A UK woman has claimed that she is set to file $1.4 billion legal claim against Amazon for breach of consumer laws.
If successful, Amazon shoppers in the UK could get share of the A$1.4b in compensation once a legal claim is submitted against the technology giant by UK woman Julie Hunter.
The proposed claim alleges that the way Amazon was doing busines resulted in consumers paying higher prices.
The complainant said that products sold on Amazon.co.uk and the Amazon app obscured better-value deals.
The collective action is due to be filed before the end of the month.
More than 80% of purchases on the e-commerce company website are made via featured offers in the “buy box”.
However, Ms Hunter alleges independent sellers are excluded from the buy box, even when they offer the same product cheaper or on better terms – thus breaching UK and EU competition law.
“Amazon shouldn’t be allowed to set the rules in its favour and treat consumers unfairly. That is why I am bringing this action,” said Ms Hunter.
She claimed that Amazon tricked consumers and directed them towards the feature deals in its buy box which excluded independent sellers with cheaper offers.
The proposed lawsuit is an optout collective-action claim.
Anyone living in the UK who has purchased products on Amazon.co.uk or the Amazon mobile app since October 2016 is an eligible member of the claimant class. Thus, affected shoppers will not have to pay costs or fees to participate.
Consumers not treated fairly
“Fairness is at the heart of competition law – and consumers are not being treated fairly by Amazon,” said Lesley Hannah, one of the partners at Hausfeld and Co LLP, who is leading the litigation.
“Competition laws are there to protect everyone. They ensure that individuals can make genuine and informed choices and are not simply led into making selections which benefit the companies they interact with.”
David Greene, from the London Solicitors Litigation Association, told BBC News the likelihood of success was difficult to assess.
“Clearly Amazon will fight the case at all stages, including class certification, but the tribunal has made a number of orders recently for similar actions, certifying the optout process,” he said.
In July 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced it was investigating Amazon’s business practices, including how it set the criteria for selecting featured offers.