The Baden-Wurttemberg Consumer Advice Center has warned online retailer Amazon over misleading discounts on its product pages. Oliver Butler of the Consumer Advice Centre, said: “Through our processes we want to ensure greater clarity and truth in advertising, including price cutting. We view price advertising as unacceptable inducement advertising and consumer deception, which we want to stop. Are.” He has taken legal action.
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In particular, this concerns reference prices used for discounts which, in the opinion of the Consumer Advice Centre, do not comply with applicable EU legislation. Amazon bases comparison prices on the manufacturer’s recommended retail price. According to the Consumer Advice Centre, Amazon should instead use the cheapest price from the last 30 days. In this way, Amazon pretends that the offers are particularly attractive, which does not exist. The Consumer Advice Center writes,
Actually, Amazon calls on a help page Different options to display the reference price: So the price shown can refer to either the manufacturer’s RRP or the “average selling price” that customers paid on Amazon.
However, according to consumer advocates, the price reduction should mean the lowest total price in the last 30 days. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) made the decision on September 26 following a case brought against Aldi by the Baden-Wurttemberg Consumer Advice Centre. In a statement to Teltarif, Amazon denied the Consumer Advice Centre’s allegations. The ECJ decision refers to a “separate group of cases”. Amazon complies with all laws and regulatory requirements.
Class action lawsuit against counterfeit rebates in the United States
The case is reminiscent of a proposed class action lawsuit that was recently filed in the United States. It accuses Amazon of systematically displaying fake discounts on its product pages to mislead potential customers. According to the lawsuit, the discounts displayed on product pages are intended to give the impression that customers can get cheaper prices. In fact, the original list price, which is displayed as a comparative price, is inflated. Accordingly, the discount shown is incorrect.
Interesting: In the United States, Amazon presents its comparison prices differently than in Germany: In the United States, Amazon says it chooses for comparison prices that were seen in the last 90 days . The plaintiffs have accused Amazon of not complying.
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