Amazon is facing a possible class action lawsuit over its Prime Day sales.
Two people have filed a complaint in federal court in Washington state that claims that Amazon used fake list prices to determine Prime Day percentage discounts, making the sales look better than they were, CBS News reported.
The lawsuits were filed in September by Cathy Armstrong of California and Oluwa Fosudo of Maryland.
The complaint gave the example of wireless headphones that were allegedly 44% off during the promotion and had a list price of $179.95. But the item is typically sold for between $130 and $160.
The court documents said that a kid’s tablet had a list price of $119.99 and was being offered for 40% off, but the tablet had not sold for the nearly $120 price tag in the 90 days before Prime Day, instead, it was sold for between $50 and $85, with a median price of $72.
An Air Fryer had a list price of $59.99 and was 40% off, but over the previous year, before the Prime sale period, the fryer wasn’t sold for higher than $49.99.
Armstrong, according to the court document, purchased a vacuum that had the list price of $199.99 and was touting a 60% Prime Day deal of $79.99. The sale was what encouraged her to buy the vacuum within the limited time. But a week after Prime Day sales, the vacuum had a list price of $99.99 and was discounted to $79.99. But neither list price had been used in the 90 days before the sales. Instead, it was listed at $79.99 without a percentage sale, she said.
As for Fosudo, she bought Neuriva Brain 30 Capsules that had a list price of $44.99 and were 12% off, costing her $39.91. But the capsules were not sold on Amazon for $44.99 in the 90 days before the sale and the real reference price was $33.32, so to get the 12% Prime Day deal, she believed she should have paid $29.32.
“Amazon uses these fake Prime Day Percentage Discounts, offered under the extreme time pressure of the brief Prime Day window, to lure consumers to purchase products,” the complaint said.
You can read the lawsuit here or below:
Amazon, when asked for comment by The Hill and CBS News declined to comment.
The Prime Day lawsuit comes after Amazon settled for $2.5 billion after the Federal Trade Commission accused the company of tricking customers into signing up for Prime membership and then making it difficult to cancel, The Hill reported.
The settlement included a $1 billion civil penalty, the largest FTC rule violation fine, CBS News reported.
As for how to ensure you’re getting a real deal, Clark Howard said to use tools such as ShopSavvy and Camelcamelcamel to make sure deals are really deals. His team also says to check with other retailers that may offer a better price than what Amazon is offering.
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