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Amazon has reached a $2 million settlement with six California counties over claims the company’s use of reference pricing misleads consumers.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this month by the district attorneys of Alameda, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Yolo counties.
The lawsuit pointed out the use of “was” or “list” on Amazon prices advertise savings to consumers and typically have a slash or line across them, ABC 10News in San Diego. The “was” price allegedly indicates the price Amazon previously charged for the product, while the “list” price suggests a price at which the item is sold by other sellers.
However, the California district attorneys took issue with how these Amazon prices were determined.
Amazon will pay $100,000 in restitution; however, rather than that money going directly into consumers’ hands, it will be paid to the California Consumer Protection Fund.
The fund is intended to enhance “the investigation, prosecution, and enforcement of consumer protection actions brought pursuant to the unfair competition statutes” of California, according to the Amazon prices settlement agreement.
The parties involved in the case agreed the money should go to the fund rather than consumers due to “the impossibility of identifying aggrieved consumers who suffered actual loss, the impracticality of providing direct restitution to said consumers, and that the disproportionate cost of making restitution to individual consumers would far exceed the benefit consumers would gain.”
In addition, Amazon will pay a civil penalty of $1.7 million to the Riverside district attorney’s office. From there, it will be divided equally among the district attorneys’ offices involved in the lawsuit.
The online retailer also will pay $200,000 in investigative costs.
Also as part of the settlement, Amazon has agreed to stop doing anything within California regarding the advertising of any “advertised reference price” based on a formula, algorithm, or any other method that results in the price being false or misleading.
Have you seen “list” or “was” Amazon prices? Did they affect your shopping habits? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by the district attorneys of Alameda, San Diego, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Riverside, and Yolo counties in California.
The Amazon Prices Lawsuit is People of the State of California v. Amazon.com Inc., Case No. 37-2021-00011984-CU-BT-CTL, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Diego.
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11 thoughts onAmazon, California Counties Reach $2M Settlement Over Reference Pricing
yes they are snakes and they owe me over $2000, already but refuse to refund my account also