Utah has joined the Federal Trade Commission and Nevada in suing Lens.com, accusing the online contact lens retailer of advertising rock-bottom prices and then tacking on mandatory charges that can nearly quintuple the final bill. In one example cited in the lawsuit, a one-year supply advertised at $146.32 plus $9.95 shipping ended up costing a customer $649.71 once a hidden fee was added at checkout.
The joint complaint alleges that Lens.com advertises artificially low prices for contact lenses but then charges consumers much higher prices through substantial, mandatory “Taxes & fees” charges, according to ABC4 Utah. Officials say those charges are hidden charges buried deep in the checkout process that are never clearly and conspicuously disclosed to consumers. Utah is suing Lens.com over the alleged misrepresentation of contact lens prices in search ads and on its website, and brought the case alongside the FTC and Nevada.
The complaint names Lens.com itself, along with its owner, Cary Samourkachian, and an affiliated entity, Speed Commerce LLC, as defendants in the case. ABC4 reports it reached out to Lens.com for comment but had not received a response as of its report.
A $273 Fee on Top of a $146 Order
According to KTNV, Lens.com advertises that there are “NO HIDDEN FEES,” but attorneys allege the company imposes a substantial, mandatory Taxes & fees charge regardless. The station cites a specific example from February 2026: despite Lens.com initially advertising a total price of $18.29 per box, or $146.32 for a one-year supply, the hidden Taxes & fees charge imposed an additional $273.44. Add in $9.95 for shipping, and the station reports the final bill came to $649.71 — more than four times the advertised cost.
Attorneys allege this practice has continued for at least four years, in violation of the FTC Act, per the same KTNV report. The outlet also points to an internal email from August 31, 2022, sent to Samourkachian, that proposed redesigning Lens.com's online purchase flow because of the high volume of consumer complaints received regarding hidden fees. As of Friday afternoon, no hearings had been scheduled in the federal docket, the station notes.
Why Officials Call the Taxes & Fees Label Misleading
Utah officials specifically take issue with how the charge is labeled. Many states exempt contact lenses from state sales tax or have no sales tax at all, yet Lens.com still uses the label Taxes & fees, according to ABC4's reporting on the complaint. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, as reported by Law360.
The complaint also targets Lens.com's AutoRefill subscription plan, alleging the company used deceptive pricing practices in that program, which automatically charges consumers for recurring shipments of contact lenses. Lens.com's own site describes the service differently, stating that customers will automatically receive the items they selected at the frequency they selected, according to the company's AutoRefill page.
A Related Jury Trial Is Already Looming
This isn't Lens.com's only brush with scrutiny over its fee structure. A proposed class of online contact lens buyers can move forward with claims that Lens.com engaged in false advertising by charging 50% more than the advertised price at checkout, according to Bloomberg Law. In that separate case, Judge David S. Leibowitz ruled that Lens.com had not shown that no reasonable juror could find its Taxes and Fees charges deceptive.
Bloomberg Law reports that determination must be made by an actual jury, as the judge put it, especially given the parties' conflicting interpretations of the exact same evidence. Between that pending class action and the new joint complaint from Utah, the FTC and Nevada, Lens.com's pricing practices are now facing scrutiny on two separate legal fronts.
