Amazon’s new user agreement seeks to curb class-action suits
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The new waiver will require shoppers to resolve disputes outside the courts, but Amazon said customers could still file small claims.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Amazon has reintroduced an arbitration clause to stop customers from filing class-action lawsuits against it.
- The new user agreement requires disputes to be settled outside court but allows small claims cases.
- This update aims to offer faster, cheaper dispute resolution, though courts may still rule on class-action eligibility.
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Amazon.com reintroduced a clause in its user agreement that seeks to prevent shoppers from filing class-action lawsuits against the online retailer, inserting a legal buffer between itself and plaintiffs attorneys that it removed five years ago.
In an e-mail sent to customers on Aug 14, the company said a new “arbitration agreement and class-action waiver” will require shoppers to resolve disputes outside the courts, but said they could still file small claims, cases that typically limit damages to a few thousand dollars.
“We continually update our conditions of use to better serve our customers,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement.
“We determined that reinstating the arbitration clause will offer customers a fast, cost-effective way to resolve disputes while still giving them the option of going to small claims court.”
Amazon removed a similar clause from its user agreement in 2021 amid a barrage of legal privacy challenges related to its voice-activated Alexa devices.
The company has also battled class-action lawsuits over unsafe product claims and allegedly making it hard to cancel Prime memberships.
The user-agreement update is not necessarily binding in court. Plaintiffs’ attorneys could still seek class-action lawsuits against Amazon, and it would be up to a judge to determine if the user agreement prevents them from doing so. BLOOMBERG
