Amazon mandates arbitration for United States customers, small claims available
Amazon just changed its rules again: US customers now generally must settle disputes through private arbitration, with small claims court still available, instead of taking the company to court with a class-action lawsuit.
These new terms kick in right away, and if you keep using Amazon, you're agreeing to them automatically.
This move actually reverses what Amazon did back in 2021, when they switched from arbitration to letting people sue in Washington state courts because handling so many individual cases got expensive.
Amazon sets 25 case mass arbitration
After getting hit with about 75,000 arbitration claims in 2021 (mostly about Alexa recording people without their OK), Amazon is grouping similar claims together.
Now, if 25 or more folks file over the same issue within six months, those cases get bundled as "mass arbitration."
Amazon says this will make things faster and cheaper for customers.
If you'd rather not arbitrate, small claims court is still an option. And if your dispute started before Friday, these new rules don't apply.