Amazon Returns Settlement: $1B Proposal

A lawsuit challenges how Amazon handles returns and refunds for its U.S. customers, claiming the company's practices led to significant, unwarranted charges — including cases where shoppers returned items properly but were still billed, or never got the refund they were owed in full or on time. To resolve those claims, Amazon and the plaintiffs have proposed a class settlement valued at more than $1 billion, made up of over $600 million earmarked for direct refunds to individual customers plus more than $363 million in non-monetary relief aimed at fixing Amazon's return and refund processes going forward. Amazon has not admitted to any wrongdoing, but agreed to settle after its own internal review turned up problems with a subset of returns. The case, In re: Amazon Return Policy Litigation, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington under case No. 2:23-CV-01372-JNW. A request for preliminary court approval of the settlement has been or is about to be filed, and the litigation is essentially on hold while that approval process moves forward.