Oct. 20 (UPI) — Amazon faces a $1 billion class-action lawsuit in Britain that alleges the company broke competition law by obscuring better deals, leading customers to pay more for products.
Led by consumer activist Julie Hunter, the lawsuit is set to be filed by the end of October in the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. It seeks approximately $1 billion in damages from Amazon.
The suit alleges that Amazon’s “Buy Box” favors Amazon’s own products, harming consumers in the process. The Buy Box offers a one-click purchasing option for customers and placement advantages for eligible vendors.
“By steering customers to the prominently displayed Buy Box, Amazon obscures offers from other sellers, even when they offer a better deal, by hiding them down the page and making them difficult to find,” an announcement of the lawsuit said. “This means that you, the customer, might have paid more than you needed to for a product.”
Lesley Hannah, a partner at Hausfeld & Co LLP, is leading the litigation.
“Amazon takes advantage of consumers’ well-known tendency to focus on prominently placed and eye-catching displays, such as the Buy Box,” Hannah said in a statement.
“Amazon doesn’t present consumers with a fair range of choices — on the contrary, the design of the Buy Box makes it difficult for consumers to locate and purchase better or cheaper options. Amazon should not be allowed to take advantage of its customers in this anticompetitive way.”
Hannah said the millions of Amazon customers in Britain have used the Buy Box when buying Amazon products and paid too much and this lawsuit “seeks fair redress for them.”
An Amazon spokesperson said the claim is “without merit and we’re confident that will become clear through the legal process,” CNBC reported.
“Amazon has always focused on supporting the 85,000 businesses that sell their products on our U.K. store, and more than half of all physical product sales on our U.K. store are from independent sellers,” the spokesperson continued.
“We always work to feature offers that provide customers with low prices and fast delivery.”
The Competition and Markets Authority launched an antitrust investigation into Amazon in July. The European Commission also is investigating the company.
