FTC, States Sue Lens.com for Misrepresenting the Price of Contact Lenses in Search Ads and on Its Website

What happened

Lens.com hides bogus ‘taxes & fees’ charge that often doubles the price of contact lenses for consumers, the FTC and states allege Today, the Federal Trade Commission, joined by the Utah and Nevada Attorneys General, sued to stop a long-running deceptive pricing scheme run by contact lens retailer Lens.com Inc. The complaint also alleges that this “Taxes & fees” charge is buried deep in the checkout process and is never clearly and conspicuously disclosed to consumers.

In a joint complaint , the FTC, Utah and Nevada allege that Lens.com, along with its owner Cary Samourkachian and an affiliated entity Speed Commerce LLC (together referred to as Lens.com), advertise artificially low prices for contact lenses but then charge consumers much higher prices through substantial, mandatory “Taxes & fees” charges. Lens.com’s hidden fees routinely double the price it advertises for contact lenses, costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars, the joint complaint alleges.

“Millions of Americans rely on contact lenses to perform their daily tasks,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. In reality, the advertised prices bear little resemblance to what consumers ultimately pay for contact lenses because Lens.com imposes a mandatory, substantial “Taxes & fees” charge at checkout.