Amazon Ends Use of Arbitration for Customer Disputes
Amazon told customers this week that it would no longer require them to resolve their legal complaints involving the technology giant through arbitration, a significant retreat from a strategy that often helps companies avoid liability.
In a brief email to customers, Amazon said anyone using its products would now have to pursue disputes with the company in federal court, rather than go through the private and secretive arbitration process, which critics say puts consumers at a huge disadvantage.
“This is a big deal,” said Florencia Marotta-Wurgler, a professor at New York University Law School who focuses on consumer law. “For so long, the tide had been going the other way, with companies adding arbitration clauses to their contracts.”
The five-sentence note informing Amazon’s customers about its updated “conditions of use” did not explain the reasons for dropping arbitration. When asked about the reasoning, a company spokeswoman did not elaborate.
