Be extra careful now using Amazon

I have had an Amazon account for years now but as a very light user I’ve never had the need to go to Amazon Prime but today I got signed up to a free trial without wanting it! Please be very careful if you do not want a similar experience. I’ll explain what happened and why it needs extra care…..the delivery options are a misleading trap.

Was looking on a friends Christmas present list and this item was on it, exactly what he wanted.

Please take a minute just to be aware because the wording is vague, generic and misleading. Nowhere on this screen does it say free delivery is only if you have a Prime account. There is a tick box offering free one-day delivery option with amazon prime, incidentally I specifically did not tick that option because I was happy to get it by the clearly stated option of FREE delivery between Wed 27th-Thurs 28th. So at this point I clicked add to basket.

At the next screen I just picked up on something slightly odd in the wording which got me mildly suspicious…..and sure enough the next thing was an incoming email from Amazon thanking me for joining Prime and confirming my 30 day free trial membership! (For anyone who doesn’t know Prime costs £79 a year membership plus £7.99 a month).

So just to clarify I had not paid for the item nor had I even confirmed the order but Amazon still joined me up to their Prime membership subscription! Upon realising this I Googled it and was met by a glut of stories of similar experiences saying around 30% of users have been hit by the very same thing.

I class myself as quite savvy and aware but within a split second and well before even placing the order it had been done. The stories I read were all on a similar line that most people were not even aware what had happened when they were still technically only browsing the item and the first time they knew was after the first month when they were hit with the £79 plus £7.99 charge to their card. I guess some people may then choose to keep Prime going, either because they do not check their statement or perhaps they might just like to keep the service BUT many said it was a lot of hassle afterwards trying to cancel what they never wanted in the first place and often a delay getting any kind of refund after the ‘free’ trial month was over. My experience was it took much much longer to cancel and get confirmation from Amazon that i would not be charged than it did to get joined up.

I would like to screen shot the other screen to show you just how subtle the wording was that gave me a tiny hint something ‘odd’ had happened but it would mean I’d then be signed back up!