Amazon Prime users to receive automatic refunds up to $200. Here's what to know.
Eligible Amazon Prime customers will receive a refund with a higher payout cap as part of a federal settlement over alleged deceptive subscription and cancellation practices. Credit: Bloomberg/Gabby Jones
Amazon is continuing to issue refunds to eligible Prime customers as part of a federal settlement over alleged deceptive subscription and cancellation practices — but with a higher payout cap.
In September 2025, the Federal Trade Commission reached a $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon that required the company to pay a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion “to consumers harmed by the company’s deceptive Prime enrollment practices,” according to a news release.
Newsday could not immediately reach Amazon for comment.
Under the initial settlement, the maximum refund a customer received was $51, the release stated. Last month, a revised settlement raised the maximum payment to $200.
“The revised order will ensure more consumers who were harmed by Amazon’s deceptive enrollment and cancellation practices benefit from the FTC’s historic settlement,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in the release.
Refunds of up to $200 will be sent automatically to Amazon Prime customers who meet three criteria, according to the FTC website. Eligible customers are located in the United States and subscribed for Prime “through a ‘challenged enrollment flow’ or tried to cancel through the online cancellation flow but were unable to do so” over the six-year period from June 23, 2019, through June 23, 2025.
After enrollment, eligible customers have used 20 or fewer Amazon Prime benefits, including free-to-subscribers Prime Music and Prime Video products, in any 12-month period, the website said.
The challenged enrollment flows referenced by the FTC involved prompts for users to subscribe to Prime at various points in the user experience.
“The ‘challenged enrollment flows’ are universal Prime decision page, shipping selection page, single page checkout, or the Prime Video enrollment flow,” according to the FTC details of the settlement.
Eligible users do not need to do anything to receive a refund. Mailed checks or electronic payments, which expire 60 days after issue date, will be sent by April 2027 to customers who are eligible, the website said.
The FTC cautioned it will not contact Prime users about refunds, and that any communications about the Amazon refunds by persons claiming to be from the FTC are fraudulent.
Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.
