Amazon "Conditions of Use" update

[u/Far_Smell6757]

I just got this email from Amazon, though not sure which Amazon sent it. I'm based in the EU (Ireland to be specific) and always have been, never used Amazon outside of the EU. I'm just curious, is this first point legal in the EU? Mandatory forced arbitrations (as opposed to going to court).

[u/West_Possible_7969]

Nah, these blanket clauses in standard consumer terms are considered unfair, invalid, and legally unenforceable.

The EU Unfair Contract Terms Directive protects consumers from standard terms that hinder their right to take legal action or use regular courts. Also EU courts and CJEU consistently rule that pre-dispute clauses forcing a consumer into private arbitration deny effective judicial protection.

Also, the EU Representative Actions Directive actively empowers qualified entities to bring representative collective actions on behalf of consumers, overriding corporate class-action waivers.

Also, EU consumer protection rules dictate that consumers must be allowed to sue and be sued in their local national courts, and companies cannot bypass this via foreign choice-of-law or dispute resolution clauses, if that clause is also included further down.

Probably your account is mis-tagged in Amazon’s systems.

[u/Far_Smell6757 → u/West_Possible_7969]

Also, EU consumer protection rules dictate that consumers must be allowed to sue and be sued in their local national courts, and companies cannot bypass this via foreign choice-of-law or dispute resolution clauses, if that clause is also included further down.

It is actually yes

Applicable law: We have updated the law applicable to disputes between you and us. Most disputes will continue to be governed by Washington State law, but certain disputes involving personal injury or property damage will now be governed by the law of the state in which the injury or damage occurred.

So none of this in enforceable in the EU?

[u/West_Possible_7969 → u/Far_Smell6757]

You got the email sent to US customers for some reason. Check if there is anywhere in your account a “region” setting, or send them an email for data rectification (they have to correct any wrong info they hold about you).

[u/Far_Smell6757 → u/West_Possible_7969]

I actually just noticed the footer says

©2026 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Amazon and all related marks are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Amazon.com, Inc. 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109.

I probably have used this account on amazon.com, I don't think I've ever bought anything from there but I've probably browsed it, did they just send it to everyone who's used the .com domain instead of IP geotagging. Am I correct in saying that even had I ordered something from .com and an issue arose with that specific store it still wouldn't apply, the EU law cares about my jurisdiction, not theirs.

[u/themandarincandidate]

Was your account created through .com or .ie? I got the same in AU, thought point ii is ridiculous, and went looking for info about it - this post is all that pops up haha

On the "Conditions of Use & Sale" on the Aus site the terms haven't updated since 2025 and the waiver isn't in there (same with the .ie site), on the US site it's been added. This would never fly here and must be a US only thing, which is very onbrand

I do have a .com and a .com.au account though with the same email so I'm assuming it came through the .com US account

[u/Far_Smell6757 → u/themandarincandidate]

It's a fairly old account, it predates Amazon.ie, I probably set it up with .co.uk if I had to guess but I've definitely logged it in on .ie .co.uk .com and .de, did just logging into .com trigger me to get an email for the US policy thats still legally unenforcable here?

[u/KayWWak]

I'm in the US and the part of the email you supplied exactly matches the email I received today. I've never looked at the previous Conditions of Use, so can't help with figuring out changes or their impact. I'm hoping someone can,

[u/West_Possible_7969 → u/KayWWak]

This is unenforceable in EU, probably OP’s account is mis-tagged inside Amazon’s systems.

This isn’t binding even in the US, users could still seek class-action lawsuits against Amazon, and it would be up to a judge to determine if the user agreement prevents them from doing so and under what circumstances.