A new Amazon.com battle with a government looms in Puerto Rico. According to newsismybusiness.com, the commonwealth's Consumer Affairs Department is preparing to file a lawsuit charging Amazon with discriminatory practices over shipping policy.
In August, Amazon stopped offering free shipping on purchases of $25 or more to customers in Puerto Rico, a feature that had been offered for a decade but had been available only because of "a glitch in its computer system," the company said. Amazon policy is to offer the shipping savings only to U.S. states and excludes territories, including Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Marianas.
Amazon isn't the only company being investigated. Created in September, Puerto Rico's Anti-Discrimination Commercial Office of the consumer watchdog agency known as Daco, has contacted 250 "stateside" retailers and companies that don't ship to Puerto Rico or include it in activities like sweepstakes and asked them to justify the lack of "equal treatment." Director José Miguel Talavera said, "If they aren't real reasons based on issues like excise tax costs, or federal or local regulations, we will move forward with imposing fines for violating the administrative order that created the division."
Talavera added: "It is surprising to see the number of companies that operate in the U.S. mainland, from which local consumers buy, that do not ship and fail to treat us the same as they do Alaska and Hawaii. They classify us as an international destination or sometimes fail to include us at all."