Those who subscribe to Amazon Prime can watch many movies for free thanks to Prime Video. But on February 5, that will change: Amazon is adding advertisements to the service. To enjoy an ad-free experience, you will have to pay. However, some, such as the consumer protection agency, plan to take legal action against this.
Thanks to Amazon Prime, you can watch a variety of videos for free via Prime Video. But this is now changing. Amazon is making adjustments and supplementing the service with advertisements, while offering a paid upgrade to remove ads.
When is the change coming and what does it cost? On February 5, 2024, starting today, Amazon will integrate advertisements into Prime Video. To avoid seeing ads, you can switch your subscription. For this, Amazon will charge 2.99 euros per month in Germany.
Consumer Agency Sees Violation of Consumer Rights
The Federal Association of Consumer Protection Agencies (VZBV) plans to file a lawsuit against the online retailer Amazon. This was reported by the VZBV in a statement. The VZBV had already issued a warning to Amazon and now intends to file a lawsuit:
- On one hand, it constitutes a “substantial change to the contract,” for which Amazon would need to obtain consent from its customers. This has not occurred here.
- On the other hand, it represents a hidden price increase, as the customer will soon have to pay three euros more for the service they previously received with Prime Video.
- The general notice from Amazon, which has been distributed to its customers since January 2024, is also not sufficient.
How does Amazon respond? Amazon does not understand the criticism of the new model. ZDF reports that Amazon stated it has fulfilled all legal obligations. They pointed out to customers that there will be advertisements and that there is also an ad-free version available for an additional fee. And every customer can cancel their subscription at any time.
More about Amazon: A gamer buys a new graphics card on Amazon and instead receives the wrong GPU multiple times. However, on the second try, he gets lucky and keeps the “wrong” model:
