Washington, D.C.\u2019s attorney general sued\u00a0Amazon\u00a0on Wednesday, accusing the company of covertly depriving residents in certain ZIP codes in the nation\u2019s capital from access to Prime\u2019s high-speed delivery.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit from AG Brian Schwalb alleges that, since 2022, Amazon has \u201csecretly excluded\u201d two \u201chistorically underserved\u201d D.C. ZIP codes from its expedited delivery service while charging Prime members living there the full subscription price. Amazon\u2019s Prime membership program costs $139 a year and includes perks like two-day shipping and access to streaming content.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmazon is charging tens of thousands of hard-working Ward 7 and 8 residents for an expedited delivery service it promises but does not provide,\u201d Schwalb said in a statement. \u201cWhile Amazon has every right to make operational changes, it cannot covertly decide that a dollar in one zip code is worth less than a dollar in another.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said in a statement it\u2019s \u201ccategorically false\u201d that its business practices are \u201cdiscriminatory or deceptive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Kelly said in a statement. \u201cIn the zip codes in question, there have been specific and targeted acts against drivers delivering Amazon packages. We made the deliberate choice to adjust our operations, including delivery routes and times, for the sole reason of protecting the safety of drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly said Amazon has offered to work with the AG\u2019s office on efforts \u201cto reduce crime and improve safety in these areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
In June 2022, Amazon allegedly stopped using its own delivery trucks to shuttle packages in the ZIP codes 20019 and 20020 based on concerns over driver safety, the suit states. In place of its in-house delivery network, the company relied on outside carriers like\u00a0UPS\u00a0and the U.S. Postal Service to make deliveries, according to the complaint, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court.<\/p>\n
The decision caused residents in those ZIP codes to experience \u201csignificantly longer delivery times than their neighbors in other District ZIP codes, despite paying the exact same membership price for Prime,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n
Data from the AG shows that before Amazon instituted the change, more than 72% of Prime packages in the two ZIP codes were delivered within two days of checkout. That number dropped to as low as 24% following the move, while two-day delivery rates across the district increased to 74%.<\/p>\n
Amazon has faced prior complaints of disparities in its Prime program. In 2016, the company\u00a0said it would expand\u00a0access to same-day delivery in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, after\u00a0a Bloomberg investigation\u00a0found Black residents were \u201cabout half as likely\u201d to be eligible for same-day delivery as white residents.<\/p>\n
The ZIP codes in Schwalb\u2019s complaint are in areas with large Black populations, according to 2022 Census data based on its American Community Survey.<\/p>\n
The Federal Trade Commission\u00a0also sued Amazon in June 2023, accusing the company of tricking consumers into signing up for Prime and \u201csabotaging\u201d their attempts to cancel by employing so-called dark patterns, or deceptive design tactics meant to steer users toward a specific choice. Amazon said the complaint was \u201cfalse on the facts and the law.\u201d The case is set to go to trial in June 2025.<\/p>\n
According to Scwalb\u2019s complaint, Amazon never communicated the delivery exclusion to Prime members in the area. When consumers in the affected ZIP codes complained to Amazon about slower delivery speeds, the company said it was due to circumstances outside its control, the suit says.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit accuses Amazon of violating the district\u2019s consumer protection laws. It also asks the court to \u201cput an end to Amazon\u2019s deceptive conduct,\u201d as well as for damages and penalties.<\/p>\n
To get packages to customers\u2019 doorsteps, Amazon uses a combination of its own contracted delivery companies, usually distinguishable by Amazon-branded cargo vans, as well as carriers like USPS, UPS and\u00a0FedEx, and a network of gig workers who make deliveries from their own vehicles as part of its Flex program.<\/p>\n
Amazon has rapidly expanded its in-house logistics army in recent years as it looks to speed up deliveries from two days to one day or even a few hours. In July, the company\u00a0said\u00a0it recorded its \u201cfastest Prime delivery speeds ever\u201d in the first half of the year, delivering more than 5 billion items within a day.<\/p>\n
In relying on its own workforce, Amazon has assumed greater control over its delivery operations.<\/p>\n
In his complaint, Schwalb cites an internal company policy that says Amazon may choose to exclude certain areas from being served by its in-house delivery network if a driver experiences \u201cviolence, intimidation or harassment.\u201d The company relies on UPS or USPS to deliver packages in excluded areas.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Washington, D.C.\u2019s attorney general sued\u00a0Amazon\u00a0on Wednesday, accusing the company of covertly depriving residents in certain ZIP codes in the nation\u2019s capital from access to Prime\u2019s high-speed delivery. The lawsuit from AG Brian Schwalb alleges that, since 2022, Amazon has \u201csecretly excluded\u201d two \u201chistorically underserved\u201d D.C. ZIP codes from its expedited delivery service while charging Prime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}