News From the FTC whose Chairperson Hates Amazon:
Do you think it might be true?
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[mod edit: title for formatting; original title added to OP]
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2 days ago I realized that Amazon had enrolled my sister in a monthly Audibles subscription using my credit card. This subscription went back to last November. I had purchased a picture frame through Amazon on my sisterās account around that time.
So yes, this is at least possible.
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accusing the retailer of enrolling millions of consumers into its paid subscription Amazon Prime service without their consent and making it hard for them to cancel.
The FTC filed suit in federal court in Seattle and said it alleged that āAmazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime.ā The FTC said Amazon used āmanipulative, coercive or deceptive user-interface designs known as ādark patternsā to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically renewing Prime subscriptions.ā
Holy guacamole, thatās a serious offense! I am intentionally enrolled in Prime (for now), but isnāt this why Wells Fargo got into a lot of trouble, for āenrollingā people into things without their knowledge or consent?
Or is the FTC claiming that auto renewals are the āenrollment without consentā?
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The fine print states that not opting out is consent to re-enroll so I canāt imagine this is what they meant.
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Wells Fargo got in trouble for opening new accounts for customers that the customer never requested and then charged those accounts fees which many customers paid unknowingly.
In this case, we think the FTC is saying Amazon is duping customers into Prime by giving them a freebie that, when accepted, enrolls them into Prime without clear wording that this is what will happen when accepting the freebie.
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Always check your subscriptions:
I see they signed me up for Amazon Photos 1 TB plan $59.99yr.
I donāt remember ever ok-ing that.
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Excellent advice!
No unexpected subscriptions for me, but a new option, that can (sorta) prevent auto-renew:
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THE money quote in Ms. Wolfe & Mr. Michaelās Journal article, methinks:
āā¦
The FTC has been examining the use of dark patternsāa term for design tactics that prompt users into actions that benefit the company but not necessarily the userāin online commerce for several years.
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Two of my three children are only Prime members for a few months a year. When the option of monthly billing for Prime was created, they cancelled their membership and only rejoin when they are planning to do a lot of shopping or when there is something on Prime Video they want to binge watch.
They have had no problem cancelling and rejoining.
I have behaved similarly with some of the add-on services on Prime Video, joining for a promotion period and leaving when it ends.
But I am computer literate, and can follow instructions.
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The operative term here is ādark patternsā. Web designers will make a little pre-checked box appear in the check-out process that says something like āFree delivery tomorrow with free Prime Trialā, and if one is not very attentive, oneās order for a tangible product is also a āsubscriptionā.
Amazon is certainly not the worst of the worst, but I have seen the āoffersā appear in Amazon check-out screens many times, as I have never subscribed to Prime, and like all drug pushers, the web site keeps offering me free samples, perhaps more often than those who have tried Prime, and then unsubscribed.
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Amazon has tons of bad habits because they have succeeded in uncompetitive marketplaces with government help (not being forced to collect sales taxes, corporate welfare for warehouses, etc).
Pulling gimmicks like this can only be done if customers have nowhere else to go.
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Not as good as Elon Musk at taking government money but far better than Microsoft and IBM in winning government contracts.
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Letās see how Amazon does when their retail operations have to exist on their own, without other areas subsidizing them.
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The needs of their retail operations created the other business areas.
Modern businesses have major flexibility to legally allocate their profits among their various business areas.
Example, Apple allocates most of its IP profits to its Irish subsidiary.
It is likely that any government action will mostly change bookkeeping.
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I am talking about forcefully splitting up Amazon.
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We might see some of that sooner rather than laterā¦
While the growth rate topped Wall Street estimates, it was a record low since Amazon began reporting AWS sales, with sales slowing down further in April.
Amazon still relies on AWS as its main source of operating income that helped the company fund its biggest bets.
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You are but the likelihood is you would be unsatisfied with the result.
The breakup of Rockefellerās Standard Oil did not create opportunity for small business., nor did the breakup of A T & T.
The breakup of Amazon would be a new flavor of anti-trust regulation, and probably start a recession - a precedent for breaking up all conglomerates and diversified companies.
Vertical integration is legal, has always been legal, and were it illegal we would see deflation and depression for a long period of time.
Specific details on those ādark patternsā:
- Misdirection
- Confirm-shaming
- Obstruction, or the āRoach Motelā
- Interface interference
- Forced action
- Sneaking
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- Misdirection
- Confirm-shaming
- Obstruction, or the āRoach Motelā
- Interface interference
- Forced action
- Sneaking
I remember a few years ago, seeing Amazon put big āDo you want free shipping?ā text up near the Buy Box, and thinking how easily that could trip someone into clicking the box (that opts them into Prime) by answering āyesā.
It was extremely deceptive, but at the same time, I think customers have to bear some of the responsibility too.
If a stranger walked up on the street and asked ādo you want me to give you $10?ā, most people would immediately ask - whatās the catch?
But if Amazon asks āDo you want free shipping on this?ā too many respond āheck yeah!ā without thinking there might be any strings attached.
I had to look closely to figure out what the strings were behind the seemingly no-strings free shipping offer.
Itās deceptive, for sure, but effective only because people are too trusting of Amazon.
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