PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is filing two lawsuits against Amazon that accuse the corporation of "unfair and deceptive business practices."
Mayes announced Wednesday her office was suing Amazon for the company's "confusing" cancellation process and "unfairly" maintaining its market dominance.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: La Fiscal General Kris Mayes presenta demandas contra Amazon por prácticas 'engañosas'
The AG's office is filing two lawsuits under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and the Arizona Uniform State Antitrust Act.
"Amazon's anti-competitive and monopolistic practices have artificially inflated prices for Arizona consumers and harmed smaller third-party retailers that rely on its platform," Mayes said in a statement.
One of the lawsuits specifically targets an Amazon algorithm that the AG's office claims is "biased" towards inflating the company's profits by favoring Amazon products over smaller third-party sellers.
The lawsuit additionally accuses Amazon of hindering market competition by preventing third-party sellers from being able to offer lower prices outside of the Amazon platform.
Amazon gave 12News the following statement late Wednesday night:
“We are surprised and disappointed by these cases, which the Arizona Attorney General initiated without reviewing a single document from Amazon, resulting in a fundamental misunderstanding and mischaracterization of how Amazon’s businesses work.
“Prime’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear and simple by design, meeting a high bar for customer satisfaction well above legal requirements. Customers sign up for Prime because it’s an incredible service and a great value, and they can cancel their Prime membership with a few clicks from the home page.
“These suits would force Amazon to engage in practices that actually harm consumers and the many businesses that sell in our store—such as having to feature higher prices.”
Mayes, a Democrat, is not the first attorney general to pursue legal action against the retail giant.
In 2022, California's attorney general sued Amazon for allegedly stifling competition. The Federal Trade Commission and several state attorneys general throughout the U.S. collectively sued Amazon last year.
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What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.
