New Lawsuit Against Amazon: 'Subscribe and Save' Program Can Actually Cost You More (msn.com) 37
Amazon's "Subscribe & Save" program — for recurring purchasees — has triggered a new lawsuit, reports Oregon Live.
"The lawsuit contends that after luring in customers with 'artificially low prices,' the world's biggest online retailer jacked up the prices in the months after their first shipments arrived." In some cases, the lawsuit claims that customers were paying more for the exact same items through the Subscribe & Save program than they would be if they bought the items from other sellers on the site. That was true even when the up to 15% discount that the subscription program offers was calculated into the final purchase price, according to the suit. The Seattle law firm that filed the May 15 lawsuit says that Amazon's business practices amount to "deceptive," "misleading" and "bait and switch tactics." The firm is seeking class-action status in U.S. District Court for western Washington, a move that could potentially draw tens of millions of Amazon customers from across the U.S. into the litigation...
[The suit says the plaintiffs' first order of espresso coffee grounds was $16.60.] When their order auto-renewed a few months later, the price had gone up to $17.04. A few months later, it rose to $21.25. Then in October 2024, the price increased to $28.69 — about $12 more than the Hermans had paid at the beginning of their subscription, according to the lawsuit. [The discount can be as little as 5% or up to 15%, Amazon told Oregon Live in a statement, noting customers do receive an email showing "applicable savings" before the orders ship. But...] The suit says Amazon gave the Hermans little notice to cancel the order or to shop around because it notified them of the latest price increase in an email at 8:54 p.m. — the same night it processed their order and charged them.
The suit says if the Hermans had been given the time to shop around for a better price, they would have found that another Amazon seller was charging $25.90 — or $2.79 less — for the identical item. Amazon's "Subscribe & Save Terms & Conditions" page tells customers that it "may change the price for a Subscribe & Save subscription at any time for any reason...."
The analytical group Consumer Intelligence Research Partners says about 25% of U.S. Amazon customers are enrolled in the Subscribe & Save program.
Oregon Live got Amazon's response, which suggested their program saves customers time and money "through convenient, flexible, and recurring deliveries". (So when customers saw "Subscribe and Save", they were perhaps supposed to intuit the word save referred in part to... time-saving?)
The plaintiffs' lawyer argues instead that "When you sign up for something that is called 'Subscribe & Save,' you'd expect that you're saving by subscribing. But that's not actually what's happening in many cases."
"The lawsuit contends that after luring in customers with 'artificially low prices,' the world's biggest online retailer jacked up the prices in the months after their first shipments arrived." In some cases, the lawsuit claims that customers were paying more for the exact same items through the Subscribe & Save program than they would be if they bought the items from other sellers on the site. That was true even when the up to 15% discount that the subscription program offers was calculated into the final purchase price, according to the suit. The Seattle law firm that filed the May 15 lawsuit says that Amazon's business practices amount to "deceptive," "misleading" and "bait and switch tactics." The firm is seeking class-action status in U.S. District Court for western Washington, a move that could potentially draw tens of millions of Amazon customers from across the U.S. into the litigation...
[The suit says the plaintiffs' first order of espresso coffee grounds was $16.60.] When their order auto-renewed a few months later, the price had gone up to $17.04. A few months later, it rose to $21.25. Then in October 2024, the price increased to $28.69 — about $12 more than the Hermans had paid at the beginning of their subscription, according to the lawsuit. [The discount can be as little as 5% or up to 15%, Amazon told Oregon Live in a statement, noting customers do receive an email showing "applicable savings" before the orders ship. But...] The suit says Amazon gave the Hermans little notice to cancel the order or to shop around because it notified them of the latest price increase in an email at 8:54 p.m. — the same night it processed their order and charged them.
The suit says if the Hermans had been given the time to shop around for a better price, they would have found that another Amazon seller was charging $25.90 — or $2.79 less — for the identical item. Amazon's "Subscribe & Save Terms & Conditions" page tells customers that it "may change the price for a Subscribe & Save subscription at any time for any reason...."
The analytical group Consumer Intelligence Research Partners says about 25% of U.S. Amazon customers are enrolled in the Subscribe & Save program.
Oregon Live got Amazon's response, which suggested their program saves customers time and money "through convenient, flexible, and recurring deliveries". (So when customers saw "Subscribe and Save", they were perhaps supposed to intuit the word save referred in part to... time-saving?)
The plaintiffs' lawyer argues instead that "When you sign up for something that is called 'Subscribe & Save,' you'd expect that you're saving by subscribing. But that's not actually what's happening in many cases."
Re:subscribe to Amazon Prime now (Score:5, Informative)
I shop for the item with advertised free delivery, and I don't choose the get it delivered in X hours option. You might say waiting 2 days for a free delivery is super bad inconvenient, but the reality is that most of the stuff I buy from uncle Jeff sits on a shelf until I get around to looking at it, sometimes for weeks or months.
I don't care if the delivery is a few hours or weeks early. I actually care more if I got a good price or if another shop around the world gave a better deal.
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
Only whiners living in their parent's basement would say this. For nearly everything one could buy (excluding groceries), two days is insignificant. If you're in that much of a hurry to get something, either an emergency has come up or you're too stupid to plan ahead.
Edge Cases (Score:3)
The edge cases break the law.
"Scheduled automaitc re-orderiat spot market rate" (Score:5, Insightful)
Is what this service actually is, and should be called. Not subscription.
Re:"Scheduled automaitc re-orderiat spot market ra (Score:5, Informative)
They do all sorts of misleading stuff to make you think you are getting a bargain.
"Lowest price in the last 30 days", and they limit API users to a year's worth of price data. Typically when I see a message like that, I assume it was cheaper 31 days ago.
"Limited time deals" are rarely limited time, and usually mean that it is available somewhere else for the same price anyway.
"Subscribe and save" just means "save compared to the price at time of re-ordering", not that it will lock in a lower price. You still have to check every month.
Re:"Scheduled automaitc re-orderiat spot market ra (Score:5, Informative)
Yes. It's really sneaky. And try cancelling a subscription. I simply could not find the cancel button on an old subscription I no longer needed. I browsed many amazon.com pages. I could edit the subscription, skip, change frequency, etc. Cancel button nowhere to be found. Had to use AI to finally find it.
One really should be able to set a price limit. Re-ordering at 2x the original price is just deceptive. I would much rather be told it's not available, and shop elsewhere. That happened with wet cat food during the pandemic. Even Wal-mart was sold out. No price you could pay to get the right flavor of fancy feast.
Re:"Scheduled automaitc re-orderiat spot market ra (Score:4, Insightful)
It would be good if I could have it auto cancel above a certain price.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. Those "subscriptions" are more like an auction, the way they are setup right now.
Re:"Scheduled automaitc re-orderiat spot market ra (Score:4, Informative)
Amazon: "That makes absolutely no sense. That would lose us money, not make us money."
Re:"Scheduled automaitc re-orderiat spot market ra (Score:5, Informative)
Yes. It's really sneaky. And try cancelling a subscription. I simply could not find the cancel button on an old subscription I no longer needed. I browsed many amazon.com pages. I could edit the subscription, skip, change frequency, etc. Cancel button nowhere to be found. Had to use AI to finally find it.
Take a look at the dark pattern they use for cancellation:
1. Start at the Amazon homepage.
2. Select 'Subscribe and Save' from the top menu.
3. Click 'Subscriptions' from the top menu of three choices.
4. From the list of products, pick one.
5. Click 'Cancel subscription'.
I did just add something I don't want to confirm the cancel workflow. There is a step 6 where you confirm the confirmation.
Re: (Score:2)
Is what this service actually is, and should be called. Not subscription.
In a way, Amazon "improved" upon one-click and invented zero-click.
I always cancel my S&S after delivery (Score:5, Interesting)
There's a very high likelihood (Amazon shenanigans or not - there is inflation to think about!) that a later delivery will have a higher price than the first delivery - plus it's also likely there was a discount on the original price (which may be different or non-existent for second or later deliveries) and you used S&S to get a second discount.
What I do is set the next delivery after the initial one to be 6 months (so I have plenty of time to remember to cancel), get the first S&S delivery and then cancel the S&S. It's too much of a faff to track multiple S&S's to get the higher discount levels (those higher discounts only apply to the second or later S&S deliveries and they have to be in the same month too). I just treat it as an extra 5% off for a little bit of effort to remember to cancel it.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
There's a very high likelihood (Amazon shenanigans or not - there is inflation to think about!)
No there is not. A price is a price. If the price goes up because of inflation, that price still went up when they promised it wouldn't. The problem wasn't inflation, it was a promise they had no intention of keeping.
Re: (Score:2)
The real price can stay the same even when the nominal price [wikipedia.org] goes up.
But yes, they should make it clear about which price will never go up!
Re: (Score:2, Redundant)
But yes, they should make it clear about which price will never go up!
Since the consumer only cares about the amount they pay, any reasonable person would understand that's the only number actually being discussed. Amazon should simply not commit fraud, and AGs should simply prosecute when they do. But they're not in the business of protecting our interests, which we know because they almost never prosecute wage theft (which exceeds all other theft combined.)
Other merchants are not always what you want (Score:3)
I only buy "sold by" and "delivered by" Amazon products. I'm trying hard to avoid knock-offs. And yes I know about co-mingling.
So Amazon would need some complex selection for this kind of thing.
Eg, "yes I will accept other merchants". But "not above xx.xx price"
Re:Stupid lawsuit (Score:5, Informative)
Boycott Amazon! (not because of this) (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes. If you are a seller who wants to be in their recommendations, you must not offer your product at a lower price anywhere else AND you have to spend a lot of money promoting your product on Amazon (on average 25-30% of the product price).
That means you have to pay more because of Amazon, regardless of where you buy the product.
And when you do buy at Amazon, Amazon takes the lions share of the profit.
Amazon also has extremely unfair labor practices.
Boycott Amazon.
Also beware of dropship re-sellers: when you buy from them, they will turn around and have Amazon ship it to you, pocketing the difference and you end up having spent more money and bought from Amazon anyway. Depending on what you are buying, buy local or buy directly from the manufacturer when possible.
Deceptive and misleading tactics :o (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Me so so shocked! (Score:3)
"In some cases, the lawsuit claims that customers were paying more for the exact same items through the Subscribe & Save program than they would be if they bought the items from other sellers on the site."
Amazon did something calculatedly underhanded? UNPOSSIBLE!!
"Prime-lite" in Major Metro Areas (Score:3)
If you live in a major metro area and don't really consume much of Amazon's digital goods, 2-3 day shipping happens regularly for free if you hit $35 and select the free shipping option because there are so many warehouses in and near the bit cities. They clearly don't want to send trucks out without enough goods per trip.
Play stupid games... (Score:2)
I treat it like a fun game. The rules are all pretty transparent.
Sometimes it will create an order at an all-time high, and if you're not paying attention you get screwed.
Other times you can get a great deal if you get an all-time low + 15% off.
Also it's worth mentioning that they do send you an email notifying you of a price change.
If you're obsessively frugal, it can be worth it to cancel and create a new subscription mid-month if you monitor the prices of your most frequently purchased items to capture a
okay I'll play the bad guy today (Score:2, Informative)
Thing #1 is that coffee prices did go way up, not just on amazon by in the US thanks to you-know-who and tariffs. Can't blame Amazon for that.
#2 It's not that hard to cancel. And you only have to sort it out once, not a daily hassle type thing.
Lastly, we have a small office (where you have to do 12 things every day AND keep your business alive) and it's always things like coffee, hand soap, etc. that you run out of, subscription makes takes away
It can suck , It can not... (Score:2)
That's what you get on amazon, unstable pricing so they can see how much they can get.
Though it's within limits. I had them cancel an S&S item because it went into the hidden pricing things because the price went up too much. Now sure if they do all that in the US though.
Amazon (Score:2)
Every single story about Amazon reeks of a dystopian future. It's never about how they're making the world a better place. I know at least two people who started a business selling on Amazon and eventually bailed out due to ever increasing costs and shenanigans.
I'm pretty glad I never started buying most of my stuff from them, at this point they make even WalMart look like a bunch of ethical fair dealers,
Subscribe and Save (Score:3)
Is just Negative Option Marketing Model
A negative option is a marketing model where a company interprets a customer's silence or failure to take affirmative action as acceptance of an offer. If the customer does not explicitly "opt out" or cancel, they are automatically billed for goods or services.
Subscribe and save is just a different twist on this.
Prudent people never use such an option.
...seeking class-action status.. (Score:1)
Just like buyer beware, subscriber beware. I have no sympathy for anyone that 'subscribes it and forgets it'.
Re: (Score:3)
Lying in an ad is called fraud. Why are you fine with companies getting away with fraud simply because the people who do the work to prosecute them for that want to get paid for their work?
Some of us want to live in a world were we can trust what's on a product page and on the product's packaging.
Re: (Score:2)
It also means you are on automatic delivery. For example and prior art: If you own a home with oil heat - automatic heating oil delivery is delivered at the current market price with NO ADVANCE notice of the delivery price - I fail to see how Amazon S&S is any different, prices change; if you don't like that then don't use S&S.
Kind of like sale prices at JC Penney? (Score:2)
Raise the price, then apply the discount so you think you're saving money. Only the final new "sale" price is more than you'd pay elsewhere.
Seems like Amazon is playing the same game they *all* play.
Ah yes "time" (Score:2)
Australia sued supermarket for this (Score:1)
In Australia, there has been an ongoing court case by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) has been investigating local supermarkets (American equivalent of Safeway, etc) and court found them guilty. ACCC contended that changing the price up for 4 weeks to them drop it down to a price higher than it was before the rise was not something consumers found find genuine.
https://www.accc.gov.au/media-... [accc.gov.au]
If Amazon tried tactics used in this story on Australians, pretty sure they'd end up get
Re: (Score:1)
The actual Safeway was sued for doing something very similar to Coles...
https://www.mercurynews.com/20... [mercurynews.com]
This was a private lawsuit.
Separately, district attorneys of several California counties reached a settlement for different kinds of cheating by Safeway, et al.
https://da.sonomacounty.ca.gov... [ca.gov]