Opinion
Amazon has been hit with a class action lawsuit from Prime subscribers who say they were misled when they were charged extra for streaming movies and TV shows without ads.
Amazon hit with a lawsuit
Filed Friday in a federal court in California, the proposed class action lawsuit “claims breach of contract and violations of state consumer protection laws on behalf of users who saw the terms of their subscriptions with Amazon change when it focused on making the default ad tier for has over 100 million subscribers,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Amazon announced plans in December last year to enable ads for all Prime Video viewers, rolling out this change last month, instantly becoming the largest ad-supported subscription streamer.
Prime members can pay an additional $2.99 per month to return to ad-free content.
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Specifics of the cause
The issue at hand is that even users who had previously signed up for annual subscriptions were hit with an act they believe was deceptive on Amazon’s part.
“For years, Amazon advertised that its Prime membership included ad-free streaming of movies and TV shows,” the document states, according to Forbes. “Like other consumers, Plaintiff purchased his Prime membership, believing it would include ad-free streaming of movies and television shows. But that is not the case. Plaintiff brings this case for himself and other Amazon Prime members.
“Instead of receiving a subscription that included ad-free streaming of TV shows and movies, they received something of lesser value. They cannot enjoy ad-free streaming unless they pay an extra $2.99 per month,” the lawsuit states, according to The Wrap. “Therefore, Amazon’s false advertisements harm consumers by depriving them of the reasonable expectations to which they are entitled Subscribers now have to pay extra to get something they already paid for.”
The class action seeks at least $5 million and a court order prohibiting Amazon from engaging in further deceptive conduct on behalf of users who subscribed to Prime before December 28, 2023.
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Amazon’s goals
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy spoke during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call to say that he believes Prime Video will become a “large, profitable business” thanks to this additional change. He continued to express his intention to continue investing in “compelling and exclusive content” such as “Thursday Night Football” and The Lord of the Rings.
“With the addition of ads on Prime Video, we will be able to continue to significantly invest in content over time,” he added.
USA Today reported that Amazon Prime Video sent an email to customers in late December informing them of an “upcoming change to your Prime Video experience” before introducing “limited advertising” to allow the platform “to continue investing in engaging content and continue to increase that investment over a long period of time.”
“Our goal is to have significantly fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers,” the email continues. “No action is required on your part and there is no change to the current price of your Prime membership.”
Amazon has yet to publicly comment on this lawsuit.
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