watch out with amazon card!

nomis1955

I was offered a credit card while on amazons site a while back. I filled in the online form & the card arrived soon after. I did not however activate it for a few months - last week in fact! To my surprise I received a statement today telling me I was being charged for late payment of an item Id bought on amazon! I thought this is funny, they usually give you more than a week & I could not recall buying anything then anyway!
I called card services who informed me that as soon as I was approved by amazon for the card they made it my default method of payment & not only that they made online servicing of the card default too! So the item I bought in March ( only £4 hence me not noticing it not coming out of my bank as is usual for Amazon purchases) had been charged to this card ( despite me thinking the card was not valid until I activated it last week!) & as I had no reason to check my online statement ( as it was not activated!) interest & late payment charges were accruing!
I feel this is very sharp practice by amazon especially in these days on banking & financial scandals!
I have since paid my statement & cancelled the card!:(

trulys

On the plus side, for every £1000 you spend on your Amazon Mastercard, you get £10 Amazon vouchers! I spend on mine all month and it pays off automatically by direct debit each month. Sorry to hear about your problems though.

geekonthepc

That's a little out of order, but doesn't exactly surprise me. I personally stay away from credit cards from online stores, they regularly seem to cause problems.

Duly noted anyway!

noh

You do get sent an email telling you a credit card statement is ready to be viewed online.
When you purchase from Amazon they do display the details of the card you are using before you confirm the purchase.

Slowhand

It clearly shows the method of payment on the payment page when you buy something.

JSR

To be fair that they would do this is made pretty clear on the sign-up page. It's not hidden away in the small print either but placed directly above the 'apply now' button. I don't think you can fault them.

What is a scandal is that they've reduced the sign-up bonus from £10 to £5!

If you’re approved, we will instantly add the card to your Amazon.co.uk account as your default payment method, along with a £5 Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate

dgtazzman

Having just gotten this card myself, it does state in the signup process/documents that the card will be set as your default payment method on your Amazon account and I got another email informing me of this as soon as the card was activated.

Also, as a previous poster has stated, you have to confirm your payment method before placing an order, so I fear you only have yourself to blame...

londonTiger

trulys wrote: »

On the plus side, for every £1000 you spend on your Amazon Mastercard, you get £10 Amazon vouchers! I spend on mine all month and it pays off automatically by direct debit each month. Sorry to hear about your problems though.

That's 1% cashback.

nomis1955

my point was that I hadnt actually activated the card until last week! yes I know they do state terms but ( & I do admit I may have misread things) isnt it reasonable to assume your card will not be active until you activate it? I dont think they should start using it for some things but not others until it has been activated by the cardholder.
& i never had any emails about payment only some about how my application had been approved etc.

Maestro.

nomis1955 wrote: »

I have since paid my statement & cancelled the card!:(

you've kind of cut off your nose to spite your face there, wasted a credit search on a decent card and then closed it.

matttye

noh wrote: »

You do get sent an email telling you a credit card statement is ready to be viewed online.
When you purchase from Amazon they do display the details of the card you are using before you confirm the purchase.

Slowhand wrote: »

It clearly shows the method of payment on the payment page when you buy something.

When you constantly buy using the same card you sometimes just glance over payment details.. it really shouldn't change the credit card to the default payment method.