• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, December 4, 2024

Amazon duped Washington, D.C. consumers who live in two ZIP codes by touting speedy delivery as a feature of Prime membership, but failing to deliver most packages within two days, Attorney General Brian Schwalb alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

“Amazon has deliberately -- and secretly -- stopped providing its fastest delivery service to the nearly 50,000 Prime members who live in historically underserved communities east of the Anacostia River,” Schwalb alleges in a complaint filed in District of Columbia Superior Court. “Unbeknown to these district residents, Amazon has collectively charged them millions of dollars for a service they do not receive.”

The complaint alleges that starting in mid-2022, Amazon stopped using an in-house service to deliver packages to Prime members who live in two ZIP codes (20019 and 20020), and instead relied on outside delivery services like the U.S. Postal Service or United Parcel Service.

Delivery in those two ZIP codes was overall slower than in other parts of Washington, D.C. as a result of this change, according to the complaint.

For instance, last year approximately 74% of packages to Prime customers throughout the entire district were delivered within two days, but only 25% were delivered to ZIP code 20019 within two days, and just 24% were delivered within two days to ZIP code 20020.

Schwalb claims that Amazon's ads for Prime, which boast of fast delivery, deceived subscribers who live in areas where the company no longer uses its in-house delivery service.

“Amazon has materially misled district consumers in ZIP codes 20019 and 20020 about its Prime shipping speeds in numerous respects,” the complaint alleges.

“Amazon’s advertising to the public at large, and its messaging to consumers signing up for Prime, inundate consumers with advertisements touting Two-Day and faster shipping speeds on Prime-tagged goods,” the complaint says. “Based on these advertisements, reasonable consumers across the district who have signed up for Prime memberships, including those in 20019 and 20020, expect that they will regularly receive Prime-eligible goods ordered from Amazon within two days of checkout.”

Amazon states online that free two-day delivery is a benefit of Prime for “nearly all addresses” in the contiguous United States.

But the company also says: “Delivery benefits and speeds vary from item to item, and not all benefits and speeds are available in all areas.”

Amazon allegedly shifted to third-party delivery services in the affected ZIP codes due to concerns about driver safety.

Schwalb says in the complaint that Amazon should have told Prime subscribers who lived in those neighborhoods about the change.

“Businesses operating in the district have every right to take measures to protect their employees and contractors,” the complaint alleges. “But when those decisions materially diminish the quality of the goods and services that district consumers are paying for -- and that businesses have assured District consumers they will receive -- businesses cannot implement those decisions in secret.”

A company spokesperson claims that its practices are deceptive are “categorically false.”

“We want to be able to deliver as fast as we possibly can to every zip code across the country, however, at the same time we must put the safety of delivery drivers first,” the spokesperson stated.

The spokesperson added that there have been “specific and targeted acts against drivers delivering Amazon packages” in the ZIP codes flagged in the complaint.

“We made the deliberate choice to adjust our operations, including delivery routes and times, for the sole reason of protecting the safety of drivers. And we’re always transparent with customers during the shopping journey and checkout process about when, exactly, they can expect their orders to arrive.”