A complaint filed in 2021 with the European authorities questioned the practices of the e-commerce giant.
Caught by the patrol. The Amazon e-commerce site made changes on Friday to allow its European customers to unsubscribe more easily from its paid service.Prime“. A platform which allows, for 49 euros per year, users to receive an order more quickly, to access a catalog of films and series or even to read e-books.
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After a complaint filed last year by the European Bureau of Consumers’ Unions, the Norwegian Consumer Council and the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, the European Commission took an interest in the commercial uses of the American giant.
A prominent “cancel” button
In a press release on Friday, Brussels indicates that“Amazon is committed to bringing its cancellation practices in line with EU consumer protection rules (…). by means of a button “to cancel” clearly visible and unequivocal”. The company was accused of not respecting the EU consumer protection rules, including the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive“. In other words, Amazon “posed numerous barriers to unsubscribing, including complex navigation menus, convoluted wording, confusing choices, and repeated soft prompts.”
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After negotiations with the European authorities, Amazon changed gear. Even if the platform had already started to modify its interface for a few months. This one “will now allow consumers to unsubscribe in two easy steps, using an obvious and visible unsubscribe button”, emphasizes in particular the executive body of the European Union. The opportunity also for Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, to put the dots on the i: “Consumers must be able to exercise their rights without being pressured by platforms (…). One thing is clear, manipulative processes, or “user traps”, must be prohibited.”