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Amazon faces a putative class action lawsuit filed by a former customer who claims the e-commerce retailer automatically charged his bank account for a Prime premium membership without his consent.
Plaintiff Gregory Harris of California alleges that he purchased products on amazon.com and was informed that he would only be charged for those items. However, Harris claims that his account was upgraded to the premium membership Amazon Prime without his permission.
The Amazon class action lawsuit states that Harris was charged $107.91 for the Prime membership which was automatically taken out of his bank account. Although he canceled the membership after one withdrawal of $107, Harris alleges that Amazon would have continued to take unauthorized, reoccurring payments from his account had they not been stopped.
According to the Amazon Prime class action lawsuit, this is a “common scheme” of the internet retailer used to mislead and entice customers into making purchases from amazon.com, while customers are actually being charged more than what is represented. Harris claims that had Amazon properly represented the hidden fee, he would not have bought products on the website.
The Amazon false advertising class action lawsuit states that Amazon failed to take reasonable steps to inform Harris that he would be charged for a premium membership.
The plaintiff claims that Amazon failed to provide an opportunity for consumers to read and review the accurate conditions of the purchase prior to buying the items: “As such, defendant took advantage of defendant’s position of perceived power in order to deceive plaintiff and the class members to use its services.”
Harris states that the Amazon membership fee violates California’s False Advertising Act which makes it illegal to engage in advertising “which is untrue or misleading and which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue or misleading…”
The Amazon Prime membership class action lawsuit also claims that the company violated the federal Electronic Funds Transfer Act which states that a “preauthorized electronic fund transfer from a consumer’s account may be authorized by the consumer only in writing, and a copy of such authorization shall be provided to the consumer when made.”
If approved, the Amazon class action lawsuit would be open to all U.S. consumers who purchased products from amazon.com and were charged an additional membership fee. Harris is also hoping to represent a subclass of U.S. Class Members whose bank accounts were debited on a reoccurring basis by Amazon without obtaining a written authorization signed or similarly authenticated for preauthorized electronic fund transfers within the past year.
Another recently filed Amazon class action lawsuit regarding Amazon’s list price was dismissed in October 2015 by a California federal court. Plaintiffs Andrea Fagerstrom and Allen Wiseley, claimed that Amazon misrepresented competitive pricing by only selecting the highest price it could find for a particular item. According to the court, the plaintiffs accepted the terms of Amazon’s arbitration agreement at the time they made their online purchase therefore the case was dismissed.
Harris is represented by Todd M. Friedman and Adrian R. Bacon of The Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.
The Amazon Prime False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Gregory Harris, et al. v. Amazon.com LLC, Case No. BC606984 in the Superior Court of California For the County of Los Angeles.
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165 thoughts onAmazon Faces Prime Membership Class Action Lawsuit
Wow I can not understand how this legal. How can a businesses go into your bank account and take money out of it without your permission? Hey I wonder if I can go in Amazon’s bank account to borrow some money lol. They charged me $105.93 for downloading the app to my PS3 and syncing it to my amazon account. I didn’t by nothing at all. This is not right and one of the problems with America today.
Yes, Amazon did this to me twice & we had to call the credit card company & get it dismissed after they initially said they would remove the charge, but did not do it right away like they said they would. Eventually there were no problems with it, but it was aggravating having to through all the motions & effort to get things taken care of.
I have had 3 charges from amzon prime….2 charges of $99.99 on my bank debit card just this past year Nov 2015 & Dec 2015.And then again for the 3rd time on a green dot visa card just the other Feb 2016 for $99.99….anything you could help me on or advise me would be granteful…because so far I have just recieved one refund back from my bank because it takes them so long and I live on a fixed income due to being totally disabled and it really puts me in a huge bind….Thank you, Lisa
I was asked to give my credit card info for my “free 30 day trial”. After 30 days had I not cancelled, there would be a $99.99 charge. Low and behold, they didnt wait any anoint of time. My account was sacked with the full yearly fee, rightfrom the get go. Bait and switch? What a racket.
Mary: you’re either a blatant internet troll or an Amazon employee. Perhaps both. Do you actually read through all the fine print on a software installation for your computer? If Apple or Microsoft happened to sneak in a clause that would allow them to pillage your bank account a year after the fact, they would get away with it for a while. But it is a blatantly deceptive business practice and, eventually, they would get called on it. Only a fool would call it honest and ethical.
I was an occasional Amazon customer and agreed to their trial period Prime membership (or it was one of many unchecked boxes in their action-packed checkout form that I forgot to uncheck in the midst of purchasing aftershave lotion or whatever.) When you agree to something that is free for a limited time, you fully expect it to expire and to get properly solicited for renewal at a later date . . . not have a multi-billion dollar corporation go into your bank account a year after the fact and skim off a C note to “renew” you without even asking first.
They just did it to me and my bank assumed, as I did, that it was some sort of fraud. It was only later in the day that I found that Amazon pulls this sort of shit all the time. I’ve emailed the law firm that is mentioned in the above article, with a request to getting on the class action list. I’m not after money (maybe a 30 cent check will arrive in the mail 18 months from now. if it plays out typically,) but to prove a point: don’t tell me you’re signing me up for “free” and then skim money out of my account a year later without even asking.
I hope Amazon loses a lot of money over this. As it was, I was an occasional Amazon customer in the past. Had they the decency to ask me to renew Prime, I probably would have said no, but continued to be an occasional customer. Now, they’ve lost me as a customer forever. But, hey, Mary . . . they’ve still got you. You just might want to look at you bank statement very carefully from now on, though.
Got me for $100.26 . Not sure what amazons prime is. Sounds like a scam.
My niece has her baby registry on Amazon. On December 25, 2015 I ordered a baby gift. Then on January 21, 2016 I ordered 2 items for her baby shower which came to $365.90. I payed for gift wrapping and I was fine with shipping costs and tax. She’s registered with Amazon so that’s why I ordered from Amazon. The on January 24, 2016 I see a charge on my credit card for $107.66 for a membership fee that I never authorized. So when you give them your credit card number number to pay for your items then they go ahead and charge a membership without your permission. That to me is not any different then giving a waiter your credit card to pay for dinner at a restaurant and the waiter writes down the your credit card number and go charging items on it. In my opinion that is Fraud. Then on January 28, 2016when I called to cancel it I felt like I was being intergorated. Mailing address, last 4 digits of my credit card etc. As quickly they took the money out, they should as quickly put the money back in. Surprise! It’s still showing as a charge
They got me they had to refund me back and took so long to do so.
I’ve had the same experience.
Yep, did it to me too…hence I will NEVER use amazon again..scam artists.
The above comment is referring charges from Amazon they charged my account for something thatI did not order it cast me $ 64.00 in fees pluse 107.99 what a rip off now I have to wait for this bull to clear up bad business