Fake discounts at Amazon: US citizen files class action lawsuit

Is Amazon using fake discounts in the USA to persuade customers to buy a Fire TV produced in-house? This is what a plaintiff from Florida is accusing the online retailer of. He has filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon in the Western District Court in Washington, which other affected parties can join.

The allegation: Amazon systematically uses fake discounts on its product pages to mislead potential customers. According to the statement of claim, the discounts displayed on product pages are intended to give the impression that customers can buy at a bargain price. In fact, however, the basic list price displayed as a comparative value is inflated. Accordingly, the discount displayed is false.

List price no longer valid after 90 days

According to an information panel from Amazon US, which can be seen on a screenshot in the statement of claim, the list prices used for comparison must have been called up in the last 90 days. According to the statement of claim, however, Amazon does not adhere to this rule: the list price for most of the Amazon Fire TV televisions examined was last requested in 2023. Since then, the TVs have been available at a lower price for months. According to Amazon's own rules, the list price should therefore no longer be displayed as a comparison price.

In Germany, Amazon's information board does not provide any information about when the list price was last called up. "The list price/RRP is the suggested or recommended retail price of a product as stated by the manufacturer and provided by the manufacturer, a supplier or retailer," it says instead. "Amazon will only display a list price/RRP if the product has been offered on Amazon.co.uk by at least one retailer at or above the list price/RRP."

"Discounts are not real"

In the USA, on the other hand, the information is clearer – and infringements are easier to prove. "Each Fire TV displayed in bold print a percentage discount, a list price, a retail price and the statement that the purported discount was only offered as a 'limited time offer'," writes the plaintiff. "However, because the percentage discounts and the purported 'limited time offer' referred to list prices that were not real, the discounts and limited time offers were also not real."

The plaintiff is calling on Amazon to refrain from this practice in future. A jury should also determine the amount of damages, according to the statement of claim. Amazon has already had to deal with similar lawsuits several times. As early as 2021, the Superior Court of the State of California prohibited Amazon from deceiving its customers with list prices. However, Amazon ignored these rules, writes the plaintiff from Florida. The company has not yet commented on the current lawsuit.

(dahe)