Following complaints from consumer groups, the European Commission has forced Amazon to make the process of unsubscribing from its Prime service easier so that it can now be done with just two clicks.
Consumer associations transferred complaints to the EU about the complicated process to cancel the subscription to Amazon Prime
Consumer associations at the European Union level such as the European Consumers’ Organization (BEUC), the Norwegian Consumer Council and the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue Forum (TACD) filed complaints with the EU last April. In their complaints, they described the difficulties encountered by users in cancelling their subscriptions to Prime, Amazon’s premium service. Complicated menus, complex sentences, unclear instructions, confusing alternatives..
Following these complaints the European Commission looked into the matter and has issued a decision that has forced Amazon to revise the process so that now the cancellation of prime subscription can be done with only two clicks. It is essential to include an easily distinguishable button that clearly and simply indicates that its function is to cancel the subscription, as expressly requested by the European Commission.
These changes will be mandatory for all websites hosted in Europe, as well as for all types of devices, both computers and smart TVs as well as mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In addition, the Commission’s decision is immediately applicable so it should already appear as such throughout the European Union.
Amazon has communicated that they have reformulated the design of their forms to facilitate both the subscription and the unsubscription process, expressing their willingness to improve the user experience while “following a constructive dialogue with the European Commission”.
