Amazon has been told to clear up its misleading delivery charges by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The watchdog investigated the retailer after a shopper complained about the lack of clarity on delivery costs they encountered when purchasing an AmazonBasics electrical product.
Complex delivery options
The search listing ad stated the item cost £18.49 and was ‘eligible for free UK delivery’, but clicking through to the product page there was another ad stating ‘free delivery in the UK on orders over £20.’
The shopper complained about the confusing messages after discovering he had to pay a delivery charge at the checkout, even though he added an item to his basket which took the total of his order over £20.
However, as the second product was not fulfilled by Amazon the item didn’t count when trying to trigger free delivery.
Last year, Amazon doubled the amount you need to spend in order to get free delivery to £20.
Confusingly the changes apply to products fulfilled by Amazon only, so normal delivery charges will continue to apply for items supplied by third party sellers.
Read Amazon hikes minimum spend for free delivery for more.
Tricks impact how we shop
Amazon said the delivery options and charges were linked to on a page called ‘About Free Delivery’ and argued it was impossible to state the actual delivery charge on any given product page as it depends on a range of factors.
The ASA said shoppers would understand that ‘eligible for free UK delivery’ meant a charge might be waived in some circumstances and that ‘free delivery in the UK on orders over £20’ meant they would not be charged if their orders was over £20.
But it also noted that shoppers were likely to use the cost of delivery when making comparisons between retailers for an item and that ads could cause them to make transactional decisions they otherwise would not have taken when not clear.
Verdict
The ASA has ruled that Amazon needs to clean up its act.
It said: “We concluded the ads did not make sufficiently clear which items were eligible for free delivery, and under what terms, and that they were therefore misleading.”
The watchdog has ordered Amazon to include the delivery charge alongside the price of a product in ads if one applied.
So when shopping with Amazon in the future it should be a lot clearer what you will pay in delivery costs based on the item you are looking at rather what you could get if you buy more things.
An Amazon spokesman said: “We offer a wide range of delivery options and ensure that any charges are clearly visible so our customers can make an informed choice before they decide to make a purchase.”
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