Amazon & Amazon Prime

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trajan

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Amazon Prime automatically converts 30-day trial memberships to a paid membership at the end of your free trial.

In my case this term & condition was hidden away at the end of a long boring acknowledgement email.

€92 was deducted from my account using my Amazon buyer/seller payment details.
No notification before, or receipt after, this transaction.
When I called Amazon they said refund would only be effected in "7 working days".

Like most people I have important bills to pay each middle and end of month.
The bank never allows me to draw money from the same account used to pay Amazon when I have insufficient funds. In fact even where funds exist in the account it is not uncommon to have payment refusals at petrol stations due to network or maintenance issues at the bank system then.
I find it very strange that at the time when the Amazon Prime payment was effected there actually was not enough funds in my account to meet the €92 demanded.
Yet the bank went ahead and put my account overdrawn to pay the Amazon Prime demand.

Many questions arise in this situation.
But one question embraces them all.

Does any body regulate e-commerce in Ireland ?
 
Same thing happened to me. I use Amazon all the time though and have easily saved the €92 but am still a bit miffed - not at them but at myself...all in the Ts & Cs I suppose.
 
trajan said:
Amazon Prime automatically converts 30-day trial memberships to a paid membership at the end of your free trial.

In my case this term & condition was hidden away at the end of a long boring acknowledgement email.

€92 was deducted from my account using my Amazon buyer/seller payment details.
No notification before, or receipt after, this transaction.
When I called Amazon they said refund would only be effected in "7 working days".

Like most people I have important bills to pay each middle and end of month.
The bank never allows me to draw money from the same account used to pay Amazon when I have insufficient funds. In fact even where funds exist in the account it is not uncommon to have payment refusals at petrol stations due to network or maintenance issues at the bank system then.
I find it very strange that at the time when the Amazon Prime payment was effected there actually was not enough funds in my account to meet the €92 demanded.
Yet the bank went ahead and put my account overdrawn to pay the Amazon Prime demand.

Many questions arise in this situation.
But one question embraces them all.

Does any body regulate e-commerce in Ireland ?
Click to expand...
I had the same problem and got a full refund so sneaky from a so called reputable company.Guerrilla tactics by a hidden email that no one ever reads anyway got my money back but no apology where is the principal of informed consent?
 
Any subscription service that requires credit card details to get the trial period always converts you automatically. It is sneaky but you will find they are covered by putting in the the T&C which no one ever reads.
 
Amazon warn you multiple times before, during and after you signup what the service will cost once the free trial ends.

No they don't.
Nor even send you an e-receipt for the money they've snatched from your account.
Nor do they tell you - till you've actually tried and failed to do it - that video service is not available in Rep. of Ireland.
Nor God knows how many other things you've a right to know.
 
I used the trial Prime and I was happy that Amazon did a decent job forewarning me about the charges if I didn't cancel. I cancelled and they still ask me to participate in Prime every once in a while. I must check emails registered with them.
 
If you'd a problem with the TV service not working then why didn't you cancel the trial?

There are no "free trial periods" that do not convert to paid subscriptions.

While you may think the question is "does anyone regulate e-commerce?" when in fact the question should be "is e-commerce suitable for you?"

Similarly, the Bank didn't do anything. You should read up on how direct debits work. The agreement is between you and the company. The Banks only facilitate the payments - its fully automated. Large over drawings will be stopped but not small ones.
You can dispute the payment with your Bank and they're obliged to refund you immediately and then they dispute it with Amazon's DD Sponsor Bank who refund your bank. It's up to you whether you want to (a) fill out the paper work and deny having any agreement with Amazon and wait a few days to be repaid or (b) wait 7 days to get your refund direct from Amazon.
 

If you'd a problem with the TV service not working then why didn't you cancel the trial?

Didn't know it had to be cancelled. In my mind it was just one of those many things that lapse.

There are no "free trial periods" that do not convert to paid subscriptions.

Not many. But most of these do not self-convert. A conscious decision must be made if I want to update to a paid subscription for most other things I see, a button pressed or whatever.

While you may think the question is "does anyone regulate e-commerce?" when in fact the question should be "is e-commerce suitable for you?"

You might not see anything odd about e-businesses sneaking subscription assent off their customers.
But I believe that most other people have neither the time nor interest in tooth-combing Ts & Cs.
Frankly, your remark here betokens a dog barking at his own doorstep.
For those of us employed (decently) within and without the e-commerce sector, the need for above-board processes is self-evident. It stops customers from harm by both e-traders and themselves when shopping online.

Similarly, the Bank didn't do anything. You should read up on how direct debits work. The agreement is between you and the company. The Banks only facilitate the payments - its fully automated. Large over drawings will be stopped but not small ones.

It 's clear that in this case the bank's willingness to pay a demand in excess of available funds equates to a intentional varying of the normal refusal to pay in such circumstances. These days banks may be happy to pay out DDs when customers are not immediately good for it. (It triggers a €12.50 charge at least partly payable to them.) Yet none of us on normal debit cards can have any confidence to drawing from an ATM without having full cash on account.

You can dispute the payment with your Bank and they're obliged to refund you immediately and then they dispute it with Amazon's DD Sponsor Bank who refund your bank. It's up to you whether you want to (a) fill out the paper work and deny having any agreement with Amazon and wait a few days to be repaid or (b) wait 7 days to get your refund direct from Amazon.

 
What did you think would happen at the end of the trial?

This is a selection of where you are warned in advance of signing up.

[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]

I signed up with them some time ago on a free trial and cancelled (within the 30 days) when I found out that you cannot avail of their video service or the shipping benefits prime members get in other countries.
 
Just had a look at amazon prime trial. I have a button to click on with my billing details. Underneath it says:

After your free trial, Amazon Prime is just £7.99/month. You can cancel your membership anytime.
By signing up, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to the Amazon Prime . At the end of your free trial, you authorise us to charge your card or another available card on file £7.99/month. about other Prime pricing options. Your Prime membership continues until cancelled. If you do not wish to continue for £7.99/month, you may cancel anytime by visiting 'Manage Prime Membership' in 'Your Account' and adjusting your membership settings.
Click to expand...

Pretty clear to me...
 
Below is my Amazon UK Prime confirmation email.
You can see where the placement of the "fair warning" was.



Hello MR XXXX,

Welcome to Amazon Prime, the best value in online shopping. With your 30-day free trial, you'll enjoy unlimited FREE One-Day Delivery on millions of items, instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes, unlimited streaming of over a million songs, unlimited photo storage, exclusive 30-minute early access to Lightning Deals, access to over a million Kindle Books and the opportunity to read pre-release titles with Kindle First for no additional cost every month. Shop, read, watch, listen and enjoy - it's all included in your membership.

Thanks,

The Amazon Prime Team


Get Started



Movies included in your Prime membership See more






[ A BIG LOAD OF MOVIE / TV SHOW GRAPHIC LINKS HERE GOING DOWN ONE PAGEFUL.
ASKABOUTMONEY DOESN'T ALLOW ME TO POST THESE.]





If you have a free trial of Prime, your trial will automatically convert to a paid membership at the end of your free trial. You can avoid conversion to a paid membership by adjusting your membership settings in ‘Your Account’ within 30 days of signing up.

[ my red highlighting above, not Amazon's ]

If you paid your membership fee as soon as you joined Prime, you may cancel within 14 days of signing up. If neither you nor anyone authorised by you to use your account has taken advantage of any Prime benefits we will refund your membership fee in full. If you or anyone authorised by you to use your account has taken advantage of Prime benefits during this 14-day period, we will issue you a prorated refund based on the number of whole months remaining in your membership. To cancel within the 14-day period, just adjust your membership settings in Your Account or use this cancellation form.

Your membership has an annual duration and will be extended automatically. If you don’t want your membership to extend automatically, you may change this in Your Account at any time by selecting “end membership” and you won’t be charged for the following membership period. You can always request a refund of your most recent membership fee if neither you nor anyone authorised by you to use your account has taken advantage of any Prime benefits in that membership period.

For any complaints or queries, please contact our Customer Services.

Amazon[DOT]co[DOT]uk is a trading name for Amazon. For further information about Prime, please refer to our Amazon Prime Terms and Conditions.

Please note: this message was sent from a notification-only address that can't accept incoming messages. Please do not reply to this message. If you have any questions and wish to contact us, click here.
==============================X==============================


 
Hello,

The key question asked by the original poster seems to remain unanswered:

Does any body regulate e-commerce in Ireland ?
Click to expand...



On a personal level, I'm struggling to agree with the original poster on the specific issue with Amazon, because it seems that once you give your credit card details it's obvious that they will start charging you, if you don't cancel in time. I would have thought the obligation was clearly on the customer to cancel after the free trial.

LinkedIn try something a little bit similar, offering 30 days free trial of some of their premium services. Again, it's a clear opt out (cancel) situation, but to be fair I think from memory that they send you a reminder a couple of days before the scheduled payment is due. That should be the norm, if you want to provide top customer service, but might not be the norm when it comes to best commercial practice.
 
I've just cancelled my Prime membership. On the last screen I was given 2 options, the latter being (which I went for):

You will lose access to Prime benefits and will be refunded £79.

The other option (didn't record it) was along the lines of staying with Prime until Oct 2017 where Prime would then end and my card for that point onwards would not be charged.
 
The reason I was offered a refund is I didn't use any Prime services. Received the email below after my cancellation was completed:

Dear xxx,

As you requested, your Amazon Prime membership has been cancelled. Since you haven't used your Prime membership benefits, you should see a refund of £79 on your statement in 5 to 7 business days. Depending upon your bank, if you have not yet been charged for Prime, you may not see a refund on your statement. Please note, this doesn't include your banks processing time.

Thank you for trying Prime.

Warmest regards,

Amazon.co.uk
sp.gif


Pretty decent if you ask me...they could have quite easily kept the money.

Also noticed on their page that Prime is down from £79 to £59 at the moment.
 
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€92 finally restored to my a/c. I'm left with overdrawn a/c charges of €4.44 . . .

It's wrong that Amazon Prime UK covers Ireland if they are not giving the same benefits to Irish customers. No video, no free delivery for us.
 
The T&Cs of Prime are pretty clear in terms of the limitations of a number of the services outside the UK. It actually calls out in a number of places that delivery restrictions apply to certain UK postcodes, and is not available at all on international orders.

Same-Day (Evening Delivery) Selected items sold or Fulfilled by Amazon.co.uk. Selected postcodes in the UK. You can check if your postcode is eligible by clicking here..
Click to expand...
Prime Video gives members within the UK unlimited streaming of movies and TV episodes. For more information, go to .
Click to expand...
Kindle Owners' Lending Library gives members within the UK access to borrow one book per month at no additional cost.
Click to expand...
 
OP I really don't think you have a valid argument here.
You say it is not clear that you pay once the trial is over and you think Amazon do not warn users about this.
As others have already pointed out above, I don't see how Amazon are unclear on this or are hiding anything. It is very clear you will be charged after the trial month is up and it is so easy to ensure this does not happen. In my case I simply went into my account and clicked one button to say Do Not Continue once the trial period is up.

You also say there is no free delivery for us. That again is simply untrue. I've placed 8 orders this week with Amazon, free delivery (via Prime) on each one.
 
Pretty much every button you click warns you of the charges.

To say in this day and age that you had no idea that when the trial ends you would be charged is just nonsense. I'm guessing you took the trial to save some postage on one purchase thinking you were outwitting Amazon but then ended up feeling like you were outwitted and lied to reduce your embarrassment.

Also to get a refund no problems then continue to bad mouth them is not fair at all.
 
I signed up a few days ago and they pointed me to the settings where you change the membership from automatic to just close after free trial. While I was wary about the sign up it was still clear you needed to unsubscribe.
 
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