Elderly mum direct debit from prime

ashpan

checking my elderly mums bank account for something unrelated and an £11.10 charge from prime popped up along with a 30p charge for currency conversion!!

she has never signed up for this and wouldnt know how to

bank says its been withdrawn since april but i suspect its longer

how do i address this with amazon to get a refund - bank has blocked the payments but apparently the system from amazon has ways of getting around this!!!

Brie

My first thought is it sounds like it might be a subscription to something outside the UK. online knitting patterns? monthly pack of youth serum? something that she might have expressed an interest in and inadvertently clicked on something to sign herself up?

If it is in fact a monthly Prime subscription - possibly set up when she bought something for someone outside the UK - then Amazon are quite understanding of shutting these things down and doing some sort of refund. I've had it happen twice where I've signed up to Prime to purchase something (one being a present for a friend in France so therefore Amazon.fr) and overran the free first month. A refund was quickly made for the second month - I assume they get this a lot and realise it's easier to refund than argue. Not sure how generous they will be if it's been going on for a long time.

She could close the bank account to ensure no further payments are made. If this is done I'd suggest to NOT use the switching service as payments can be transferred.

ashpan

my elderly mum doesnt have prime membership and only buys items via mine or my sons account yet she has been charged £11 monthly plus a currency conversion since april for amazon prime, who does she contact to get a refund, bank already notified

Alderbank

From the limited information you have provided it looks as though your mum does have prime membership and has had it since April. She doesn't have to buy items to qualify.

What did her bank tell her when she notified them that she would like a refund?

teaselMay

If your Mum has an Amazon account log into it and then click this https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz5/yourmembershipsandsubscriptions which should take you to the subscriptions page and see what comes up. If that link doesn't work log in, go to account and lists top right of page and then down to memberships and subscriptions.

If you can't figure it out go to the live chat on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/contact-us/foresight/hubgateway-csp and keep saying speak to person until it allows you to, they're usually pretty good. I somehow had an audible subscription at one point, I'm profoundly deaf no idea how that happened and it had never been used. They refunded me many months of it.

ashpan

bank said they will stop future payments but apparently amazon are skilled at changing information so that future payments can progress!

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146469#Comment_82146469

Sounds like used USA site. Given conversion.

Pollycat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6684300/elderly-mum-direct-debit-from-prime

The cost of UK Amazon Prime is £8.99 per month - and of course there is no currency conversion charge - so it doesn't sound like the standard Prime membership cost.

Amazon Prime US is £14.99 per month, which according to xe currency converter is £11.31 which is not too far from your £11.10 and would explain the currency converter.

Could your Mum have bought something from Amazon.com (not Amazon.co.uk) and clicked on a free trial that has now expired?

Amazon must have got your Mum's financial details from somewhere.

Pollycat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146469#Comment_82146469

You have started a thread here:

Elderly mum direct debit from prime — MoneySavingExpert Forum

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146824#Comment_82146824

That's what I think and have posted on the thread linked above.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146846#Comment_82146846

& this is exactly why MSE ask

Threads are easier to follow and read if they follow a conversation style pattern. With this in mind, please don't create duplicate posts on or across multiple threads. 

ladruid

Quite a few people get caught out with Alexa or Firestick devices. They ask it to play music, video or something else, then it signs them up for services. This isn't random, it's purely users unknowingly purchasing things, then Amazon does what any business does, they charge the customer for it.

Surprisingly, if you jump onto Amazon live chat and explain it to one of their CS representatives that it's something you didn't sign up for, their usually more than happy to remove it and refund any monies.