Connecticut A.G. Asks Amazon For Pricing Information After Resident Complains

By Micah Maidenberg

The attorney general for Connecticut sent Amazon.com Inc. a letter seeking information about significant shipping charges tied to an order for face masks.

A Connecticut resident attempted to buy two types of 3M Co. face masks through a seller on the Amazon e-commerce platform named VictoryZ, according to the letter. The consumer said the charge for shipping two boxes of masks valued at less than $100 was almost $400, the letter from the attorney general's office says.

Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

A message sent to VictoryZ through Amazon's site could not be delivered because of a problem with VictoryZ's email address.

The attorney general's office asked Amazon for information about VictoryZ's sales to Connecticut consumers and how the e-commerce giant responds to shopper complaints about "profiteering," among other documents.

On its website, Amazon says it regularly monitors the prices for items for sale on its marketplaces, including shipping costs.

"If we see pricing practices on a marketplace offer that harms customer trust, Amazon can remove the Buy Box, remove the offer, suspend the ship option, or, in serious or repeated cases, suspending or terminating selling privileges," the company says.

More than 100 safety masks and respirators for sale on Amazon were counterfeit or had unverifiable protection and certification claims, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in March.

The company recently sent a letter to Sen. Ed Markey (D., Mass.) stating that it had removed 530,000 offers and suspended 2,500 accounts tied to coronavirus-related price gouging and removed millions of products that made unsupported claims about the virus.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2020 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)

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