Amazon’s near-monopoly over the online retail market has forced more than 100 million customers to pay more for products than they should have, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Amazon customers filed the class action lawsuit Wednesday in a Washington federal court, alleging violations of the Sherman Act, including monopolization, Law360 reported.
Plaintiff Megan Smith says Amazon.com charges merchants “referral fees,” which they have to pay in order to sell their products on one of the largest marketplaces in the world.
She says these charges are ultimately passed on to consumers, which would not happen in a healthy, competitive market.
The tech giant’s “policy of overcharging consumers is woven into the fabric of Amazon’s existence,” Smith alleges.
As well as the referral fees, Amazon does not allow sellers to market their products at cheaper rates anywhere else online, creating another type of price fixing. Plus, Amazon goes on to undercut those same merchants on its site by selling the same products at a cheaper rate.
“Because the merchants’ goods are overpriced due to the existence of the ‘referral fees,’ Amazon is able to undercut the merchants’ prices with its own Amazon-label branded goods — vanquishing competition and eliminating consumer freedom to purchase the goods they seek in a normal functioning market free of anticompetitive conduct,” Smith says.
She’s looking to represent a nationwide class of more than 100 million consumers who bought items through Amazon from May 2017 onwards. She’s seeking damages, costs, fees, and an order preventing Amazon’s alleged violations of law.
Meanwhile, Amazon is facing another class action lawsuit over its Alexa device. Plaintiffs in the June class action complaint say the device is eavesdropping on private conversations, recording and storing them on an Amazon server for the multinational company to use at its will.
Plaintiffs say they are taking action against Amazon’s alleged practice of using smart- speaker technology to surreptitiously save permanent recordings of millions of Americans’ voices, all without their knowledge or consent.
What do you think of Amazon’s business practices? Let us know in the comments!
Smith is represented by R. Glenn Phillips of Phillips Law Firm PLLC and Peggy J. Wedgworth, Elizabeth McKenna, Robert A. Wallner and Blake Hunter Yagman of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC. The Amazon Monopoly Merchant Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Megan Smith v. Amazon.com Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-00838, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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2,380 thoughts onAmazon Owes 100 Million Consumers Money, New Class Action Lawsuit Alleges
I would like to start a class action lawsuit against Amazon for not fulfilling their commitment to deliver items in 2 days for prime customers in rural areas. I typically don’t receive my prime eligible products for 6 to 7 days after ordering. However if I change the delivery address to an address 20 miles from here it typically arrives in 1 day. I believe they are discriminating against rural customers and not honoring their contract with prime members.
Amazon has used 3rd party venders to fill my order. I paid premium pricing when 2 companies take my payments. Unfair business practice.
Amazon has the worse business practices. Please add me!
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Me also getting any resolution is a huge deal
I have paid paid for my prime account twice a month for the last five or six months I’m sick of arguing with them about it to get my money back and can’t never get my prime account shut down no matter how many times I’m refunded and told the problem is fixed it happens again the next month
I have been Shopping with Amazon at least 10 years. Prime member several years. Finding shopping has become challenging. I have noticed products from a search are limited by Amazon . In other words they show you what they want to and not all available items. Shipping is rarely 1-2 days now. Usually a week.
A-Z claims favor sellers now. Insisted I pay for love seat return when seller sent me wrong love seat. Description wrong.No replacement offered. Sizes are not accurate. Sellers seem to put whatever they want to and always bigger than product. And frustrating when you have to sort thru items as a member that price is lower but Added shipping high. Even when I search prime shipping only get these low price high ship items. Deals hah! Same old thing all the time. Not deals same price they have been for months.
New deal is credit card with Chase Bank. $100 Amazon bonus if you sign up for Amazon cc. Ok signed up but interest rate 18-26% per credit rating. Mine is mid to high 700. Got back with 26%.
Cancelled card next morning. But, card took over my payment account. Could not permanently remove as default. Even attached to my contacts I send things to. Messed up my payments for days. Had to manually change from default. Finally Ask them to take back $100 but have not been successful. Even CS tried to change default but kept returning to the Amazon Credit card. Like they were forcing you to use card and gift card. Exasperating. Like a scam. If they can force you to use their card then you are stuck with it. Wal-Mart is not better but I think I might shop around more. Thanks for listening.
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I get burnt on my credit cards every time I do business with them I get charged for things I didn’t buy . I’ve always. Blamed it on criminal order takers not Amizon it’s self I’m sure a early catch it but I’ve quit using by cards at all going to pay them off and put them away and I’m not ever buying anything on line again because it’s not just Amazon it’s 99% if everyone doing business on line it’s became a haven for con artist and criminals. I hate to even give my card numbers to the business that I know are legit . AT$T being one of the really bad ones for false charges .
Amazon has falsely debited my EBT card twice leaving hundreds of dollars missing. My Food stamps load on the eighth on each month. I barely spent $80. I have a negative balance and items I bought are tripled in prayer ce.
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I never ordered prime. But for 6 months Amazon kept taking money out of my check card saying I had a prime account. I tried to get my money back, I tried to tell them I never ordered prime,but I was never able to get anyone ,to address the problem so I had to get a new check card and block my old one so that no more prime payments would be taken out.