Some customers can receive a maximum payment of $51 in the settlement
As part of the $2.5 billion settlement last year, the company agreed to pay $1.5 billion in refunds to millions of customers as well as an additional $1 billion in civil penalties.
Some Customers Already Got Refunds
After the FTC and the online retail giant reached settlement, as part of the first stage of payments, Amazon sent automatic refunds to eligible Prime customers in November and December 2025, according to a notice sent by the federal agency on Jan. 6.
Customers Still Eligible for Refunds
The second phase of payments includes a “claims process” for eligible Prime customers who didn’t get an automatic refund, the FTC said.
“Amazon is now sending claims notices to eligible Prime customers who did not receive an automatic refund,” the FTC said in its recent update. “For the claims process, Amazon expects to send payments in late 2026. They don’t have a mailing date yet for payments.”
Customers who did not receive the automatic refund can still apply starting Jan. 5, 2026, according to the settlement website. Those who are eligible should get a notice by Jan. 23.
According to the website, you must have been an Amazon customer in the United States who signed up for Prime between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2005. And customers had to have used “more than three but less than 10 Prime benefits in a 12-month period” in that same time period.
They also had to have been “unintentionally enrolled through” Prime through what the agency said is a “challenged enrollment flow” or they had to have “tried to cancel through the online cancellation flow but were unable to do so.” Included in the so-called challenged enrollment flow are several sections on Amazon Prime’s website, including a “universal … decision page,” Prime Video enrollment pages, and a “single page checkout,” the FTC said.
Payments to Go Out Later This Year
Customers who did not receive their refund already will likely see the payment later this year, according to the FTC website.
“For the claims process, Amazon expects to send payments in late 2026. They don’t have a mailing date yet for payments,” the agency said.
FTC Warns of Fraud
In its notice this week, the FTC warned of possible scams. It stressed that it will not ask customers to make a payment to get a refund, advising people not to pay people who promise a refund in exchange for money. It also advised people not to give out any personal information to anyone who claims to have a refund for the customer.
The FTC said it won’t be contacting customers in the case, adding that people who get a call from someone claiming to be an FTC official are scammers.
Amazon’s Response
In a statement issued in September 2025, Amazon wrote that it chose to settle because that “allows us to move forward and focus on innovating for customers” and that its executives “always followed the law.”
“We work incredibly hard to make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up or cancel their Prime membership” and will “continue to do so, and look forward to what we’ll deliver for Prime members in the coming years,” the company said.
