Posted 30 November 2023

Amazon Prime Free Trial - Charged on First Day

I signed up for an Amazon Prime 30 day free trial on the 16th Nov. On the 29th Nov, I noticed I had been billed £95 for an annual subscription on the 16th November i.e. the first day of my free trial. I complained to Amazon online and eventually got a complete refund. Had I not noticed the charge within 14 days, I would not have been entitled to a refund. I never authorised any payment whatsoever to be taken.

Although reimbursed, I am not satisfied with their practice and wonder: Has anybody else had a similar experience to myself? (This does not include signing up for a free trial and then entering a regular agreement).

My letter of complaint (anonymised) to their customer services.

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30th Nov 2023
Yeah, that is why I always use disposable and prepaid cards. I only have the amount I am going to spend and block online purchases when nothing expected is coming.
30th Nov 2023
I clicked a free trial once and was charged £4.49 (for a month of student prime). Luckily I noticed and cancelled immediately for a refund, but the link definitely offered a free trial.
30th Nov 2023
That's more scandalous than OPs drama as Prime Student trial is zero-cost for first six months:
30th Nov 2023
At every step on basket, it prompts you to choose Prime, highly annoying practice.
30th Nov 2023
not for the free trial but sometimes you get a free trial banner at the top right corner of the page and when you click on it, it tells you the monthly cost, so the banner doesn't work.

what really annoys me, and I got caught out once, is when you get to the order page and it says select prime delivery now and it states the cost is £0.00 but when you click on it, you are charged the monthly prime fee.

i had to contact CS to say that this had happened and i was not expecting to have to pay. she cancelled the order and refunded me the subscription fee as she said that i had not used any prime benefit.

but i see this all the time, now that i pay attention to that offer, and it always say £0.00
Author
1st Dec 2023
This practice is wrong and dupes customers into subscriptions without clear warnings. Thanks for detailing your experience. The more I've read about them, the more I'm horrified: They're underhand in so many ways, from permitting couterfeit goods/fake reviews, faking sales pricing through to the mistreatment of their own workforce.