Amazon FINE for providing FREE SHIPPING!

July 12, 2008 - 20:37 — admin

Can you believe it? Amazon was actually fine for providing free shipping in France. I was absolutely shocked when I came across this news. “France would be the only country in the world where the free delivery practiced by Amazon would be declared illegal,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote to French customers in a recent e-mail.

The problem lies not French consumers, but with a union. A French booksellers’ union took Amazon to court for its practices, claiming free shipping violated the 1981 Lang Law, which sets minimum prices that retailers can charge for books.

The inside story is probably that local businesses, part of the booksellers' union found themselves unable to compete or had troubling competing with Amazon, decided to file a claim again Amazon in France against its free shipping policy. Turns out that they were actually successful.

A 1981 law may prevent the site from offering free shipping in France, but while it fights the system, the company is paying €1,000 a day in fines to continue the practice. The online retailer Amazon.com said Monday that it would pay €1,000 a day in fines, rather than comply with a court ruling upholding French limits on price discounts for books.

This story appeared in January 2008. However, I could not find further information on the outcome.

Sources:
http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/15437/amazon-fined-for-free-s...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/14/technology/amazon.php

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