4 Plaintiffs Sue Amazon Over $3 Add-On Fee for Commercial-Free Prime Video

The plaintiffs in a fraud suit against Amazon didn’t receive the benefit of their bargain when the company hiked prices for its Prime Video subscription service in January, alleged their class action Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-00309) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle.

Amazon changed the terms of its annual contract with Prime subscribers Jan. 29, demanding that they pay an additional $2.99 per month for the same level of service of Prime Video they had been receiving, without commercial interruptions, the complaint said. But plaintiffs and class members had already paid their subscription fee for a full year of Prime, including access to ad-free Prime Video, it said.

Natalie Gianne of Los Angeles; Nikki Sanders of Garden Grove, California; Charles Baublitz of Perry Hall, Maryland; and Jeff Wiseman of Deerfield, Illinois, expected that when they paid their annual Prime subscription fee, it would include Prime Video’s ad-free feature for the duration of their annual subscription, the complaint said. Gianne, who renewed her Prime Video subscription in June, received an Amazon email in December telling her she had to pay an additional $2.99 per month beginning Jan. 29 if she wanted her streaming to continue to be ad-free. Sanders and Baublitz re-upped in August, and Wiseman resubscribed in October, and they, too, received the notice about the price hike in December, it said. All renewed with the understanding Prime would be ad-free for the duration of their subscriptions, it said.

The plaintiffs paid for an annual subscription that included ad-free streaming of movies and TV shows, “and now they have a subscription that is worth less,” the complaint said. They’re no longer able to watch movies and TV shows without commercials unless they pay $2.99 per month on top of what they already paid, it said.

Prime Video is part of Amazon’s Prime membership subscription service, which started in 2005 at $79 annually, offering free two-day delivery on items purchased on Amazon.com. Today, a Prime membership -- $139 annually or $14.99 per month – gives members the same free two-day shipping, plus Prime Video and access to music streaming and other offerings. Amazon generated $40.2 billion through Prime memberships last year; it has over 160 million U.S. members, said the complaint.

Consumers can access Prime Video either through a Prime membership or as a stand-alone service at $8.99 per month for non-Prime members, said the complaint. Amazon launched a free streaming service, now called Freevee, in 2019, which plaintiffs believe was an attempt to “to entice consumers to sign up for Amazon Prime and Prime Video without advertisements.” Consumers like the plaintiffs, who prefer to watch movies and shows without commercials, opted to pay for an annual Prime subscription that included ad-free Prime Video, instead of Freevee, the complaint said. Amazon “has never increased subscription fees during the term of an annual subscription membership paid upfront,” it said.

The complaint referenced Amazon’s terms and conditions for Prime, giving conditions under which Amazon might make changes to the Prime agreement, including for security or reasons or to reflect technology advances. But terms state that “any increase in subscription fee will not apply until your subscription is renewed.” Amazon didn’t remove Prime Video as a benefit of Prime, nor has it eliminated ad-free Prime Video altogether, said the complaint. Instead, it raised the subscription fee by requiring Prime members to pay $2.99 more monthly for “the same benefits Amazon agreed to provide when Plaintiffs paid for their annual subscription,” it said.

Plaintiffs’ claims include breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act. They request awards of actual and treble damages; pre- and post-judgment interest; an order enjoining Amazon from raising the price for Amazon Prime by $2.99 monthly “for the same level of service”; and attorneys’ fees and legal costs.