PSA: Avoid Purchasing from Amazon.com if you are "simple"

[Salerosa]

I recently received a $79.00 charge to my debit account from some unknown source which read AMZ*ShippingClub on my online bank statement. Suspecting my debit card information had been stolen, I called Wachovia to cancel my card. While waiting on hold, I typed the charge into Google as it appeared on my statement, and was completely taken aback by the search results.

In case you have not been to Amazon.com recently, they have a new "club" which you can sign up for to receive "free shipping." At the checkout, this shipping option appears "Free Shipping with Prime Club" or something along those lines with a link for you to click to learn about the minor details they neglect to advertise as you are checking out. Details like this "club" costs an annual fee of $79.00.

Business Week article (read the plethora of comments at the bottom)

I also found a link that stated there is a class action lawsuit being drawn up against Amazon for this very practice, but I could not find further information so I neglected to include it.

Now, one can easily see how this way of advertising the Prime Shipping Club is somewhat (some may argue very) misleading and it is easy to understand how the naive consumer could wind up signing up for a service they neither need nor want.

Now on to my case: I DID read the details about the Prime Club Shipping, and DID NOT sign up for it. I have bought one item in 2007, a book that cost $10, and I had it shipped standard (which I paid for of course). My order history confirms all of this (in case my memory had failed me). This was THREE months ago, and I just received the charges yesterday.

I have always perceived Amazon.com as a reputable company, and while their misleading advertising concerning this club is somewhat shady, their practice of arbitrarily charging people who did not sign up for this service at all essentially constitutes theft. I have tried contacting Amazon by phone and through e-mail and have received no response.

I understand mistakes happen, but I can come up with no logical explanation for how these charges appeared on my account other than a MAJOR computer glitch, incompetence, or outright deviance. Regardless of which may be true, they have lost my business forever.

I want to make everyone on this board aware of this practice, so that you may take it into account when deciding whether or not to do business with them in the future.

Cliff Notes : I order $10 item from Amazon, they charge me $79 three months later for something I did not sign up for, and they are apparently doing it to a lot of other people as well. Exercise caution before dealing with them in the future.

edited by stabn fyi!

[Blarg]

How can you call them by the phone and receive no response? They answer their phone lines. They just don't want you to know what they are.

[F. McSimmons]

FWIW I've had nothing but good experiences w/ Amazon.

[Platonic]

Dude, Amazon Prime = profit. You probably signed for it last year FOR FREE AS PART OF THEIR PROMOTION, and then they renewed it for you?

All I know is free 2 day shipping on almost anything you want for $79.00 / year is a great deal.

[stabn]

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Now, one can easily see how this way of advertising the Prime Shipping Club is somewhat (some may argue very


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#1 lol you are pretty dumb if you think prime is misleading.
#2 lol they made a mistake
#3 you are pretty lol for this "Exercise caution before dealing with them in the future. "

Extreme caution!!!!!

but #4 it does annoy me that my non-prime orders take a lot longer before they ship them ever since they came out with prime. So fu bitches that have prime.

oh yah #5 pls to be just calling it 'amazon prime' this shipping club [censored] really isn't needed.

[edfurlong]

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but #4 it does annoy me that my non-prime orders take a lot longer before they ship them ever since they came out with prime. So fu bitches that have prime.



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For reals. I made my first (and last I guess) non prime order a couple weeks ago, can't wait for it to get here!

[kyleb]

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Cliff Notes : I am an idiot.

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[Dids]

No problems ever with Amazon, tons of orders.

[RunyonAve]

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No problems ever with Amazon, tons of orders.

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[boomshakalaka]

Eminem has better PSA skillz.