from the manufacturer even paying their shipping rate. This is rarely the case. In fact, it's against Amazon's policies for manufacturer/third-party listings. But I've found that even when that's the case, returns can be such a gigantic hassle it's not worth it -- getting an RMA, having to pay for return shipping, being forced to use an inconvenient shipping service of thei…

I’m surprised it is against policy considering I make use of this technique all the time. I don’t think it is being sold by the manufacturer but one of the faceless amazon third party sellers. Sometimes amazon.com. I haven’t had a byzantine return process in a very long time. YMMV I guess.

Yeah I've just been burned too many times.

Just in the past six months I bought an air filter and a 12" skillet directly from manufacturers instead of Amazon. The air filter was nowhere near the claimed performance, but still required a 15% restocking fee. The skillet, they sent me the wrong model. But because while the title of the listing was wrong, but the correct model name was in the description text, they refused to pay for return shipping and it cost $25 to ship it back because it was 5 lbs to the other side of the country.

Amazon is never an issue. I just drop it off at Whole Foods and it's easy. Buying direct from manufacturer is just too risky. By now I'm willing to pay even more at Amazon just for the peace of mind of returns.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#175

Post by FridayoLeary »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #101
bombcar wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prime ain't what it used to be. Used to be reliably 2nd day delivery, by a real shipping company, and good movies added, etc. Now it's as slow as "free" delivery, by a random contractor who does God knows what to the package, and prices aren't even better than Walmart or Target on many things. The "avoid subscribing to prime" shuffle you have to do to even order anything anymore drives me away too, I only use Amazon…

I've never had Prime. Instant gratification isn't a draw for me and I can build up a shopping cart over months between orders. Funnily enough, about 75% of my boxes come with Prime tape on them. It used to signify expedited handling. Now it's just a branding exercise.

oddly enough some of my ebay orders also come in prime packaging. On that note ebay is a far better shopping experience at least for anything small.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#176

Post by whatamidoingyo »

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #58
whatamidoingyo wrote: post #36

A few years ago, I got a new phone and a new number. I eventually went to Amazon, entered password, and then was prompted for the OTP, which was sent to my previous number (which I no longer had access to). I kept trying things until I was completely locked out of the account. I emailed them, no help. So, while being locked out of my account, I couldn't cancel my subscription to Kindle (lost all of the books, too). I…

Did the situation get resolved or are you still being charged? I need a resolution here STAT! In my personal experience, Amazon has an acceptable customer support when compared to Google, but nobody with that type of scale can even touch Apple's support experience.

It eventually got resolved, yes. I had to call my bank and place a block on Amazon from charging my account.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#177

Post by bombcar »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #175
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never had Prime. Instant gratification isn't a draw for me and I can build up a shopping cart over months between orders. Funnily enough, about 75% of my boxes come with Prime tape on them. It used to signify expedited handling. Now it's just a branding exercise.

oddly enough some of my ebay orders also come in prime packaging. On that note ebay is a far better shopping experience at least for anything small.

There's an entire Amazon fulfillment business that many don't know about - if you move enough merchandise with them you get the ability to use their shipping network, which can be pretty darn cheap.

So often it's the company/seller using Amazon for fulfillment; but sometimes it's just someone doing arbitrage between Amazon and eBay.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#178

Post by fennecbutt »

Yeah I unsubscribed a while ago. Noticed immediately whenever I ordered anything from amazon that it's always like "free shipping" - it's a lie, ofc it's free shipping by signing up to prime. But at checkout they show a "free shipping" option with very small subtext that it's a prime membership.

Whats the point of fining them? It's not gonna change the system of endless growth for the shareholders, multi million dollar executive salaries for executives who don't know anything about what their business does and have zero forward planning or responsibility.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#179

Post by ratelimitsteve »

dylan604 wrote: post #67
arcastroe wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know anything about the Iliad. I asked generative AI how the name fit in, or why it was appropriate for the project. Adding the response below, in case it helps others. ----- The name “Project Iliad” is almost certainly a reference to Homer’s Iliad, the ancient Greek epic poem about the Trojan War. The connection works as a kind of corporate in-joke or metaphor: The Iliad is long, complex, and arduous — much…

Why would you put any validity to that response what so ever?

lately it seems that some people have updated their working definition of "conversation" to mean "an opportunity for me to talk about AI"

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#180

Post by jiveturkey »

HN headline is wrong. AMZN not fined 2.5B, they were fined 1B and have to refund 1.5B to consumers. The original article (at this time anyway) has an accurate headline.

It's really too bad the FTC settled and AMZN gets to admit no fault. What is the incentive for FTC to simply not pursue this to the bitter end? 1B is literally pocket change to the fed government, and is laugh-meme moment for Amazon. $50 back to each user is also not even worth claiming. So the settlement is just FTC not doing their job.

Disclaimer: I willingly use Prime and doubt I'd ever leave.

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