I agree that Amazon has gotten really weaselly of late. I had prime but they got really bad about being late with orders. I’d get one delivery guarantee on the product page, but then it didn’t match up with the email date after I ordered and way too often it was late beyond that. I let prime lapse, and almost got caught on that sneak you onto prime unless you read everything carefully. The final straw was the eclipse glasses that they waited until the last split second to tell everyone not to use, after they couldn’t be replaced because there were none left to be had. That’s when I cancelled my store card, and let the prime part of the amazon visa expire. I still order from them occasionally, but not nearly at the level I once did. If I can find it for the same price or just a little more somewhere else, I get it somewhere else.
magnusblitz touched on it, but it’s worth saying again, it’s just a trial. Not that ‘tricking’ people into it makes it okay, but you don’t get charged for 30 days and in the mean time you can use it as much as you want. My dad accidentally got it as well. I told him what I’ve told others that had that happen. Go log back in (like, right now, so you don’t forget) and cancel the trial. IIRC, they’ll still give you the full 30 days, but you won’t be charged at the end of it.
Well, that’s no fun!
One thing, similarly, that always bugs me is when I specifically search for (for example) ‘same day delivery’. Then I go to the product page and don’t see same day delivery, or even prime, or even ‘sold/shipped by Amazon’. I’ll give them a very small amount of credit for clothing. The product page might have 5 sizes and 10 colors and maybe one or two of them offer what I was looking for. But they are certainly times when it’s just a single item. I’ve even had it happen (and double checked) where the price in the search list and the price in the product page don’t match.
One other thing: While it’s difficult to fight with what the email says, if a shipment is late pull up a chat window and tell them about it (I usually do it as soon as the deadline passes). 9 times out of 10 they’ll give you a free month of Prime.
I was very happy with amazon until approximately this morning. What happened: I ordered an umbrella. It arrived with a broken handle. I immediately went on the site and clicked “return” and was informed that I didn’t need to send it back, they would send a replacement. All good.
The “replacement” turned out to be…a book, that I ordered, and had already received. The book was fine. There is the slimmest chance that I tried to send back the book instead of the umbrella but I don’t really think so (because, despite amazon thinking they arrived on the same day, I didn’t get the book until the next day, and I know this because I read it that night and reviewed it the next day).
So I went back to the amazon “complaint” site. Write a complaint. Did not go through as it was deemed too short. So I copied the comment several times. Now it’s too long. So I shortened it, and finally it was accepted.
Then I tried to write a review of the umbrella itself. They did not take it, I think because it was too uncomplimentary. I simplified it to “arrived with broken handle.” Too short. Changed it to “Arrived with broken handle, useless. Very unhappy.” Finally, it took that review.
Then I tried to get a refund. It turns out I have to ship the broken thing back. Too bad I don’t have a shipping department with an umbrella-shaped box in my home office. But! There was an option for “return in original packaging” with the added bonus, as stated right there in plain pixels, “No printer required!” Perfect, now I wouldn’t have to go to all that trouble. Just stick it back in the beat-up box and voila. So I picked that option.
Whoops! Further intructions: “Pack securely and print out the label.” Wait, I thought there was no printer required? Again, amazon lied to me.
I am now really pissed. It wasn’t packed securely in the first place. Although I gather from most of the 10 or so one-star reviews that this might be a common problem, the handle detaching, and the packaging may not have mattered that much.
My memory is that amazon used to be pretty good with customer service, but now they’re big enough they no longer give a fuck.
Amazon sucks. That is all.
If you’re doing this via chat, try calling them. I usually call them when things start to get complicated like that and in the vast majority of times I’ve had to call, you end up talking to someone, that speaks English as a first language and lives in the US. They’ll typically do whatever it takes to get everything straightened out.
A couple of additional points:
The “FREE Two-Day Shipping with a trial of Amazon Prime” option is not pre-selected as the default—you actually have to click it. The “Prime” text is in the same font size as the “FREE Two-Day Shipping” part, so it’s not as if they’re using fine print to fool people.
Also, when you sign up for the Prime free trial, you get an email welcoming you to the awesomeness that is Amazon Prime. The subject line on that message is “[Name], Welcome to Your Amazon Prime Free Trial.” When log you into Amazon after that, you see a different home page with verbiage reminding you that YES, you are a Prime member and get all sorts of wonderful benefits.
As Joey P noted, it’s still just a free trial. You won’t get that $12.99 charge on your credit card bill unless you somehow overlook all of the obvious signs of Prime membership for 30 days. However, you can’t get another free Prime trial if you’ve had one fairly recently. The OP says this has happened “a few times,” so I’m guessing he’s out of free trials and is getting billed immediately.
That’s true. What IS pre-selected is the most expensive shipping option, which is usually for 2-day shipping that costs more than the item. So you are looking for something more reasonable to click, and you see “2-day free shipping” and stop reading there. Don’t tell me that the most expensive shipping option is the default because it benefits me, because I don’t believe it. Call my cynical.
As someone noted, maybe in another thread (I haven’t tried this myself, having fortunately never accidentally or on purpose chosen to try Prime) you can’t actually cancel Prime online until something like a day or two before you start getting billed for it. Again, not done for my benefit. (If anyone has contrary experience, I will be happy to hear about it; I am not going to try it for myself.)
And probably not clearly notified about that either.
I continue to use Amazon for things I can’t find anywhere else, but I remain careful and diligent not to accidentally sign up for Prime as a test or otherwise.
I have never seen this happen. In my experience, the pre-selected option is “Standard Shipping,” which isn’t free, but takes about a week. Usually there are also expensive two-day and one-day options offered, but I have NEVER seen those pre-selected. I just tested this a few times by adding various items to the cart and clicking through to the shipping options.
That is definitely not true. You can cancel Prime online anytime after you sign up—immediately afterward, if you want. If you’ve signed up for a 30-day free trial, then you still get your full 30 days even if you’ve cancelled. If your credit card has been billed, you can get an immediate cancellation with a full refund provided you haven’t used the free-shipping benefit since the billing.
I know this because I’ve done it. I’ve had several free trials of Prime, and cancelled all of them weeks before the billing date. In one case I actually paid for a Prime membership in a moment of weakness; I cancelled it the next day and got a full refund.
I don’t want to sound like an Amazon apologist, but some of the stuff in this thread is loopy.
This works for their ‘subscribe and save’ as well. If you subscribe to the thing you’re buying, you’ll get a discount. Do that then cancel the subscription. I usually set the interval for the longest time allowed (6 months?) just so I can be on the safe side and cancel after it ships.
Amazon’s entire philosophy is supposed to be about doing everything possible for the customer while screwing employees.
Goddamn, this was Radio Shack’s business model, too.
This happens to me also. The great Amazon shipping bait n’ switch.
There is typically a printing option where they can mail you a shipping label, I believe for $1?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I don’t know if this is an issue with Amazon in other countries, but Amazon.ca is driving me up a wall with its shipping policies. It will never tell me HOW something is being shipped.
(Note that I work a day job and so am NEVER home to pick up packages.)
If they ship Canada Post, shipping to my home address is ideal. When I’m not there to receive the package, it gets brought to the nearest post office counter, which is open late and on weekends.
If they ship using a courier company, I have to get it sent to my company’s shipping office, because otherwise when I don’t accept it it’ll get redirected to a depot out in the boonies. I don’t do this by default because I don’t work at that office and can’t necessarily get there during office hours.
Occasionally I can use the “ship to a drop-off point” option to skip the home delivery charade and get it sent directly to a post office, but they refuse shipments for capricious and unexplained reasons. (For example, it seems nothing containing batteries is allowed.)
I don’t have Prime and never ask for one- or two-day shipping. So why does Amazon “gift” me with unwanted courier service?
Same here.
I usually use the chat function and get a person in less than a minute.
I have always been amazed at how easy Amazon makes it to sort a problem. They never, ever seem in “find a way to screw the customer” and have always made it right.
It is the #1 reason I shop with them as much as I do. It seems everyone else makes it hard to do business with them. Amazon makes it easy.
I’ve noticed a difference between what person, or type of person, gets what type of help. I’ve seen IIRC a cNet page about this confirming my suspicions. Amazon has a customer rating system and if you score high from demographics (location, education, member of good standing, few returns) you get top tier support, and usually instant corrections to your favor, others get less levels of customer service.
[Moderating]
The spammer who bumped this has been nuked.
Can we still complain about Amazon, though? I recently got charged over a hundred dollars for Prime because I clicked on the wrong shipping option.