Amazon is facing a legal battle in a new lawsuit that alleges the company is misleading Prime subscribers by charging them an additional fee to stream movies and TV shows without ads.
A proposed class action lawsuit was filed Friday in California federal court, claiming breach of contract and violations of state consumer protection laws for those who saw the terms of their subscriptions with the platform change when it switched to making its ad tier the default for its over 100 million subscribers.
Last year, Amazon announced plans to turn on ads for its Prime Video subscribers. As a result, it did just that last month, instantly showing ads. But to bypass, users had the option to pay an additional $2.99 per month to watch without ads.
But when Amazon altered its terms, those users who had signed up for annual subscriptions were also impacted, and they now allege the change is deceptive.
“Subscribers must now pay extra to get something they already paid for,” the complaint reads.
To support its “unfair” claim, the suit says that Amazon illegally benefited by advertising Prime Video as “commercial-free” for years before launching its ad-supported tier, which “harms both consumers and honest competition.”
The proposed class action seeks at least $5 million and a court order that will bar Amazon from engaging in further deceptive conduct on behalf of subscribers who signed up for Prime prior to Dec. 28, 2023.
