Amazon Makes It Too Hard to Cancel Prime, Groups Tell FTC
- Public Citizen, others ask regulators to probe Prime rules
- Report says manipulative techniques make it hard to opt out
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A coalition of public interest advocates is asking U.S. regulators to investigate whether Amazon.com Inc. violates consumer protection laws with its process for canceling Prime subscriptions.
In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission on Thursday, a group led by Public Citizen said the steps required to cancel Prime “are designed to unfairly and deceptively undermine the will of the consumer,” and may violate FTC rules as well as other consumer protection laws. The letter draws on a complaint by Norway’s consumer protection agency, which on Thursday asked Norwegian regulators to determine whether Amazon violated local law.