Amazon Sued By D.C. Attorney General Over Prime Delivery Neighborhood Access

Washington D.C.'s attorney general sued Amazon.com on Wednesday, alleging the e-commerce giant excludes certain D.C-area neighborhoods from having access to Prime's fast delivery, according to the lawsuit.

Attorney General Brian Schwalb said Amazon had "secretly" excluded two ZIP codes in Washington D.C. from having Prime delivery since 2022, according to a press release from his office. He said this act was a violation of the district's consumer protection law. Specifically, Schwalb alleges that Amazon is still offering customers in those ZIP codes Prime membership, but doesn't use its fleet of branded trucks to make Prime deliveries, instead using third-party delivery services like UPS and the United States Postal Services, which take longer to deliver packages.

"Amazon is charging tens of thousands of hard-working Ward 7 and 8 residents for an expedited delivery service it promises but does not provide," Schwalb said. "While Amazon has every right to make operational changes, it cannot covertly decide that a dollar in one ZIP code is worth less than a dollar in another. We’re suing to stop this deceptive conduct and make sure District residents get what they’re paying for.”

Total Retail's Take: Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told WUSA9 that there were "specific and targeted attacks against drivers delivering Amazon packages" in the two ZIP codes mentioned in the lawsuit, 20019 and 20020. Nantel responded to the lawsuit, telling WUSA9 Amazon has offered to work with Schwalb's office to reduce crime and improve safety in those areas.

This isn't the first time Amazon has been accused of limiting access to quick delivery in certain neighborhoods. In 2016, a Bloomberg investigation found that Black residents in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Washington, D.C. were "about half as likely" to be eligible for same-day delivery as white residents. The ZIP codes in Schwalb's lawsuit are majority Black neighborhoods, according to U.S. Census data.

For years, Amazon has touted its rapid delivery, arming itself with a massive fleet of trucks and in-house logistical personnel to speed up deliveries from two days to one day or even a few hours. In July, it said it hit its "fastest Prime deliveries ever so far" in the U.S. and around the world, with more than 5 billion items arriving the same or next day globally.