Millions of consumers across the country have signed up for an Amazon Prime membership. A key benefit of Prime involves getting same-day, one-day, or two-day delivery of Amazon packages. A membership costs about $15 per month or $139 per year.
Last week, the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against Amazon, arguing that it has violated the consumer protection law in the District. The complaint says that Amazon secretly placed a delivery exclusion on two zip codes east of the Anacostia River. Nearly 50,000 residents of these zip codes (20019 and 20020) hold Prime memberships. The exclusion meant that Amazon used third-party services for all deliveries to these zip codes, rather than its own delivery service. Amazon didn’t tell Prime members in the zip codes about the exclusion. It also didn’t warn residents of the zip codes about the exclusion before they signed up for Prime. Even when Prime members complained about slow deliveries, Amazon allegedly didn’t mention the exclusion.
According to data collected by the Attorney General, the switch to third-party delivery has greatly slowed the speed of deliveries to the two zip codes. For example, Prime members in 20019 and 20020 got their packages within two days only 24 percent of the time in 2023. Prime members elsewhere in D.C. got their packages within two days about 75 percent of the time. In 2021, moreover, Prime members in the two zip codes got over 70 percent of their packages within two days.
Amazon claims that the exclusion protects the safety of its drivers. The Attorney General acknowledges that the retailer has a right to do that. However, the lawsuit focuses on the secrecy of the decision. It claims that Amazon should have been transparent so that consumers in those zip codes could make informed decisions about whether to sign up for Prime or keep their membership. Some of them might have decided that the membership wasn’t worth the cost, or they might have explored other ways to get essential goods. (The Attorney General notes that the two zip codes have relatively few retail stores, leaving residents with limited options.)
The lawsuit asks the court to order Amazon to stop engaging in this deception. It also seeks restitution for Prime members who live in the two zip codes. In addition, the lawsuit asks the court to impose civil penalties on Amazon, as authorized by the consumer protection law in D.C.
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