FTC and two states sue an online contact lens retailer over search ad prices and hidden checkout fees

The FTC, joined by the Utah and Nevada attorneys general, filed a joint complaint in the District of Nevada against Lens.com, its owner and an affiliated entity. It alleges the company advertised artificially low contact lens prices in sponsored Google search ads and on its website, then imposed a mandatory Taxes and fees charge at checkout that routinely doubled the advertised price, placed below the visible part of an interim screen while a prominent Continue button moved customers past it.

The complaint says the label itself misled: many states exempt contact lenses from sales tax or have none, yet the charge was called Taxes and fees. It further alleges the same low prices induced customers to enroll in AutoRefill, a negative option plan, without clear and conspicuous disclosure of the charge before billing information was taken, in violation of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act. Customers entered prescription and prescriber details to order. These are allegations; nothing has been decided.

• Online pharmacies and telehealth fulfilment sites that advertise a per unit price in search ads and add fees at checkout.
• Any pharmacy running an auto refill or subscription program from a checkout flow.

A complaint against one online retailer of a prescription product. The theories, price claims in search ads that checkout does not honor and a subscription enrolled without clear fee disclosure, apply to any online pharmacy checkout.

1. Compare the price in your search ads and product pages with the first total a customer sees before entering a card; any mandatory fee must be in that number.
2. Do not label a fee as taxes unless it is tax.
3. For any auto refill program, show the full recurring charge, the schedule and the cancel path before collecting billing details.

Website and Digital Presence. The Website and Digital Presence domain covers the claims a pharmacy's public pages make, including price and offer claims. A checkout that does not honor the advertised price is inside that review.

• FTC, States Sue Lens.com for Misrepresenting the Price of Contact Lenses in Search Ads and on Its Website
  PrimaryFederal Trade CommissionRetrieved Oct 6, 2026

  Press release of October 2, 2026: the hidden charge, the below the fold placement, the Taxes and fees label, and the AutoRefill allegations.

• Complaint, FTC et al. v. Lens.com Inc. et al., D. Nev. No. 2:26-cv-03232
  PrimaryFederal Trade CommissionCase 2:26-cv-03232, Document 1, filed 10/02/26Retrieved Oct 6, 2026

  Paragraphs 5 to 9 on the advertised price, the Taxes and fees line below the fold and the AutoRefill negative option plan; the FTC Act and ROSCA counts.