The U.S. government is accusing Amazon of waging a war of attrition against its own customers. A federal trial has begun to determine if the company deliberately designed its Prime cancellation process to be so frustrating that it would wear down users’ resolve, a tactic the FTC alleges is illegal.
The prime exhibit in this case is the “Iliad” flow, a name the government says is a clear admission of its grueling nature. The FTC argues that this multi-step, confusing process was a strategic weapon, designed to exhaust the user’s patience and secure their surrender in the form of a continued subscription.
This “war of attrition” strategy, the FTC contends, was a key part of Amazon’s plan to reduce subscriber churn. By making the cost of leaving—in terms of time and frustration—so high, the company could retain revenue from customers who would have otherwise departed.
This trial brings a new dimension to consumer protection, focusing on the weaponization of user frustration. A ruling against Amazon could establish that creating an intentionally poor user experience for a specific task, like cancellation, is an unfair trade practice.
Amazon is defending its user experience design, arguing it was never intended to be a battle. The company will likely claim that the multiple steps in the old cancellation process were designed to confirm the user’s choice and offer them alternatives, not to wear them down.