If you think you are paying too much for your Ray-Ban or Oakley sunglasses you could be right, and it could be down to price fixing by the owners of the two popular brands.
Now its been revealed that the Company that cuddled up to Meta and Facebook in an effort to deliver sunglasses that allowed users to spy on people, has been accused of inflating the price of their sunglasses by up to 1,000%.
While the Facebook linked Ray-Bans were a flop the case against Paris-based EssilorLuxottica SA, the maker of sunglass frames and lenses is proceeding in a US Court.
The French-Italian owner of the Ray-Ban and Oakley eyewear brands who has a major presence in Australia was sued for allegedly scheming with competitors to inflate prices by as much as 1,000%.
They have been accused of being the “instigator and primary enforcer” of the price-fixing scheme by forming illegal agreements with resellers according to a consumer antitrust complaint filed in San Francisco federal court as a proposed class action during the weekend.
The complaint also alleges according to Bloomberg, that EssilorLuxottica’s vision benefits subsidiary, EyeMed that also operates in Australia, has formed anticompetitive agreements with thousands of eyecare providers to “channel millions of consumers into purchasing the conglomerate’s over-priced eyewear.”
The consumers claim the unlawful collusion was concealed by an arrangement between the companies to keep the terms of their agreements from being publicly disclosed.
EssilorLuxottica didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
