Skip to main content

Cookies on BBB.org

We use cookies to give users the best content and online experience. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to allow us to use all cookies. Visit our Privacy Policy to learn more.

Cookie Preferences

Many websites use cookies or similar tools to store information on your browser or device. We use cookies on BBB websites to remember your preferences, improve website performance and enhance user experience, and to recommend content we believe will be most relevant to you. Most cookies collect anonymous information such as how users arrive at and use the website. Some cookies are necessary to allow the website to function properly, but you may choose to not allow other types of cookies below.

Necessary Cookies

What are necessary cookies?
These cookies are necessary for the site to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you that amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Necessary cookies must always be enabled.

Functional Cookies

What are functional cookies?
These cookies enable the site to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not function properly.

Performance Cookies

What are performance cookies?
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.

Marketing Cookies

What are marketing cookies?
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant content on other sites. They do not store personal information directly, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser or device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
      Country
          Country

          Find a Location

          Amazon.com has 125 locations, listed below.

          *This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

            Country
            Please enter a valid location.
            • Amazon.com

              202 Westlake Ave N Ste 2 Seattle, WA 98109-5264

              BBB Accredited Business
            • Amazon.com

              PO Box 81207 Seattle, WA 98108-1207

              BBB Accredited Business
            • Amazon

              4400 12th Street Ext West Columbia, SC 29172-3300

            • Amazon.com

              3680 Langley Dr Hebron, KY 41048-9135

            • Amazon.com

              2020 Joe B Jackson Pkwy Murfreesboro, TN 37127-7792

            Business ProfileforAmazon.com

            Ecommerce
            HeadquartersMulti Location Business
            BBB accredited business
            The Complaints and Reviews shown on this HQ profile may have been submitted against either the HQ itself or one of the corporate-owned locations found under "Find Locations".

            Current Alerts For This Business

            There are 3 alerts for this business. See all alerts
            Government Action: BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct::
            The Federal Trade Commission v Amazon.com, Inc.

            The following describes a pending government action that has been formally brought by a government agency but has not yet been resolved. We are providing a summary of the governments allegations, which have not yet been proven.

            On June 21, 2023, in the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, The Federal Trade Commission filed a Complaint for Permanent Injunction, Civil Penalties, Monetary Relief, and Other Equitable Relief against Amazon.com, Inc. 

            The complaint alleges Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly enrolling in Amazon Prime. Specifically, Amazon used manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs known as “dark patterns” to trick consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions.


            Amazon also knowingly complicated the cancellation process for Prime subscribers who sought to end their membership. The primary purpose of its Prime cancellation process was not to enable subscribers to cancel, but to stop them. Amazon leadership slowed or rejected changes that would’ve made it easier for users to cancel Prime because those changes adversely affected Amazon’s bottom line. 


            For now, the FTC’s complaint is significantly redacted, though the FTC has told the Court it does not find the need for ongoing secrecy compelling. Nevertheless, the complaint contains a number of allegations related to the company’s decision not to make changes to prevent nonconsensual enrollment in Prime and the difficulties consumers faced in attempting to unsubscribe from the service. Specifically, the complaint charges that Amazon used so-called “dark patterns” to cause consumers to enroll in Prime without their consent, in violation of the FTC Act, and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.

            During Amazon’s online checkout process, consumers were faced with numerous opportunities to subscribe to Amazon Prime at $14.99/month. In many cases, the option to purchase items on Amazon without subscribing to Prime was more difficult for consumers to locate. In some cases, the button presented to consumers to complete their transaction did not clearly state that in choosing that option they were also agreeing to join Prime for a recurring subscription.


            The FTC charges that Amazon put in place a cancellation process designed to deter consumers from successfully unsubscribing from Prime. Previous reporting about the process in the media has noted that Amazon used the term “Iliad” to describe the process, which the reporting cites as an allusion to Homer’s epic poem set over twenty-four books and nearly 16,000 lines about the decade-long Trojan War.


            Consumers who attempted to cancel Prime were faced with multiple steps to actually accomplish the task of cancelling, according to the complaint. Consumers had to first locate the cancellation flow, which Amazon made difficult. Once they located the cancellation flow, they were redirected to multiple pages that presented several offers to continue the subscription at a discounted price, to simply turn off the auto-renew feature, or to decide not to cancel. Only after clicking through these pages could consumers finally cancel the service.


            The complaint notes that Amazon was aware of consumers being non-consensually enrolled and the complex and confusing process to cancel Prime that the company’s executives failed to take any meaningful steps to address the issues until they were aware of the FTC investigation. In the complaint, the FTC also alleges that Amazon attempted to delay and hinder the Commission’s investigation in multiple instances.

            The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 3-0. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.


            NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court.

            The staff attorneys on this matter are Jonathan Cohen, Olivia Jerjian, Max Nardini, and Evan Mendelson of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

            Alert:
            Based on BBB Scam Tracker, BBB received information concerning alleged Amazon employment opportunities involving Amazon Data Jobs, www.amazondatajobs.org.

            On Amazon Data Jobs’ website-it indicates it’s not affiliated with Amazon.com.

            BBB has confirmed-www.amazondatajobs.org allegedly offers work-from-home opportunities and is not affiliated with Amazon.com.

            Additional business information

            Government Actions:
            Government Action: BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct:
            United States of America v Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon.com Services LLC

            The following describes a government action that has been resolved by either a settlement or a decision by a court or administrative agency. If the matter is being appealed, it will be noted below.

            On July 19, 2023, in the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, the United States of America and Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon.com Services LLC entered into a Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction, Civil Penalty Judgement and Other Relief.  The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),  Amazon.com Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Amazon.com Services LLC (collectively Amazon), have agreed to a permanent injunction and a $25 million civil penalty as part of a settlement to resolve alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) and the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC Act) relating to Amazon’s voice assistant service Alexa. 

            Amazon neither admits nor denies any of the allegations in the Complaint, except as specifically stated in this Order. Only for purposes of this action, Amazon admits the facts necessary to establish jurisdiction.

            The Complaint charges that Amazon violated the COPPA Rule and the FTC Act with respect to Alexa by misrepresenting that they would delete voice transcripts and geolocation information of users of their Alexa voice assistant service upon request and limit employees' access to Alexa users' voice information; by failing to delete children's personal information at the request of parents; and by retaining children's personal information longer than reasonably necessary to fulfill the purpose for which the information was collected. 

            Under the Order also filed by DOJ, Amazon will be required to delete inactive child accounts and certain voice recordings and geolocation information and will be prohibited from using such data to train its algorithms. 

            According to the complaint, Amazon prominently and repeatedly assured its users, including parents, that they could delete voice recordings collected from its Alexa voice assistant and geolocation information collected by the Alexa app. The company, however, failed to follow through on these promises when it kept some of this information for years and used the data it unlawfully retained to help improve its Alexa algorithm, according to the complaint. Amazon, one of the world’s biggest retailers, collects vast amounts of data about consumers ranging from their geolocation data via the company’s Alexa app to their voice recordings collected by Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant service. The company claims that its Alexa service and Echo devices are “designed to protect your privacy” and that parents and other users can delete geolocation data and voice recordings. Amazon also offers Alexa-enabled devices and services targeted to children and collects personal data, including voice recordings, from children. Amazon retained children’s recordings indefinitely—unless a parent requested that this information be deleted, according to the complaint. And even when a parent sought to delete that information, the FTC said, Amazon failed to delete transcripts of what kids said from all its databases.

            The COPPA Rule requires, among other things, that an operator of a commercial website or online service directed to children under 13 years of age notify parents about the information they collect from children, obtain parents’ consent for the collection of that data, and allow them to delete that information at any time. In addition, such a service is prohibited from retaining the information collected from children under 13 for longer than is reasonably necessary to provide the service.

            Amazon claimed it retained children’s voice recordings in order to help it respond to voice commands, allow parents to review them, and to improve Alexa’s speech recognition and processing capabilities, according to the complaint. Children’s speech patterns and accents differ from those of adults, so the unlawfully retained voice recordings provided Amazon with a valuable database for training the Alexa algorithm to understand children, benefitting its bottom line at the expense of children’s privacy.

            The FTC said the company failed to put in place an effective system to ensure that it honored users’ data deletion requests and to give parents meaningful notice about deletion. Even when Amazon discovered its failures to delete geolocation data, the FTC said that Amazon repeatedly failed to fix the problems.

            In addition to the data deletion requirement in the order, Amazon will be required to pay a $25 million civil penalty. Other provisions of the order:

            • Prohibit Amazon from using geolocation, voice information, and children’s voice information subject to consumers’ deletion requests for the creation or improvement of any data product;
            • Require the company to delete inactive Alexa accounts of children;
            • Require Amazon to notify users about the FTC-DOJ action against the company;
            • Require Amazon to notify users of its retention and deletion practices and controls;
            • Prohibit Amazon from misrepresenting its privacy policies related to geolocation, voice and children’s voice information; and
            • Mandate the creation and implementation of a privacy program related to the company’s use of geolocation information.

            This matter was handled by Senior Trial Attorney James T. Nelson and Assistant Directors Lisa Hsiao and Rachael Doud of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kayla Stahman for the Western District of Washington and Elisa Jillson, Andrew Hasty and Julia Horowitz of the FTC.

            For more information about the United States Department of Justice Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. For more information about the FTC, visit its website at www.FTC.gov.

            See all additional business information

            At-a-glance

            Customer Reviews

            1.15/5stars

            Average of 3,988 Customer Reviews

            Customer Complaints

            44,110 complaints closed in last 3 years

            20,190 complaints closed in last 12 months

            BBB Rating & Accreditation

            Accredited Since: 8/1/1996

            Years in Business: 28

            Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating

            Reasons for BBB Rating

            Overview

            Amazon.com offers new and used items for sale through the Internet.

            Products & Services

            Amazon.com offers a marketplace for work that requires human intelligence.

            Business Details

            This is a multi-location business.

            Find a Location

            Amazon.com has 125 locations, listed below.

            *This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

              Country
              Please enter a valid location.
              • Amazon.com

                202 Westlake Ave N Ste 2 Seattle, WA 98109-5264

                BBB Accredited Business
              • Amazon.com

                PO Box 81207 Seattle, WA 98108-1207

                BBB Accredited Business
              • Amazon

                4400 12th Street Ext West Columbia, SC 29172-3300

              • Amazon.com

                3680 Langley Dr Hebron, KY 41048-9135

              • Amazon.com

                2020 Joe B Jackson Pkwy Murfreesboro, TN 37127-7792

              BBB File Opened:
              8/1/1996
              Years in Business:
              28
              Business Started:
              7/1/1995
              Business Started Locally:
              10/24/2005
              Business Incorporated:
              5/28/1996
              Accredited Since:
              8/1/1996
              Licensing Information:
              This business is in an industry that may require professional licensing, bonding or registration. BBB encourages you to check with the appropriate agency to be certain any requirements are currently being met.
              Type of Entity:
              Corporation
              Number of Employees:
              1300000
              Alternate Business Name
              • Ink Big Games
              • Amazon Game Studio
              • Amazon Prime
              • Blink
              • Amazon 4-star
              • Amazon Fresh
              • Amazon Digital Services, Inc
              • Amazon.Com Books Inc
              • AmazonFresh.com
              • Amazon Fresh LLC
              • Amazon.Com Inc
              • Amazon Com Washington LLC
              • Amazon Com Intl Marketplace Inc
              • Amazon Export Sales Inc
              • MyHabit
              • MyHabit.com
              Business Management
              • Mr. Jeff Bezos, Founder/CEO
              • Mr. Brian Buckley, Corporate Counsel
              • Srihanuma Yallapragada, Manager of Customer Care
              Contact Information

              Principal

              • Mr. Jeff Bezos, Founder/CEO

              Customer Contact

              • Mr. Aakash Puri, Manager of Customer Care
              Additional Contact Information

              Fax Numbers

              • (206) 266-1838
                Primary Fax

              Phone Numbers

              Industry Tip

              BBB Tip: Smart shopping online

              Customer Complaints

              44,111 Customer Complaints

              Need to file a complaint? BBB is here to help. We'll guide you through the process. How BBB Processes Complaints and Reviews

              File a Complaint

              Most Recent Customer Complaint

              03/25/2024

              Complaint Type:
              Problems with Product/Service
              Status:
              Answered
              I had an item that was delivered, it came damaged with missing parts, it looked like it could have been used. I reached out to customer support about this and many times I was disconnected, or hung up on. I was once transferred through to a specialist who did not help me and as I was asking questions they hung up on me. This is extremely frustrating since I waited a while just to get ahold of someone. I asked each representative if I could receive some type of compensation or if a return is needed that help is sent out because it is a very heavy item. Each person either ignored my wishes and questions, so I gave it another try and contacted once again. I was pushed through to someone named ***** and he was able to help and answer my questions, he said he would resolve the issue by issuing me a refund back to original payment, and at the end of our chat I asked if I would have a confirmation email sent to have as proof he said yes it would arrive shortly. However, that never came and instead I was sent about 2-3 emails stating I need to upload my personal information to receive any refund, even after being told that my refund would be processed already. I felt like that was very misleading and not only that, an invasion of privacy. I am not okay with uploading my personal information that Amazon will give away to a third party- that is not even mentioned who. To say that if I dont give my information away to this third party then I will not be helped and no longer to resolve this issue. On top of how difficult it was to find someone to just help, I am extremely disappointed with Amazon and their service lately. I just want my refund that I was promised otherwise I will have to reach out to my bank, which is what I want to be a last resort. Ive never had an issue like this with Amazon. If this is the kind of service they will give, I will not shop here anymore but give me what I was told Id be given. Order #***-7558940-9407404, for RHYTHM FUN Walking Pad Treadmill
              Read More

              Customer Reviews

              3,988 Customer Reviews

              What do you think? Share your review.

              How BBB Processes Complaints and Reviews

              Start a Review

              Most Recent Customer Review

              Brett D

              1 star

              03/26/2024

              I got a Amazon credit card to up my credit score the bank they recommend ripped me off 400$ and Amazon does not care. And Amazon still is sending Amazon customers to them. I cancelled my Amazon account

              Local BBB

              BBB Great West + Pacific

              BBB Reports On

              BBB reports on known marketplace practices.

              BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.

              BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles.

              When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

              BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile.

              As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business.