The Federal Trade Commission, with the Utah and Nevada attorneys general, sued contact lens seller Lens.com on Oct. 2. The joint complaint, filed in federal court in Nevada, also names owner Cary Samourkachian and an affiliated company, Speed Commerce. The agencies allege the company advertised low prices and then added a mandatory "Taxes & fees" charge at checkout.
The complaint says the charge routinely doubles the advertised price and has cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. It also alleges that the line item sits below the visible part of the checkout screen, so shoppers who click the prominent Continue button never see it. And it says the label suggests state sales tax, though many states exempt contact lenses from sales tax or have none.
The agencies also allege the same pricing was used to enroll people in AutoRefill, a recurring-shipment plan, without clearly disclosing the charge before collecting billing details. They say the company did not clearly disclose how to cancel or the deadline to cancel before a future shipment.
The FTC, Utah and Nevada allege violations of the FTC Act, the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and state consumer laws. The FTC notes that it files a complaint when it has reason to believe the law is being broken, and a court decides the case. No refund program has been announced. If you buy lenses online, compare the final total at checkout, not the advertised price, and check the cancellation terms before joining any auto-refill plan.