Amazon was sued for forcing the purchase of expensive goods

The world's largest marketplace, Amazon, was sued for violating US consumer rights law. About it reports Reuters agency.

A class action lawsuit against the online trading platform was brought by buyers who were faced with the imposition of more expensive goods on them. The dissatisfied plaintiffs claim that Amazon Buy Box's recommendation algorithm intentionally hides cheap, fast-shipping items from searches, thereby pushing its customers toward more expensive options.

The lawsuit states that in 98 percent of cases, marketplace users agree with the algorithm’s proposal, mistakenly believing that the marketplace has found goods for them at the best price. “By making choices for consumers, the Buy Box algorithm prioritizes Amazon’s profits over the well-being of customers,” plaintiffs’ attorney Steve Berman said in a statement.

Thus, according to the lawyer, Amazon provides itself with additional profit by promoting the offers of sellers participating in the Fulfillment By Amazon program and paying fees to the marketplace for storage, packaging, delivery and return of orders. The plaintiffs, according to Berman, are seeking damages from the online platform for alleged violations dating back to 2016. The amount of said compensation is not specified.

Earlier, employees of two Wildberries warehouses complained to the prosecutor’s office about working conditions in the company. The collective complaint was signed by 271 employees of the Koledino and Synkovo ​​warehouses. According to them, the employer systematically violates the rights of workers, for example, constantly withholding money for groundless reasons, deducting a fine from the salary for each shift worked.