Costco Can’t Shed Online Free Shipping Deception Class Action

A proposed consumer class action alleging Costco Wholesale Corp. tricked customers into thinking online purchases had free shipping when they instead were simply priced higher than identical products in-store will move forward.

The US District Court for the Western District of Washington rejected Costco’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit Tuesday, ruling that the consumer’s theory of deception was plausible.

Plaintiff Christina Zaimi sued the retailer after purchasing a couch online for $2,349.99. Costco represented the purchases as having free shipping, but that the couch is only $2,099.99 when purchased at a brick-and-mortar Costco store, she said. Zaimi argued the higher ...