Amazon says a glitch prevented some customers this week from selecting free shipping on eligible orders over $35 unless they first signed up for a trial Prime membership with recurring monthly fees.
A spokesperson said late Wednesday that the online retail giant “identified and fixed a technical error that inadvertently removed the free shipping option” on the final checkout page.
“We apologize for the issue and any inconvenience it caused, and are taking steps to make this right for customers who were impacted,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Amazon insisted that it fixed the problem within hours of learning about it, and cited a commitment to making its shipping and membership options clear to consumers.
Customers who spent hours talking to customer service questioned this narrative on social media. They posted more than 200 comments on a Sunday Reddit thread flagging the issue — including screenshots showing that their only alternative to signing up for Prime at checkout was to pay $6.99 or more for shipping on orders their shopping carts assured them could ship for free.
“I smell another lawsuit,” one Reddit user posted on Monday.
“They’re clearly trying something scammy,” another posted on Tuesday. “I logged into a different Amazon account on a new browser, and the ’free shipping’ option reappeared.”
Customers have complained for years that Amazon’s misleading order menus tricked them into paying $14.99 a month for its premium next-day delivery service — or $139 a year, significantly higher than what most non-subscribers relying on “free shipping over $35” pay in taxes and fees.
In September, the Federal Trade Commission ordered Amazon to pay a record $1 billion civil penalty for manipulating customers into getting Prime memberships that began charging them before they realized it and cancelled.
The FTC also ordered Amazon to pay $1.5 billion “in refunds back to consumers harmed by their deceptive Prime enrollment practices, and cease unlawful enrollment and cancellation practices for Prime.”
“From a legal perspective, the issue is whether consumers are getting unambiguous and honest information during checkout,” Seann Malloy, a consumer rights attorney practicing in Maryland and the District of Columbia, said Thursday. “Businesses should provide the options that consumers were promised, and those options should be easy to identify and navigate.”
Shoppers affected by this week’s glitch reported that Amazon customer service agents urged them to pay $6.99 for shipping and then call later to claim a manual refund. Some reported ordering items from Walmart and other retailers instead.
Consumer rights advocate Edgar Dworsky, founder of the website Consumer World, encouraged Amazon shoppers to pause buying and wait for a resolution in such cases.
“I would simply not complete the order under those circumstances, but leave the affected items in the shopping cart,” Mr. Dworsky said in an email.
