The District of Columbia's attorney general announced a lawsuit against Amazon on Wednesday, accusing the company of denying two neighborhoods high-speed delivery service.
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Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The attorney general for the District of Columbia filed a suit Wednesday against Amazon, accusing it of denying two neighborhoods high-speed delivery service.
Brian Schwalb charged in his lawsuit that since 2022, the two sections, which are traditionally underserved neighborhoods in the city, have secretly been denied the fast delivery service from Amazon despite paying for Amazon Prime memberships costing $139 annually.
"Amazon charges 48,000 D.C. residents in Wards 7 and 8 for full Prime membership while excluding them from Prime delivery benefits," Schwalb said on X. "Amazon failed to inform customers they were excluded. We are suing Amazon for deceiving D.C. residents into paying the same price for worse service."
Schwalb said in 2021, 72% of Amazon Prime packages in area codes 20019 and 20020 were being delivered within two days of check-out but by last year that stat nose-dived to 25%. He charged that's when Amazon secretly decided to stop using its delivery trucks in the area.
"Amazon knew excluding these areas would result in lower deliveries," Schwalb said. "Yet it failed to inform existing or prospective Prime members in these ZIP codes, misleading Washington customers about shipping speeds. Amazon even deceived impacted customers who reached out about delivery delays."
An Amazon spokesperson denied the company's actions are "discriminatory" and "deceptive," he said drivers have been targeted by crime suspects in the two ZIP codes and the company has taken action to protect its employees.
"We 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," Kelly said, according to CNBC.
"In 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."
Amazon said they would be willing to work with the attorney general's office and others to ensure the safety of drivers and reduce crime in the area. The company said it has always been upfront with its customers about the delivery times and has never attempted to deceive them about when their packages would reach them.
Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The attorney general for the District of Columbia filed a suit Wednesday against Amazon, accusing it of denying two neighborhoods high-speed delivery service.
Brian Schwalb charged in his lawsuit that since 2022, the two sections, which are traditionally underserved neighborhoods in the city, have secretly been denied the fast delivery service from Amazon despite paying for Amazon Prime memberships costing $139 annually.
"Amazon charges 48,000 D.C. residents in Wards 7 and 8 for full Prime membership while excluding them from Prime delivery benefits," Schwalb said on X. "Amazon failed to inform customers they were excluded. We are suing Amazon for deceiving D.C. residents into paying the same price for worse service."
Schwalb said in 2021, 72% of Amazon Prime packages in area codes 20019 and 20020 were being delivered within two days of check-out but by last year that stat nose-dived to 25%. He charged that's when Amazon secretly decided to stop using its delivery trucks in the area.
"Amazon knew excluding these areas would result in lower deliveries," Schwalb said. "Yet it failed to inform existing or prospective Prime members in these ZIP codes, misleading Washington customers about shipping speeds. Amazon even deceived impacted customers who reached out about delivery delays."
An Amazon spokesperson denied the company's actions are "discriminatory" and "deceptive," he said drivers have been targeted by crime suspects in the two ZIP codes and the company has taken action to protect its employees.
"We 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," Kelly said, according to CNBC.
"In 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."
Amazon said they would be willing to work with the attorney general's office and others to ensure the safety of drivers and reduce crime in the area. The company said it has always been upfront with its customers about the delivery times and has never attempted to deceive them about when their packages would reach them.
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