A new investigation has shown that cancelling your Amazon Prime subscription is getting more and more difficult – and it seems to be deliberate.
Documents shared internally at Amazon detail a so-called ‘Project Iliad’ – an attempt to curtail the number of users cancelling their Amazon Prime memberships and thus retain a healthier Prime-based revenue stream and customer base.
According to documents obtained by Business Insider, Project Iliad spanned years and introduced several steps to complicate the Amazon Prime cancellation process, which proved successful to the extent that cancellations were down 14 per cent in 2017.
Amazon Prime’s multi-step cancellation process has led to complaints to the Federal Trade Commission and some consumer-interest bodies. In a January 2021 report, the Norwegian Consumer Council stated, “Throughout the process, Amazon manipulates users through wording and graphic design, making the process needlessly difficult and frustrating to understand.
“Companies such as Amazon seem to speculate that they can discourage customers from cancelling their subscriptions either by heavily emphasising the benefits that will be lost upon cancellation or by making the process so complicated that its users simply give up.”
Of course, if you’re happy to stay subscribed, Amazon Prime remains a compelling service – its combination of free shipping on selected purchases, access to Prime Video and Music Unlimited content, digital reading options, cloud storage and other perks is competitive for its $139 / £79 / AU$59 annual fee.
That said, subscription services should never make it more confusing and time-consuming to get a handle on your budget, and here Amazon stands accused of using ‘dark patterns’ in its Prime cancellation process.
How are these so-called dark patterns defined? Allow the Norwegian Consumer Council: “Dark patterns, or manipulative design, are features of user interface design that nudge or push consumers into making choices that are in the best interest of the service provider, rather than in the interest of the consumer,” the council explains, adding, “this may include that certain options are easier to choose than others, that consumers are tricked into giving consent to sharing personal data, and many other practices.”
Amazon Prime’s vice president, Jamil Ghani, fiercely contends the criticism directed at the company. “Customer transparency and trust are top priorities for us,” he said in a statement given to Business Insider, adding, “By design, we make it clear and simple for customers to both sign up for or cancel their Prime membership. We continually listen to customer feedback and look for ways to improve the customer experience.”
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