Amazon is being sued in a class action lawsuit for an alleged breach of contract with Prime members, GeekWire reports. Yikes! If you’re a Prime user and Whole Foods shopper, you may remember that the company ended one popular delivery service last year. Now, they could be facing consequences in court.
The membership perk in question included free two-hour deliver on Whole Foods purchases equal to or above $35. This was pretty convenient for shoppers, so it makes sense that Prime members were upset when the service was taken away from them—but who knew that it could end in legal trouble?
This case was filed last Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. The plaintiffs, two residents of California, claim that the delivery service was one of the sole reasons they signed up for their Prime memberships.
This crucial perk ended in September of last year, when Amazon added a $9.95 delivery fee for Whole Foods orders. Like many policy changes across companies in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic was to blame; with a high demand for delivery, Amazon felt a surcharge was necessary.
However, the lawsuit claims that "hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Amazon Prime members paid for a membership because they wanted to take advantage of Prime’s free Whole Foods delivery service," and "as a result of Amazon’s unfair business practices, consumers paid $119 for a service that was unfairly terminated.” It also alleges that the company has breached contract, along with the duty of good faith and fear dealing, and unjust enrichment, and has even violated the Washington State Consumer Protection Act. Uh-oh!
The plaintiffs are asking that a full or partial refund be issued for all customers who canceled their Prime memberships after the free delivery perk ended. If you fall into this category, keep an eye out—you may be $119 richer soon!
