Amazon still has an unresolved issue, and even now in Big 2026 there are people who have not been able to access their refund after the historic agreement between Amazon and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). A deal in which 2.5 billion dollars were allocated for enrolling thousands of users in Amazon Prime without their consent, or at least without them being aware of it. Many payments were made at the end of 2025, but there are still people waiting for their money. What is going on, Amazon?
What happened with Amazon?
Everything began in 2023, when the FTC accused Amazon of having designed a fairly deceptive checkout process so that users ended up paying for Prime without realizing it. This resulted in thousands of active subscriptions and thousands of users who did not know they had subscribed to the Prime service.
And that was not even the worst part, because canceling the subscription was even more complicated. A lot of screens, insistent warnings, and in the end many users gave up and continued paying for a service they never wanted to sign up for, sometimes for months.
Why did not everyone receive the refund?
At the end of 2025, Amazon began refunding money automatically to millions of accounts, although there were some more complicated cases to assess, unclear usage histories, intermediate patterns, or data that required manual review.
For those users, the FTC opened a final claims window, which is still open in January 2026. If you did not receive your refund between November and December, you still have a chance to claim it.
Who can claim now
- Those who were subscribed to Amazon Prime between June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025.
- Those who used more than three but fewer than ten Prime benefits within a twelve month period.
- And, very importantly, those who can demonstrate that the subscription was involuntary or that canceling it was a real maze.
This last point is quite controversial, since the FTC considers that this is where most of the consumer problems occurred.
How much money are we talking about?
The refund has a maximum of 51 dollars per person, and in many cases it will be less, depending on how long you were paying for Prime without wanting to. A fairly modest amount, but this situation goes beyond money. Keep in mind that the largest online commerce company has acknowledged, albeit indirectly, as you know they never admit mistakes in these cases.
And this case has been the first time that a giant platform has received a penalty for using dark patterns, interfaces designed to push you into decisions you do not want to make. From here on, many others will think twice before disguising free subscriptions.
Last call
If you think this case may affect you and you did not receive any automatic refund, January 2026 may be your last opportunity. The process is entering its final stretch, and with it, one of the most controversial chapters of Amazon and digital consumer protection in the United States is coming to an end.