We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Amazon Prime Member Fee? Charged £48...
Options
Comments
-
Pretty much as I understand it.
It just continues to amaze me that people don't read it past the bit that says "free".0 -
I do find it amazing that so many people are moaning about this. A few months ago I took advantage of this trial myself and actually thought Amazon were very good about it, giving us a box to tick to say that you don't want to continue after the trial so that you don't even have to remember to cancel! I simply signed up, ordered my stuff and then ticked the box and that's all there was to it.
I really don't see what's so difficult about that. If you can't understand that then maybe it's not safe for you to use the internet at all. Are you the same people who fall for phishing emails and chain letters?0 -
I am fed up with reading PR statements that are obviously written by Amazon employees looking for free publicity. The plain facts are as follows hundreds of people have had monies taken from their accounts that they were not expecting. Amazon did not even put their name to this "Prime Fee" when requesting payment from the bank - why not? This has caused a lot of problems see other posts. My own bank initially was unable to identify who had claimed the money leading me to suspect that my account had been compromised. Other posts claim that cards have been cancelled as a result of what was thought to be "unusual activity". I suppose Amazon can always explain this away as the stupidity of bank staff.0
-
Pork Pie, I don't know about anyone else, but I personally find the idea that anyone that says that the Prime scheme is fairly clearly worded is an Amazon employee is offensive.
I am not, and never have worked for Amazon, or any company they are affilated with (i've not even used their "market place" to sell stuff).
I'm just a someone who has bought from them, and other retailers quite happily in the past, and actually reads what is on the screen when I place an order, especially when it contains words such as "free" and "trial" (which have very specific connotations to most people, when they actually bother reading the details).
As for bank staff not knowing what it is, I've found that several times with different companies - the bank staff themselves (at least the first line) often only have the details visible to the customer in regards to card transactions, from memory (when I've had a query for a non obvious transaction) i've been referred to a second line team who can do more to trace the transaction, such as contacting the card processing company who took the transaction on and thus will have full details of the company that did the charge (otherwise every bank in the world would need full details of every company who takes any form of card payment).
This is absolutely standard practice, almost every company uses these "card processing gateways", unless they are big enough to do it themselves (most aren't), and unfortunately one of the limitations of this seems to be that the details that can be passed on for the transaction are limited in the number of characters, hence something like "amazon.co.uk MK" or "prime fee" (also many companies, especially internet ones have two names - the site name, and the actual legal trading name which can add to any confusion)0 -
I was recently duped by this so called "free trial". I am disgusted with Amazon who i thought was running a reputable business. The cynical way that the £47.94 was plundered from my account as a point of sale transaction (using my card details held after an on line purchase) and shown only as "Prime Member Fee". Was this a deliberate ploy as initially my bank (Natwest) was unable to identify the merchant and it took about a week to re-credit my account? A nice little interest earner if you times this by the x number of members caught out. As a point of sale transaction my bank was unable to recall the money and it was only actioned by managing my Amazon Prime account. I have asked my bank to look into this as it appears they have had numerous complaints from other customers. I am still smarting and may go down the road of Trading Standards, Office of Fair Trading or Watchdog (next series) and anyone else who can nail them on the slightest technicality.
Love the idea that Amazon need to earn the interest from "x number" of £47.94 payments held for one week. At current interest rates?!
Bless.
Still, a lovely example of what my supervisor would call 'purple prose'. Cheered my evening right up. :TIf at first you don't succeed, then sky-diving isn't for you
0 -
Ooooooh I believe I may be unique
Just before last Christmas I took the FREE trial. Was most impressed with it. Forgot to cancel ( why do today what you can put off until tomorrow) didn't bother ringing, thought my mistake, my problem. I use the service at least twice a month, and plan to let it renew on the anniversary
I have ordered countless things for myself, and through my account for my family. Next day delivery for no extra charge, by special delivery, for even a paperback costing £3.95, brilliant :T
I am no longer a spring chicken, but I realised what I was signing up for. I do not work for Amazon, do not have shares in them, don't know anyone who works for them. I just love the service I get, from the service I opted in to!!!!
Methinks not many companies would be so accommodating as Amazon seem to be of people who don't check what they are signing up to :rolleyes: On another tack, if I'm the only one who has willingly signed up and paid for this service, how does it keep going?:rotfl:You never get a second chance to make a first impression.0 -
Amazon are entitled to try and make money - they are a company, not a charity.
Didn't I put something about that, Oh yes
I realise that Amazon is a company whose sole aim is to make money but there are different approaches to acheiving that.
I always read the T&C on a website before purchasing goods. There are sites where everything is clearly stated and the T&C contain no suprises (The sorts of sites I buy from) If being cynical about companies that employ underhand sales techniques makes me childish, well I'm quite happy being childish:j0 -
hi folks,
As you may have noticed, we have had to delete a large number of posts from this thread, as they were purely argumentative and ended in some pretty petty name calling.
While there are lots of interesting issues, the key rule on the forum is to be nice to each other, especially new posters, and I fear a few will have been scared off by the reaction they received here.
Please a) read this thread about this issue in a wider context http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1820261 and b) keep this thread for polite discussion.
The time spent deleting posts is already considerable.
DanFormer MSE team member0 -
While I was at first angry at Amazon when they charged me, I understand it was my fault for not bothering to read the small print and assuming they'd end the free trial. I canceled through the website and got a refund, so I've got to praise Amazon for actually allowing that. I'm sure if they were jerks they wouldn't let you cancel so easily.
Then again saying that the reason they allow you to cancel by just a click of a button is probably due to the number of people who've accidently signed up for it and want to cancel. I certainly think they could make it a little more clear on what you're signing up for. This has probably been a good lesson for me, as now I'll always read the small print.0 -
Then again saying that the reason they allow you to cancel by just a click of a button is probably due to the number of people who've accidently signed up for it and want to cancel. I certainly think they could make it a little more clear on what you're signing up for. This has probably been a good lesson for me, as now I'll always read the small print.
Perhaps a little too cynical. If you use Amazon a lot, you'll notice virtually everything can be done with a click of a button, from ordering straight through to returning items. They operate in a way that minimizes human interaction, which obviously saves money.
As for the fee itself, I order a lot from Amazon every year, and it pays for itself very easily, considering what the price is for next day when you're not Prime. Add on the fact that you can invite friends and family and it's fantastic.
I've ordered stuff on Sunday morning and had it Monday thanks to Prime and City Link. It's fantastic.What would William Shatner do?0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards