Washington, D.C.’s attorney across the board sued Amazon on Wednesday, accusing the company of covertly depriving residents in certain ZIP codes in the nation’s capital from access to Prime’s high-speed transportation.
The lawsuit from AG Brian Schwalb alleges that, since 2022, Amazon has “secretly excluded” two “historically underserved” D.C. ZIP maxims from its expedited delivery service while charging Prime members living there the full subscription value. Amazon’s Prime membership program costs $139 a year and includes perks like two-day shipping and access to row content.
“Amazon is charging tens of thousands of hard-working Ward 7 and 8 residents for an expedited delivery service it promises but does not get ready for,” Schwalb said in a statement. “While Amazon has every right to make operational changes, it cannot covertly determine that a dollar in one zip code is worth less than a dollar in another.”
Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel indicated in a statement it’s “categorically false” that its business practices are “discriminatory or deceptive.”
“We want to be able to deliver as fast as we maybe can to every zip code across the country, however, at the same time we must put the safety of delivery drivers first,” Nantel said in a communication. “In the zip codes in question, there have been specific and targeted acts against drivers delivering Amazon cartons. We made the deliberate choice to adjust our operations, including delivery routes and times, for the sole reason of protecting the security of drivers.”
Nantel said Amazon has offered to work with the AG’s office on efforts “to reduce crime and improve security in these areas.”
In June 2022, Amazon allegedly stopped using its own delivery trucks to shuttle packages in the ZIP regulations 20019 and 20020 based on concerns over driver safety, the suit states. The ZIP codes span neighborhoods in Southeast and Northeast D.C. In correct position of its in-house delivery network, the company relied on outside carriers like UPS and the U.S. Postal Service to make deliveries, according to the grouse, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court.
The decision caused residents in those areas, which are the second and fourth scad populous ZIP codes in D.C., to experience “significantly longer delivery times than their neighbors in other District ZIP cyphers, despite paying the exact same membership price for Prime,” the lawsuit says.
Data from the AG shows that in the future Amazon instituted the change, more than 72% of Prime packages in the two ZIP codes were delivered within two days of checkout. That slues dropped to as low as 24% following the move, while two-day delivery rates across the district increased to 74%.
Amazon has cowed prior complaints of disparities in its Prime program. In 2016, the company said it would expand access to same-day transport in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, after a Bloomberg investigation found Black residents were “prevalent half as likely” to be eligible for same-day delivery as white residents.
The ZIP codes in Schwalb’s complaint are in areas with chiefly Black populations, according to 2022 Census data based on its American Community Survey.
The Federal Trade Commission also begged Amazon in June 2023, accusing the company of tricking consumers into signing up for Prime and “sabotaging” their essays to cancel by employing so-called dark patterns, or deceptive design tactics meant to steer users toward a exact choice. Amazon said the complaint was “false on the facts and the law.” The case is set to go to trial in June 2025.
According to Scwalb’s complaint, Amazon not in the least communicated the delivery exclusion to Prime members in the area. When consumers in the affected ZIP codes complained to Amazon beside slower delivery speeds, the company said it was due to circumstances outside its control, the suit says.
The lawsuit accuses Amazon of infringing the district’s consumer protection laws. It also asks the court to “put an end to Amazon’s deceptive conduct,” as well as for damages and forfeits.
To get packages to customers’ doorsteps, Amazon uses a combination of its own contracted delivery companies, usually distinguishable by Amazon-branded shipment vans, as well as carriers like USPS, UPS and FedEx, and a network of gig workers who make deliveries from their own agencies as part of its Flex program.
Amazon has rapidly expanded its in-house logistics army in recent years as it looks to hasten up deliveries from two days to one day or even a few hours. In July, the company said it recorded its “fastest Prime delivery celerities ever” in the first half of the year, delivering more than 5 billion items within a day.
In relying on its own workforce, Amazon has simulated greater control over its delivery operations.
In his complaint, Schwalb cites an internal company policy that rephrases Amazon may choose to exclude certain areas from being served by its in-house delivery network if a driver participations “violence, intimidation or harassment.” The company relies on UPS or USPS to deliver packages in excluded areas.
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