Amazon Prime

[Klenchblaize]

A post on another Forum reminded me of the same surprise I had in Jan 2015 when finding I had unwittingly agreed to an annual charge for "Prime". Only spotted the £70 had been taken from my account when checking bank statement!

Managed to retro opt out and get money back so may be worth checking this hasn't happened to you this month.

 

[Outlaw13]

It happened to my student daughter yesterday. She hadn't a clue that she had opted for it. She cancelled and the money is back in her account today.

 

[hughlle1]

It has always been the case that you automatically take on a paid years subscription at the end of your 30 day free trial. Why you'll then be offered a trial a few months after the first trial, odds are they will snare people and make it financially viable to offer trials left right and centre

 

[bopdude]

Also if you take out the yearly subscription there is an opt in box that is ticked, you'll need to untick it if you don't wish for the annual renewal.

 

[brambles]

Odd. I have always seen this

"After your free trial, Amazon Prime is just £79/year.
Cancel anytime."

clearly marked on any Prime offers.

 

[Old Bones]

I accidently signed up for it a couple of weeks back, because its almost impossible to to accidently press a 'Yes to prime' link (if your buying a gift card, dont do it on your Ipod touch - the screen is too small to avoid hitting the wrong thing). I cancelled it as quickly as I could, but still had the 30 days trial.

To be fair, Amazon Prime is actually quite nice. I ordered something, and it arrived the next day - cool. And I could have watched Amazon stuff via my TV, downloaded to the Kindle, etc. If, like my brother, your a heavy Amazon user, it makes perfect sense, and for less than £6 a month, your likely to save money of shipping.

I personally dont need Prime, but I can see its advantages. What does annoy me is how its pretty much impossible not to sign up for Prime, because the 'no thanks' links etc are so small. I can see why they do it, but it smacks of sharp practice.

 

[Jakata]

Did the same with me last year, got my money back.

Now signed up for it for free for 6 months as I am a mature student. I find it really useful, not only for the free next day delivery on quite a few things but also the TV service. I tend to buy a most things on Amazon now, books, electronics, household items as I really hate going into towns or large shops.

It would be much better if it was pay monthly though... I suppose people would mostly only use it over Christmas though.

 

[sunndog]

Took the 30 day trial, cancelled on day 29........yoink!

 

[dewi]

Wow, a commercial company charging for it services!?! I'm shocked.

Where do you think television programmes come from? Writers, camera men, transport, catering, editors, coffee makers... they all have to make a living, and they don't do that by giving away their end product for free.

I'm about to sign up to Amazon Prime, primarily to watch whatever comes out of the old gits who left the BBC last year... I enjoyed their programme and it justified in part paying the enforced tax of the TV Licence to the BBC... a commercial company that sells publicly funded television via its not very complex group of companies right under our noses... yet if we don't pay them for the privilege of simply being there, they can get old PC Plod to come and break your front door down.

Thank your lucky stars you are able to cancel Amazon Prime and not forced to pay it simply because you own some form of electronic device with a screen attached.

 

[Lizz]

Students get six months free - they just have to have an ac.uk email address, and after those happy six months they get the same service for half the annual fee until they cease to be a student - even if you're part time and won't finish until 2022 or beyond! I think that's a pretty awesome deal. The 'man in the high castle' was worth it on its own. I don't have a telly so prime and Netflix are the business (in every sense)... And they can't come and pinch my hand held device either!

 

[Klenchblaize]

Odd. I have always seen this

"After your free trial, Amazon Prime is just £79/year.
Cancel anytime."

clearly marked on any Prime offers.

To be clear I'm not knocking Amazon or their Prime offering.   I simply posted my experience of how unwittingly one might find they have paid the annual subscription and for a service they do not require. If this ensures but one person avoids the same surprise my willingness to tell the world I'm a lesser mortal than the majority of BCUK members will be worth it.
‎
My mistake probably occurred when making a rare purchase via my BlackBerry but might just as easily have occurred on a home PC when rushing to secure that "only one left" CD and avoiding yet another scream from SWMBO that "dinner is in the dog!"

 

[David LaFerney]

Give them this - they refunded your money. It seems that a lot (most even) of companies are using some kind of gotcha scheme or another and many won't allow you to claw it back - or penalize you if you do. Petty theft from millions of customers has become one of the most profitable standard business models of our times. At least it is here in the U.S.

 

[Robbi]

Tell me about it !

try cancelling your Sky subscription !

 

[kaiAnderson]

yeah cancelling BT was as bad. I sold me house and didnt have another to move into and they still wouldnt let me cancel! i had to justify why i was cancelling.

youend up getting rude with them and thats bad as theyre making you act in a negative way.

 

[Bigfoot]

I did the trial a year or so ago but signed up for the service again just before Xmas - I reckon I've had my money's worth already, the video offerings alone are steadily improving and the kindle library is huge.

 

[nephilim]

I paid £49 for mine year 1 and 2...Christmas time more than makes up for it with delivery costs, as do birthdays.

 

[jmagee]

We got a deal just before Christmas. As above had my moneys worth from delivery. Plus when you aren't in a rush you can get digital credit to buy movies.

I've had plenty of use of the video and music side too not to mention the kids!

 

[leon-1]

I have had a Prime account since they came out in the UK, it has saved me money on both my business and my personal purchases. I dread to think what the cost in postage alone would have been under normal circumstances let alone getting next day delivery. I would say that I make in excess of 70 purchases a year from Amazon, if I save just a pound on each delivery then I am close to getting my money back, but bearing in mind that RMSD nowadays is about £6 fo the smallest thing you can send I've made my money back hand over fist.

 

[sandbender]

"...try cancelling your Sky subscription !.."

Try canceling your dead fathers subscription, they won't have it, copies of death certificates and lawyers letters were needed.

I don't use Amazon enough to warrant a Prime account, I don't blame them for trying to up their profits but I do think they try to get you to sign up for a trial under your radar.

Glad they cancelled it no probs.

 

[mercurykev]

I really like amazon prime. I got it for the TV package but the free next day delivery is very handy, and they even deliver on Sundays. I'm also terrible at remembering birthdays so the ability to order something and get it delivered to a different address is great.