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FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

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Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#51

Post by macNchz »

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

I wouldn't say the process of unsubscribing from Prime is 'deceptive' but it sure has many steps. They tried just about everything to persuade me to stay except offer to bring back two day shipping. (I know many of you in urban areas are getting one day shipping but those of us in less favored geographies, such as the same ZIP code as AMZN warehouses, have seen two day shipping turn into five, which makes Amazon unco…

The increased “jitter” in shipping times was one of the things that prompted me to cancel Prime a few years ago. Even in NYC my perception was that the standard deviation of transit times had increased significantly.

The other components to the decision were the ever increasing volume of identical no-brand junk/counterfeit products with fake reviews, and the significant improvements in online inventory/buy inline pick up in store options from brick and mortar retailers.

When I signed up for Prime 13(?) years ago very few stores had accurate online inventory, now tons of them do, and the more limited selection actually feels like a benefit.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#52

Post by duringmath »

This administration selected the current FTC commissioner because of an op-ed attacking Amazon and a glowing profile both published in the New York Times.

The FTC lawsuits against Meta and now Amazon are politically motivated and are a misuse of the the system if not outright corruption.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#53

Post by devnullbrain »

ezfe wrote: post #4
PaulHoule wrote: post #2

I wouldn't say the process of unsubscribing from Prime is 'deceptive' but it sure has many steps. They tried just about everything to persuade me to stay except offer to bring back two day shipping. (I know many of you in urban areas are getting one day shipping but those of us in less favored geographies, such as the same ZIP code as AMZN warehouses, have seen two day shipping turn into five, which makes Amazon unco…

What's deceptive about it is you click the first link to cancel your benefits, then each subsequent page is basically a quiz: "which button will boot you out of the cancel flow and which button will proceed to the next page" I agree it's not actually that hard to cancel, but the flow is so needlessly complex from a consumer perspective. It should go straight to a page with three buttons and associated explanations: 1…

I ran into this trying to cancel a free-trial a month ago. Or rather I thought I'd cancelled it and got charged.

Cancelling the 2nd time, they refunded me for the unused month. But maybe that was to do with the linked case rather than the goodness of their hearts.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#54

Post by hotpotamus »

duringmath wrote: post #52

This administration selected the current FTC commissioner because of an op-ed attacking Amazon and a glowing profile both published in the New York Times. The FTC lawsuits against Meta and now Amazon are politically motivated and are a misuse of the the system if not outright corruption.

Good. As someone who hasn't been careful enough and been caught by Amazon's deceptive practices myself, I hope they get them as good and hard as the law allows. If they have to put a boot on Bezos's spaceship, that would be an amusing benefit of the whole thing.

I don't appreciate being subject to one dark pattern after another just to buy an sd card or a bath towel.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#55

Post by hombre_fatal »

ezfe wrote: post #4
PaulHoule wrote: post #2

I wouldn't say the process of unsubscribing from Prime is 'deceptive' but it sure has many steps. They tried just about everything to persuade me to stay except offer to bring back two day shipping. (I know many of you in urban areas are getting one day shipping but those of us in less favored geographies, such as the same ZIP code as AMZN warehouses, have seen two day shipping turn into five, which makes Amazon unco…

What's deceptive about it is you click the first link to cancel your benefits, then each subsequent page is basically a quiz: "which button will boot you out of the cancel flow and which button will proceed to the next page" I agree it's not actually that hard to cancel, but the flow is so needlessly complex from a consumer perspective. It should go straight to a page with three buttons and associated explanations: 1…

I just cancelled. The first click to cancel your membership takes you to a page that says “you still have N days of your membership!” which is where you’d be able to close the page knowing your service was canceled if the service was honest.

But nah you have to scroll to the bottom and click “Continue canceling” where you’re taken the page you describe.

I don’t know how anyone can say this isn’t deceptive. If I click cancel membership, I shouldn’t be taken to a no-op interstitial page that makes me scroll to find a “continue canceling” button. That only exists to look like a “Canceled successfully” page.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#56

Post by hotpotamus »

paddw wrote: post #47
JohnFen wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why people keep suspecting a political motive. That Amazon is huge seems sufficient explanation.

You don't think there's any political reason they are going after Amazon rather than, say, the New York Times? Just the impartial watchmen of Democracy studiously promoting the adherence to regulation here?

Maybe it's because one is an online bazaar of Chinese plastic crap that uses dark patterns to get people to sign up, and the other is a news organization that doesn't?

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#57

Post by JohnFen »

x86x87 wrote: post #45
JohnFen wrote: post #11

Is this process new? I cancelled my Amazon account a couple of years ago, and was genuinely surprised at how easy it was. They didn't even ask me the traditional "Why are you cancelling?" question. I remember it clearly because it stood out as the only time I interacted with them (outside of buying something) that went without complication.

Whole account or just prime?

Now that you mention it, just Prime. I couldn't figure out how to cancel the entire account. Instead, I removed the payment method and have just been ignoring the account's existence.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#58

Post by JohnFen »

paddw wrote: post #47
JohnFen wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why people keep suspecting a political motive. That Amazon is huge seems sufficient explanation.

You don't think there's any political reason they are going after Amazon rather than, say, the New York Times? Just the impartial watchmen of Democracy studiously promoting the adherence to regulation here?

There's no obvious reason to suspect a political motivation. That Amazon is an enormous retailer, and newspapers are not, seems like rather sufficient explanation for why the Federal Trade Commission might pay more attention to one than the other.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#59

Post by ncr100 »

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

I wouldn't say the process of unsubscribing from Prime is 'deceptive' but it sure has many steps. They tried just about everything to persuade me to stay except offer to bring back two day shipping. (I know many of you in urban areas are getting one day shipping but those of us in less favored geographies, such as the same ZIP code as AMZN warehouses, have seen two day shipping turn into five, which makes Amazon unco…

I always wonder how much money Amazon makes from their UI "tweakers". The people, originally Bezos, who tweaked the UI to be more or less painful selectively throughout the site.

If it makes Amazon Customers 1% LESS LIKELY to unsubscribe, then $$MILLION DOLLAR AMAZONCOM MISSION ACCOMPLISHED$$.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#60

Post by burkaman »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #55
ezfe wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's deceptive about it is you click the first link to cancel your benefits, then each subsequent page is basically a quiz: "which button will boot you out of the cancel flow and which button will proceed to the next page" I agree it's not actually that hard to cancel, but the flow is so needlessly complex from a consumer perspective. It should go straight to a page with three buttons and associated explanations: 1…

I just cancelled. The first click to cancel your membership takes you to a page that says “you still have N days of your membership!” which is where you’d be able to close the page knowing your service was canceled if the service was honest. But nah you have to scroll to the bottom and click “Continue canceling” where you’re taken the page you describe. I don’t know how anyone can say this isn’t deceptive. If I click…

If you just cancelled, you saw improvements they made as a result of FTC pressure. Before April 2023 the process was much more difficult.
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