Amazon Class Action Lawsuit
Those who meet eligibility criteria should apply before the deadline December 1, 2026. Amazon return settlement: a $309.5 million fund for customers Amazon failed to refund. Most are paid automatically; the rest must file a claim.
Chimo is not filing claims for this settlement. The details below explain who qualifies and how people who do can claim.
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Amazon Class Action Lawsuit
Customers who sent items back to Amazon expected their money back. According to the lawsuit, that did not always happen. The complaint says Amazon failed to issue refunds, or charged customers again after refunding them, even when they had returned items the way its return policy asked, often by saying the return never arrived. It also says human error played a part, and that most customers never noticed the missing money.
The first case was filed in August 2023 in federal court in Seattle, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Two more followed that fall, Srivastava v. Amazon.com and Jones Clark v. Amazon.com, and the court combined them as In re: Amazon Return Policy Litigation, case number 2:23-cv-01372-JNW, before Judge Jamal N. Whitehead. Ten customers brought the case as the named plaintiffs, the people who sue on behalf of everyone else in the class, and the court appointed Zigler Law Group and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan as class counsel, the lawyers who represent the whole class.
The amended complaint brings 14 claims, including breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith, violation of Washington's Consumer Protection Act, unjust enrichment and conversion. Amazon asked the court to throw out part of the case in 2024, and the judge refused. The two sides began talking in February 2025, went to formal mediation that May and reached this settlement. Amazon denies all of the allegations and does not admit doing anything wrong.
Amazon Class Action Settlement - $309,500,000
Amazon has agreed to pay $309.5 million into a settlement fund. That is on top of refunds it had already started paying: after the lawsuit was filed, Amazon found refunds that may never have gone out and began paying them in 2025. By December 1, 2025 it had paid about $570 million of those, with about $34 million still unpaid, and the settlement commits it to finish that job.
The settlement covers anyone who started a return or asked for a refund on a physical product bought on Amazon.com and received in the U.S. between September 5, 2017 and February 12, 2026, and who either never got the refund, got it late or short, or was refunded and then charged again for the same item.
The class is split in two. Subclass A is made up of transactions Amazon's own records already identify, and those customers are paid without filing anything. Subclass B is everyone else in the class, and they have to file a claim by December 1, 2026. Amazon's settlement notice email told each person which group they are in.
Amazon has also agreed to change how it handles returns, including monitoring that returns are processed on time, automatically retrying refunds that fail because of a payment problem, and telling customers when a refund is approved or denied. The court gave preliminary approval on August 18, 2026 and will decide on final approval at a hearing on March 16, 2027.
Deadline for filing a claim: December 1, 2026
Amazon Return Class Action Payout: $309.5M split by refund owed
There is no single payout figure, because each payment is tied to the refund that went unpaid. The fund left after fees and costs is divided between the two groups: 92.7% goes to Subclass A and 7.3% to Subclass B. Subclass A members are paid the unpaid amount of each transaction plus a share for interest. Eligible Subclass B members are paid in proportion to their unpaid amounts and interest, from the smaller pool. Someone in both groups is paid from both, and the two can be combined into one payment.
Payments go out only after the court gives final approval and any appeals are over, so nothing is paid before the March 16, 2027 hearing. Subclass B members pick how they are paid on the claim form: an Amazon gift card, a check, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or a virtual prepaid card. Subclass A members choose a payment method separately, and anyone who does not choose within 105 days of final approval is matched to Zelle where possible, then sent reminder emails.
If money is left after everyone has been paid, it is sent out as a second payment to the people who were paid, as long as there is enough to cover the cost of doing so. Class counsel may ask for up to $100 million in fees and $1 million in costs, and each named plaintiff may ask for a $7,500 service award paid out of the fee. The court decides how much of that is approved. Questions go to the settlement administrator at 1-888-553-4246.
Amazon Return Class Action Eligibility
You are in this settlement if you returned, or asked for a refund on, a physical product you bought on Amazon.com and received in the U.S. between September 5, 2017 and February 12, 2026, and Amazon never refunded you, refunded you late or short, or charged you again after refunding you. Purchases from Amazon affiliates count only when the sale happened on Amazon.com and the return went through Amazon's own fulfillment.
What you do next depends on the group Amazon's settlement email put you in. If you are in Subclass A, you do not file anything: you are paid automatically, and the email explains how to choose a payment method. If you are in Subclass B, you must file a claim by December 1, 2026, using the Notice ID and the link in that email. You can file online or by mail, and Chimo is not filing claims for this settlement.
A Subclass B claim is detailed. For each return, you list the order number, the product, the date you asked for the refund, the amount and, if you know it, why Amazon rejected it. Each rejection reason needs its own proof, usually proof that you handed the item to the carrier, and a sworn statement such as "I returned the item(s) in this order" and "I did not receive the refund." You sign the whole claim under penalty of perjury, and the administrator can ask for more before approving it, so claim only the returns you can back up.
FAQ
The settlement notice Amazon's administrator sent by email says which group you are in. If you are unsure, or did not get an email, you can call the settlement administrator at 1-888-553-4246 and ask.
No. Subclass A transactions are already identified in Amazon's records, so those customers are paid without filing a claim. The one thing worth doing is choosing a payment method when the administrator asks, so the money reaches you.
Subclass B claims must be submitted online or postmarked by December 1, 2026. A claim that arrives late is not paid, and Subclass B members who do nothing receive no money from this settlement.
It is proof that you actually handed the item back, such as a carrier drop-off receipt or tracking record. The claim form asks for it for almost every rejection reason, alongside a short sworn statement about the return.
Yes. Amazon began paying refunds it found may have been missed in 2025 and had paid about $570 million by December 1, 2025. The $309.5 million fund is paid on top of those refunds, not instead of them.
Subclass A covers the transactions Amazon's own data already shows went unrefunded, so the unpaid amounts are known. Subclass B covers everything else and relies on customers proving each return, which is why its share of the fund is smaller.
Yes. If you had transactions in both groups, you are paid from both the Subclass A and Subclass B funds, and the two payments can be combined into one. You still need to file a claim for the Subclass B part.
No. Chimo is not filing claims for this one. Most of the class is paid automatically, and Subclass B claims are filed directly with the settlement administrator using the Notice ID from your email.
Amazon agreed to monitor that returns are processed on time, retry refunds that fail because of a payment problem, tell customers when a refund is approved or denied, and warn them when a return has not been processed within 90 days.
Class counsel may ask for up to $100 million in attorneys' fees and up to $1 million in costs. Each of the ten named plaintiffs may ask for a $7,500 service award, paid from the fee. The judge decides what is approved.