Attention Amazon.com: You Have A Bunch Of Pissed Off Customers... And Some Are Blaming Techdirt
from the reading-comprehension-needs-work dept
Two years ago, we had a post entitled Look What The Search Engine Dragged In! which some people liked. It highlighted a few old Techdirt posts from the archives that were given new life, thanks to random search engine queries that drove people to Techdirt -- where they were often quite confused and acted accordingly. So, for example, there was a post from 1999 about stolen AOL passwords, which for many years was a top search result for "stealing AOL passwords" leading to hundreds of commenters asking how to get the password for someone else's AOL account. Then there was the bizarre case where a story from 2000 about a dot com millionaire using his millions to build schools in central America. Somehow, people who had come across hard times started flocking to that post in order to beg for money, even though it's hard to believe anyone could show up on that page, read the post, and not realize that no one there is giving away money, and even if they were, it was for schools in central America, not individuals relating sob stories.
However, the latest such case is even more bizarre, and it's beginning to become a nuisance -- that I'm hoping Amazon.com might be willing to fix. You see, a couple years ago, Amazon.com launched a service called Amazon Prime. If you were willing to pay $79/year, you could get free 2-day shipping. It didn't seem like that great a deal to me, but I know that at least two Techdirt employees are actually happy customers of the service. I did, however, write about the program here on Techdirt -- though, if you'd asked me a week ago, I'm not sure I would have remembered writing that post.
However, a week ago, we started receiving somewhat bizarre angry emails to our feedback form complaining that we had unfairly charged the emailers' credit card for $79 and demanding that we issue an immediate refund. This was definitely odd. While we do accept credit card payments from the customers of our paid services, we certainly haven't been charging individuals' cards. After a few of these emails, we started to get concerned, and had our accounts manager try to contact a few of the irate emailers to make it clear that we had not charged their credit cards at all. Then I started to notice something. The post I did about the Amazon Prime program was getting a bunch of recent comments -- even though it was from over two years ago. Also, a lot of those comments were from people who were very, very pissed off at Amazon for charging them $79 (sound familiar?).
From there, it wasn't too difficult to piece together the rest of the story. Amazon has been aggressively pushing the Amazon Prime program lately with a brightly colored banner at the top of the checkout page and the following text: "You qualify for a FREE trial of Amazon Prime." The free trial lasts a month, but the fine print reads:
By clicking the button below, you are purchasing the item noted above (at its regular price) as well as signing up for a Free one month trial of Amazon Prime. As the trial ends, if you want to join Amazon Prime, do nothing. At that point we will enroll you in an auto-renewing, annual membership and charge a $79 annual fee. If you prefer not to upgrade to full membership, you can easily let us know at any time before your introductory membership ends, by changing your preferences in Your Account.This certainly isn't hidden, but it is the fine print, and people (especially those who might confuse Techdirt with Amazon.com) don't seem to read the fine print. People signed up for the "free" trial, forgot about it (or assumed it simply went away) and then were surprised to find a $79 charge on their credit card statements one to two months later. When they don't even remember the Amazon Prime program (or don't connect the name of the charge to it), the first thing they do is hit their search engine of choice and do a search on the name of the charge: AMZ*Prime club. If you've read this far, you know it's Amazon, but that might not be obvious at first glance. On both Google and Yahoo!, the first results lead to Techdirt. As of this post, on Google, Amazon doesn't show up in the search at all. On Yahoo, it's result #14. The reason we're listed at all is because someone wrote about it in the comments. In fact, the original post got no comments when the story first broke -- but as of this post has nearly 60 comments since last August of people complaining about the charge. Some of the comments include directions on how to get the charge removed, others demand (again) that we remove the charge ourselves (reading comprehension isn't a strong point, apparently).
All in all, it's an interesting look into a few different things. First, the oddities of search engine traffic on archived posts. Second, the reading comprehension skills of some individuals. Third, the fact that there appear to be a fair number of people who are pretty pissed off at Amazon for not being clear enough about how their Amazon Prime "free" trial works. So, in the interest of preventing us from more angry emails, Amazon.com: would you please (a) make the details of the program a lot clearer, or (even better!) not pull that sleazy "auto-enroll" crap that no one likes on your Amazon Prime testers or (b) if you insist on continuing to do so, do a little SEO work to get your own page at the top of a search for AMZ*Prime Club, so that we're not receiving the brunt of your angry customers. Thanks!
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
Reading comprehension by Susabelle on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:01am
I have seen instance after instance of people not reading everything or comprehending what they read. It just happened in the last few days in another instance that I was involved in. If people would just READ things and read it all, much misunderstanding could be avoided.
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And to think... by Sanguine Dream on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:03am
Some of those angry customers are probably employers/bosses that think its a good idea to search engine the name of a potential employee to find out what they are are really like and then proceed to base their judgement on what they find on the net.
Damn straight I'm scared of the idea of employers using the net to check up on potential employees. If people can't read the fine print of an online service how do you expect them to take the time to make sure the person they are considering hiring actually mactches the result(s) of a net search?
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same deal at TechBeat by Rob Hof on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:26am
We get the same people, apparently, commenting on a post I did on Amazon Prime awhile ago. At least half of them appear to be asking me, or at least the blog, to cancel their Prime subscriptions. I think this is a bigger problem than reading comprehension. Why on earth would they expect a blog to be able to fix their problems with Amazon? If they can't even figure out that Tech Beat isn't Amazon, it's pretty clear why they couldn't figure out the terms of the original deal.
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When do I get my money! by Wozmac on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:31am
Enough of the yada yada when do I get my Money!!!!
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by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:33am
i got this charge... :)
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silly by pete on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:38am
Wozmac, your trial hasn't even ended yet!
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Why give out CC# for a free service? by R C on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:38am
Why do people give out their credit card numbers to receive a free service? That should have been the first warning flag. I guess these are the same kind of people who are taken in by emails saying they won a zillion dollars in a lottery they never entered, and blissfully send a check for a mere $10,000 to clear the paperwork and taxes.
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by Cixelsid on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:41am
Hey Mike,
Why don't you just remove all the comments from that post?
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Responding to the irate emails by Pangolin on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:42am
Techdirt - respond to the irate emails with the phone number for Amazon and ask them to call. That will get the heat off of you and onto Amazon where it belongs.
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Oh and by Cixelsid on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:42am
Amazon blows goats.
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Re: Reading comprehension by Big Foot on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:42am
Huh? Did you say something?
;-)
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People are idiots. by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:47am
The primary problem is that the majority of people are idiots. Because of this fact, we've created a society catering to these people. It starts with teaching to the lowest common denominator in elementary school and it follows through to marketing anything and everything to adults. "See the big shiny red button? Click it, it'll sign your life away, but we'll give you THREE dollars!"
Anyway, before I get too off track I just wanted to chime in with a situation we commonly find ourselves in. I work for a financial services education company, we do not actually manage any money, but everyone thinks we do just because we run a website. In fact some people (including *certified* advisers) think that we actually are the money managers. On a regular basis, typically around tax season, we'll start to receive huge checks made out to us! Each time we have to waste our time by following up with these people and explaining to them that we don't have anything to do with their investments. The shocking thing is that almost half of these mistakes come from the advisers themselves.
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Re: same deal at TechBeat by Wyatt on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:49am
Nice plug there man :)
Seems Amazon attracts a very specific kind of people... Humm, can I say old and confused. Duh People!!
Don't hate me, I'm not implying all older folks have tech issues.. just the ones that use Amazon alone when buying on the internet.
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Re: People are idiots. by Wyatt on May 10th, 2007 @ 7:53am
Well, I've known many Financial Advisors in my day and they were never top of the rung kinds of people. They are like a better dressed car salesmen..
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People are both idiots and lazy by Amethyst on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:02am
People do not read! I've been through much internet drama on various message forums simply because people are lazy and refuse to read the entire post. If they have enough time to spend on message forums, they should have enough time to read all the way through someone's post.
Same thing applies in real life. Read the fine print, or get someone else to do it for you if you're not willing to, or simply avoid the product/service entirely.
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Re: Re: same deal at TechBeat by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:07am
I have to say, the older people are the ones that worry me the most. They have no idea how the internet works, they have no idea how to use it, and they have no idea of the risks involved. Back when I did tech support, I would say that 80% of the computers with serious virus problems were from people 50+. These viruses do not just cause them problems, but they serve as hosts for the virus far longer then most other people (since they are far less likely to upgrade systems or learn about them). They are also more likely then most to end up as a zombie machine or to have their information used for ID theft.
Seriously, if you can not figure out who you are buying from online, maybe you shouldn't be buying anything at all. Call someone who knows what they are doing and ask them to explain it and to do it for you.
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by give me my money back on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:08am
i demand a refund of my 79 dollars!!
j/k :)
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Re: People are both idiots and lazy by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:08am
I actually signed up for the free month of Amazon Prime a while back when I ordered a really heavy item and wanted it quick. I figured even if I forgot to cancel it'd still be cheaper than not signing up. About a week before it was going to renew I received an email from Amazon telling me that they were going to bill me if I didn't cancel. So I canceled. Frankly, you'd really have to be blind to miss the fact that this was an introductory offer. Simply amazing.
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service? by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:09am
hehe...what were you saying about reading comprehension Mike?
You know the victims (I mean, lucky customers) were most likely making a purchase at at Amazon (probably with a CC) when they were swindled...err, I mean blessed with the opportunity.
I do feel kinda sorry for the net drones that had this happen. One would think a site like Amazon would be trustworthy(ish), that's just sleazy.
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Its not Amazon's fault by Paul on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:13am
I signed up for the free month and I knew full well going in that I had to cancel before the end of the trial. I don't even remember it being surprising. I order a hell of a lot from Amazon all the time, so it made sense. Amazon isn't the only ones who do the "Try us for free for one month" but tack on the "we'll auto-renew you if you don't say anything." it seems virtually all trial services do that. people need to be help culpable for their actions. if you agree to a terms of agreement contract, you better not get mad when you find out there's something in there you don't like. especially when the thing you don't like isn't actually hidden, but even outside the ToA.
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And that is why... by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:27am
I never give my CC# for any "free" trials. Nearly all of them have strings attach and take advantage of the fact that most people will forget about those strings. Why do you think mos of those trials are between 1-3 months? Long enough to forget...
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by Joel Coehoorn on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:29am
My wife is really bad about this kind of thing, especially if asked about it over the phone. She'll go ahead and sign up wanting to save a couple dollars, knowing about the charge coming next month but intending to cancel ahead of time. Then she forgets about it. I pisses me off sometimes, both her for signing up in the first place and the company running the 'trial'. But it's not like we were lied to, so I usually pay the charge, make sure I leave a nasty note in their call center in case they track that kind of thing, and (of course) cancel.
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service? by Mischa on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:31am
Because they are in the middle of purchasing something from Amazon.com when they are offered the free* service.
(For an explanation of "free*" see http://ubersoft.net/d/20070503.html)
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Let me help by Wolfger on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:34am
I'm going to blog about AMZ*Prime Club and link back to here. :-D
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by yogi on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:38am
This is all BS.
I just wanna know - when the hell is techdirt gonna give me back my money goshdarnit!
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by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 8:40am
This is nothing new. Just about every "30-day free trial" offer ever conceived has a bill tacked onto it after the trial is over. Especially the ones that require you to give your credit card info. Anybody with an ounce of common sense knows what they're getting themselves into when they sign up for such an offer. If they forget about it and let the trial expire so they get billed, that's their fault, and it's between them and Amazon.
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Gotcha by Melody Overhall on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:15am
The Internet is an opt-out community.
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Re: by euclidjr on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:22am
We have two kinds of moron here - sourced out of the same problem - reading comprehension. First, you have the "I signed up for something that was a free trial for a month and now I'm mad that I forgot to cancel" morons. Second, you have the "The internet is a series of tubes and you are all connected to each other, so I'll just complain to you" morons.
The first one is pretty surprising considering that these kinds of free trials, "give us your credit card upfront" deals are not new - and they had to give Amazon their CC info and specifically authorize it.
The second one is a growing problem. I've seen many blogs and boards like this. Go over to whocalled.us - where people work together to identify spam callers and you have posters, quite irately, demanding they be taken off the call list - as though they are talking to the telemarketing company. They're either too stupid or too lazy to figure out where their google search landed them - or they just assume that since it is the first result, it must be the right place.
I'll spot you one of these, but if you are a double-winner, you deserve to have all of your money taken from you until you can no longer afford internet access or a computer.
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by Shamalama on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:39am
Damn tubes sucking up peoples $79 bills.
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Re: And that is why... by Justine on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:40am
I never give my CC# for any "free" trials. Nearly all of them have strings attach and take advantage of the fact that most people will forget about those strings. Why do you think mos of those trials are between 1-3 months? Long enough to forget...
Neither do I. A local computer expert with his own call-in radio show signed up for a free trial of Video Professor after receiving numerous complaints from his listeners. The company stuck it to him just like they did to everyone else, making it nearly impossible to stop the bombardment of charges to his credit card account. He could have stopped it immediately by getting his credit card company involved, but he wanted to see what the average person without tech savvy goes through. And he could not get Video Professor to reverse the fraudulent charges.
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I like AMZ*Prime by Immovable Object Guy on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:46am
I enrolled in the service the instant I found about it, 2+ years ago, love it, use it regularly, and more than get my money's worth. But then again, I can read and comprehend stuff - hence my usage of Amazon prime (buying books), and my complete satisfaction with the service (understanding it costs $).
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Read. Follow Directions. by PrimeLover on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:56am
I LOVE Amazon Prime. I was just talking to someone about it the other day. I get a free trial offer right around Xmas time. It's perfect! From the beginning of Dec to the end of Jan, it's free two day shipping. Of course, I cancel immediately when I'm done with all of my xmas shopping. Even last year though, I forgot to cancel, and they still gave me a refund because I hadn't used it since the trial period ended.
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by Jessica on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:58am
I don't see what the big deal is, that is how companies suck you in, that is how they have been doing it for years. It isn't like the whole free trial now, pay later is a new thing. I signed up for the amazon prime and I called them to cancel it at the end of three months. How it is amazons fault that people are too dumb to read the fine print.
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you jackals charged my credit card!!!! by chris on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:59am
i sent you an internet yesterday telling you to stop!!
just kidding.
i don't think that the problem has to do with idiocy as much as it has to do with not understanding the internet and how it works.
a lot of people don't understand that the world wide web is not a service provided by AOL, or google, or their companys' IT departments.
this is why phishing is so effective, most people can't determine the source, or the authenticity, of many emails and websites.
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Funny by His Shadow on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:01am
Couple this with the recent story that indicates that the average US citizen is unacquainted with technology, especially PCs.
Apparently the wrong people are online. Let's take the computer away from the stupid people and give them to the people not yet online.
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Amazon - Good Customer Service by Justine on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:06am
I'm a regular Amazon.com customer as well as a 3rd party seller registered on their website. They've always been a class A company to deal with and even though I'm not signed up for Amazon Prime, I wouldn't hesitate to sign up if it was a service that I would actually use.
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Another kind of moron by cloksin on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:07am
I just read through this article and the posts that follow, and it amazes me how little reading comprehension is actually taking place.
What we have here is many people posting to this article, and not comprehending the basis of the article itself.
This free trial from Amazon appears as a banner on the checkout page. Obviously, if you have made it to the checkout page, then you are trying to buy something. Since websites don't normally accept cash transactions, that leaves the credit card.
Nobody is giving their credit card info for a free trial, they are giving their credit card info for a purchase of some product that Amazon offers. In doing so they have also agreed to the free trial, wich is just tacked on to their order.
Please, before you post a comment please be sure you understand the article, otherwise, you're just grouping yourself in with the morons who are writing in for a refund.
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Funny by The Real Stanislav G on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:11am
Have you guys gone over and read the comments at that original thread? This is some of the best comedy on the interweb. Trailer parks across the nation are in an uproar!
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by TSO on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:20am
Calling people "Idiots" is no longer politically correct. You should use the term, "Intellectual majority representative".
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Re: And to think... by Michael Brutsch on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:33am
You don't really want to work for an employer like that anyway...
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by Overcast on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:33am
First... they charge customer's credit cards without warning, now they are resorting to cheap tactics like misleading acceptance of terms and fine print.
*Idea!!* - I'll just not buy stuff from Amazon! That would solve both of those issues.
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Re: Gotcha by Kano on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:39am
You said it more succinctly than I was about to.
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Re: Re: And that is why... by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:42am
My wife worked for the company (phone center) that took orders for the video professor. A huge majority of the phone representative wouldn't work on that particular product because it was borderline evil.
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by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:51am
QUIT CHARGING MY CREDIT CARD! I AM CALLING MY LAWYER AND CONTACTING THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND I'M GOING TO HAVE TECHDIRT THROWN IN JAIL !!!!!!!
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Reading & writing skills by Kano on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:58am
It all starts with the writing. If you want to communicate with your entire market, even the poor readers, then write with that in mind. The internet is rampant with poorly constructed communications. No doubt written by those who are **only** schooled by similar peers. :~)
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by Peter on May 10th, 2007 @ 10:58am
Anonymous Coward comes out with some prime guff from time to time, but this takes the biscuit:
"I have to say, the older people are the ones that worry me the most. They have no idea how the internet works, they have no idea how to use it, and they have no idea of the risks involved. Back when I did tech support, I would say that 80% of the computers with serious virus problems were from people 50+. .
Nice to learn, on his/her reliable research and experience, that there are no morons online under 50. Very reassuring. Quite what that has to do with the thread is a bit of a mystery, but thanks non-the-less.
Then we have this:
This is nothing new. Just about every "30-day free trial" offer ever conceived has a bill tacked onto it after the trial is over. Especially the ones that require you to give your credit card info.
Er....yes ... but Amazon didn't ask for anyone's credit card info. As has been pointed out, it was an offer to buying customers.
Peter
P.S. I came into computing rather late in life at the age of 48 - mind you that was way back in 1978. I suppose there is no hope for me. :)
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Re: by Suzette on May 10th, 2007 @ 11:05am
P.S. I came into computing rather late in life at the age of 48 - mind you that was way back in 1978. I suppose there is no hope for me. :)
Logan's Run wasn't an entirely bad concept. j/k
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by dan on May 10th, 2007 @ 11:41am
Where's my refund?
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Amazon Prime by Xenidus on May 10th, 2007 @ 11:47am
In defense of Amazon Prime, I'm reading a lot of these posts, and I'm assuming that many of these people haven't actually signed up for Amazon Prime. I'm a freshman college student, and I signed up for the express shipping amazon prime deal (free trial etc.) I probably got some 60 or 70 dollars worth of free shipping in my first month of school ( I bought a microwave with 2 day express shipping, a water filter, and a whole bunch of other stuff I forgot to get for school) The thing is, I just marked down a week in my phone of reminders about canceling my trial of amazon prime, and walla I got a great deal on free 2 day shipping, and no 80 dollar charge. I think it's the consumer's responsibility to be smart, and amazon was VERY clear about the auto enroll credit card charge to me. If you are smart, you can exploit the company, but if you aren't you get slapped with a 80 dollar punishment for not being able to read. I think it's pretty fair...
well that's my two cents on the situation, as someone who actually has first hand experience...
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service? by SeattleGuy on May 10th, 2007 @ 11:50am
If you are an Amazon customer, they know your CC# anyway.
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sheesh by 42 on May 10th, 2007 @ 11:51am
I took this offer back when it was three months' trial, set a reminder and alarms and all that for a week before the end, and cancelled it without issue. what. is. the. eefing. problem? oh wait, yes, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the average American chucklehead.
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by pete on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:08pm
I am begining to wonder how many of TechDirts readers are actually tech savvy? But I suppose that moniker no longer has anything to do with ones ability to read or understand the english language.
On multiple occasions in this article and its post, and I'll add one here, it has been stated that this was an offer given to people at checkout. For those of you that don't understand check out, checkout is the point where you have finished your online shopping spree and are preparing to pay for your purchase. The credit card is most likely now sitting in front of the user, ready to be given to the evil giant online retailer.
One way or the other amazon was gettng the card number, either for the purchase or the service.
Warning. Prepare for flaming in the following posts.
Also, I was one of those guys taking calls for Video Professor. Contrary to what janine writes, the charges were not fraudulant. Numerus times in during the sale it is stated that the customer will be charged $79 if they do not return at leas one of the cd's within 10 days.
The problem here is that the script is and subsequent sale is worded in such a way as to be very confusing to the caller. I don't think I ever had one caller who was really comfortable with the sale, but only about 1 in five people actually aske questins to clarify the details. Once those simple questions are asked it becomes apparent what will happen and the sale is dead.
This is not an uncommon practice. 99% of the infomercials you see on television come with an offer for something else. This is often hidden in the sale or worded in such a way as to be misleading.
While having above average reading comprehension skills myself (not bragging) I cactch on to these things the first time I read the script.
A word of advice Most infomercial sale tactics are ILLEGAL!! The most common tactic used is called "bait-and-switch". You are offered one product and sold another for a higher price. Unfortunately companies get by with this because there are relatively small percentages of complaints. If more people would report incidents like this to the bbb we would not be in this situation.
OK. enough of my rant. Any bets on how many people still don't get the post?
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As a web designer... by Bill S on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:08pm
One thing I have learned being a web designer for a online retailer is to never underestimate the stupidity of your customers.
Even if .05% of your customers are retards, it can easily add up to be a couple thousand people.
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Re: by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:11pm
"Anonymous Coward comes out with some prime guff from time to time, but this takes the biscuit: "
you calling me stoopid or sumptin ??/?
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by pete on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:12pm
nicely put 42. i believe your post is the answere to the life, univers and everything.
i guess my novel of a post was too long. they want to review it firs.
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by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:13pm
I want my money back TECHDIRT!!!! YOU ARE CROOKS!
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service? by Credit Union on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:13pm
Now sometimes, its little old ladies that do this. There are alot of scam artists that call and are very influential. These ladies don't understand all the new tech.
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by Steve R. on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:19pm
Amazon provides a valuable service, nevertheless I have been dismayed that they are using "sneaky" tactics to extort money from the consumer. Corporate America, unfortunately, has become addicted to marketing. It is no longer simply about selling you a product, but using every sneaky trick to sell (upgrade) you to the next product. As an aside, I totally hate it when a google search comes back with totally ridicules "offers" for non-existent products.
I totally avoid "free" trials, but reading the fine print on how to avoid these come-ons really causes one to have a miserable shopping experience. Theoretically Amazon would want its customers to have a pleasant experience, but I guess there are enough morons out there who fall for these offers thereby making these unethical business practices profitable. Too bad.
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Not A Bad Deal by DalGoda on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:21pm
I signed up, and I pay for the service. It's saved me a good deal of money on shipping. Personally, I like Amazon and how they do business. It's just too bad that there are some folks out there that shouldn't be allowed to breed.
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by opqdan on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:29pm
People just put too much faith into what they read online. We've all joked that "I read it on the internet, so it must be true", but that is what many people actually think.
People expect Live/Google/Yahoo/etc to bring up the page that they want as the first result, a musunderstanding of how search engines work. They see that result come up, and immediatly decide that if Google feels that it is the most relevent result, then it must be the originator of the charge.
I would be willing to bet that these are the same people who think Bill Gates will send them $10 if they forward an email to 5 friends.
Gullible people make themselves look like fools in real life too, it's just faster on the internet.
As for Amazon Prime, I am extremely happy with it. I just ordered a new grill which weighs enough that 2 people have to carry it. Shipping on that item alone would have added up to more than a Prime membership for a year. If you are just ordering books and small items, and taking advantage of super saver shipping, then there is no incentive, but if you are making large purchases, then it pays for itself easily. Back when I had my free trial (they were 4 months at that time), I knew full well that if I didn't cancel it, I would be charged, and I am pretty sure they even contacted me before the free subscription was up.
Remember, a full 50% of the people in the world have below average intelligence (this isn't technically true, but whatever).
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Re: Oh and by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:43pm
Somebody is living in the 90's. Just let it go, fellah.
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Re: Oh and by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 12:43pm
Somebody is living in the 90's. Just let it go, fellah.
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google bomb by sincewednesday on May 10th, 2007 @ 1:13pm
Perhaps this is a side effect of Google's misguided attempts to prevent google bombing. In this case, techdirt and others are legitimately linking "AMZ*Prime Club" to amazon.com, but since Amazon never uses that term on their site, the result is being ranked lowly or not at all.
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Morons... by TheDock22 on May 10th, 2007 @ 1:28pm
Has anyone found a telepone number to call Amazon.com??
LOL that is one of my favorite posts from the previous topic on Amazon prime shipping. How hard is it to click 'Help' on Amazon's homepage, look to the right of your screen, and see "Talk to Customer Support by Phone"
Someone else mentioned a class action lawsuit against Amazon for fraud. Can we all band together for a class action lawsuit against all those morons who posted to that blog? Maybe we can get their computers permanently taken away...
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by Greg Andrew on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:04pm
Amazon Customer Service Numbers
1-800-201-7575
1-206-266-2992
I have trouble understanding how people cannot understand what a Free Trial is. This is not something new that came along with the Internet; businesses have been using them for decades. Free trails always turn into paid services if you don't cancel the service during the trial (unless you haven't given the company in question your credit card number). This is not at all a shady business practice in and of itself. Some companies have free trials and then ignore cancellations - that's a shady business practice.
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by goulsby on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:24pm
Why don't you just set up something to automatically redirect the search traffic hitting your page to another web page that has the phone numbers of amazon's corporate office? Will get them away from you, and immediately to where they will cause the most trouble at amazon.
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Re: Re: Re: same deal at TechBeat by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:31pm
Exactly. That's the way the system works. And the people you go to for such advisement are called lawyers. Anyone who enters into an agreement without first consulting an attorney deserves whatever happens to them.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Reading comprehension by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:34pm
Yep. If people would just exercise due care and simply have a competent lawyer look things over before making an agreement many misunderstandings could be avoided.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Re: And to think... by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:36pm
I don't really want to work for any employer but find it to be a necessity.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: People are both idiots and lazy by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:45pm
Many people are willing to read the fine print but unless they are themselves trained lawyers they really have no way of knowing all the legal ramifications (which parts are enforceable, which are not, remedies available, etc.). So the lesson is: if you can't afford the lawyer, you can't afford the product/service.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:52pm
I like that one.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: by Anonymous Coward on May 10th, 2007 @ 2:57pm
Everything's easy for the person who doesn't have to do it themselves.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Teach 'em young by Dae Arien on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:01pm
I found myself teaching this very lesson to my 9 year old daughter last week when she ordered some sparkly beads from the Scholastic book order she brought home from school. "But they were free, mom!" She has now placed her very first customer service cancellation call. Sad.
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Regardless... by James Stevens on May 10th, 2007 @ 9:03pm
Even though Am4z0n customers seem to be a little retarded, it's still bad business by Amazon. Sure, they just made an assload off of tons of people, but it'll hurt their business in the long run.
Amazon seems a little technically-challenged. SEO is something every web dev should know... that's pretty sad that a company Am4z0n's size can't complete the basics.
Amazon blows now IMO. See, even people who weren't charged the $79 now think Amazon sucks just becuz of this issue.
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Re: Re: People are both idiots and lazy by The infamous Joe on May 11th, 2007 @ 4:09am
So the lesson is: if you can't afford the lawyer, you can't afford the product/service.
I didn't get a lawyer to read the fine print before playing World of Warcraft... and I dare say I'd point and laugh at any idiot who does. The *real* lesson is: The word "Free" is flypaper for idiots. If you *really* think you'll get that 80 gig ipod for clicking a button, you're going to get what's coming to you, and it's not a free ipod.
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Re: Re: Re: People are both idiots and lazy by Anonymous Coward on May 11th, 2007 @ 9:25am
Then, unless you're a lawyer yourself, how do you know all the legal ramifications of what you agreed to? There are also those who would laugh and call you an idiot and some of them have hired lawyers to set traps for you. Then you'll get what's coming to you and it won't be a shiny fun game, for you anyway.(reply to this comment) (link to this comment)
Re: Regardless... by Anonymous Coward on May 11th, 2007 @ 10:30am
How does this hurt Amazon? These morons think Techdirt is responsible. If I worked at Amazon (and had no soul, but maybe the latter goes along with the former), I sure wouldn't be rushing to make sure these morons knew it was Amazon's fault.
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Double sleazy by John on May 11th, 2007 @ 1:46pm
First, I think the offers of "free, but we'll automatically renew you and charge your credit card" are sleazy enough to begin with.
If the service was good, people would pay for it, rather than needing to be tricked into a auto-renew situation.
But, companies count on the fact that a large percentage of the customers will forget to cancel. That's easy money for them! Sure, some customers will want refunds or maybe even file chargebacks, but more money will come in next month from even more customers who forgot to cancel.
Second, I can see how the "AMZ*Prime" charge could confuse people. Why didn't it say "Amazon.com Prime" so people would know it came from Amazon.com? Is it because the credit card companies only allow so many characters to be printed on the statment, which then forces merchants to use cryptic characters instead of their full real name?
On the other hand, isn't there any kind of contact information next to the "AZM*Prime" charge- maybe a phone number or address? Why are so many people asking TechDirt for a refund when they could call that number or simply call their bank to track down the charge?
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amazon by jimy wimy on May 17th, 2007 @ 2:51am
this iant amozons fault ive been using amozon for years they been well good to me n nouts gone rongso it must be the othere thing
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Re: Re: Re: Re: People are both idiots and lazy by jimy wimy on May 17th, 2007 @ 2:55am
world of war craft is so rubish go on runescape thats wat better the wolrd of war craft has graphics like a cartoon
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AMZ*Prime Club by Louise Montgomery on May 23rd, 2007 @ 9:03am
I just got the bill for a credit card that I NEVER use. It had a $79 charge on it from AMZ*Prime Club. I'd never heard of this and googled, just as you say most people do, as I called the credit card company.
IF I clicked on an ad, it was to kill it(though that often opens these obtrusive ads).
What is most distressing to me is that I NEVER use the credit card to which Amazon billed the charge. I will call Amazon and give them an earful!
I HATE Amazon and will never do business with them (I rarely do anyway).
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AMZ*Prime Club by John Domin on Jun 1st, 2007 @ 11:20am
The way that I read the text it meant that the two-day shipping was for one-time only as a free trial.
If I remember correctly, from my course in contract law at Bernard Baruch College of the City University of New York, that this means that the contract is voidable at my option.
There must be agreement by both parties to the terms of a contract.
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I just got hit!!! by wale on Jun 5th, 2007 @ 10:01am
I just got hit by their bill and did a search like many others and ended up here. it billed me 41 pounds which i thought was quite a chunk. WWho knows what exchange rate they were using. I indeed forgot all about it.
I don't like programs that "automatically" enroll you for the full program. To me it's a dterent anyway. i guess i should have been smarter. Gotta dash and check there are no more pendings to cancel.
cheers
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not so obvious by NotOver50 on Jun 23rd, 2007 @ 9:18am
I order things from time to time from Amazon, but would never intentionally have signed up for a free trial. True, I do not read every piece of text on each screen I view, because most of it is advertising in which I am not interested. They got my card # because I was ordering something else.
Interestingly, I signed on to my Amazon account after visiting this blog and tried to "manage my prime club account" but I am not enrolled according to them. So why the heck am I being charged $79? This is not directed at Tech Dirt. I am simply sticking up for those of us who are not technologically incompentent, actually can read (degree from a good university in English) and got duped anyway. Amazon is not so innocent as some like to think.
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by Anonymous Coward on Jun 29th, 2007 @ 11:23am
just got this 79 charge on my wife's card. How do you deal with it?
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AMZ prime club by Tom Beck on Jul 8th, 2007 @ 5:08pm
My wife just got zinged by Amazon for their $79 free shipping scam and I stumbled onto this site when I tried to find out what the heck it was. Thanks for the info. We contacted Amazon with our displeasure with their tactic and got a bye on the charge. Vendors do this sort of thing occassionally and one just has to let them know you aren't taking it. But I was amazed by all the vitriolic BS from the young turks toward people over 50 which we happen to be. We're too busy dealing with kids and grandkids to become experts on this technology, which while useful, is not our lives. Maybe if one of you has a car breakdown or some other problem not involving a throwaway electronic I or some other dude over 50 will be willing to help. Provided you can zip your lip about how dumb we are. tb
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amazon prime by Katie on Jul 20th, 2007 @ 6:08pm
I cannot believe people don't read and understand who to e-mail with problems of these things.
Furthermore I cannot believe people are not more careful about free trials, I hate to go economics 101 on you (I REALLY HATE it), but one of the first things we learn is that free things don't exist someone pays for it. Online retailers love this, expecting people to forget and then when you complain, all they have to say is read the terms you clicked and agreed to.
I enrolled in the amazon prime, I needed to get something before I went on vaction in like 3 days, first thing I did, I found out how to cancel and imo amazon makes it easy, you don't even have to call! Anyway I went to the page, clicked on the box so that prime would not be automatically charged to my credit card, and that was that. It's 2 months later, I've been keeping up with my credit card charges and no charge. It took 5 minutes. Read people!
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I'm not stupid I swear by Pete on Jul 23rd, 2007 @ 9:35am
Ok, for all those who make fun of us for not "reading the fine print," No one reads fine print for something familiar like an Amazon order when they've already done it in the past and not had any trouble. When you make a normal order, Amazon automatically enrolls you in their ridiculous unauthorized trial program, and even on the order conf. emails it NEVER tells you of an additional charge, so if you don't spot it on your CC you're screwed and they've maliciously charged you for a service you NEVER AGREED ON.
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Amazon Prime by Lloyd Vincent on Jul 24th, 2007 @ 10:58am
Hi, I did not sign up for this "free" trial and got billed anyway. Called Amazon and they agreed to remove the charge. Whoever thought up this promo should be fired cause of all the ill will created. I may never buy anything from Amazon again.
Ron
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Amazon Prime by Eileen on Jul 24th, 2007 @ 1:19pm
Our CC company called us the other day asking if we made a $79. charge. No. We checked it out online to find that it was Amazon. No we didn't authorize it, didn't buy anything recently. Called them and told them to take it off the charge. They said they would in 3-4 days. I emailed them and told
them to delete my account and all my personal info, mainly
the CC #'s. No longer going to do business with them.
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That ain't all... by AmazoningFraud on Jul 26th, 2007 @ 6:12am
Just noticed a particularly nasty thing on Amazon. When adding items from a vendor to my shopping cart, despite their shipping rates policy stating a charge of $4.99 per ORDER, they were charging $4.99 per ITEM. It's small stuff (tubes of teeth whitening stuff, toothpaste, etc), so the $4.99 per ORDER seemed like a reasonable amount since I'm sure they can fit lots of this stuff into a small, light box. But when freight for my three items, total weight of about a pound & fitting into a 6"x6"x6" box, came to about $15.00, I was quite miffed.
So I found another vendor of the same item. Shipping policy: $4.49 per SHIPMENT. Placing one item into cart: $5.29 !!!
Wonder how many other vendors are perpetrating this kind of fraud on Amazon.com's site. Wonder how many thousands of dollars a day people get screwed out of (illegally, I might add...). It helped to finally push my trust in Amazon over the edge.
FYI: The first vendor is APlusSmile (they never returned my emails when I pointed out the error), and the second is SmileMedic. Avoid them if you can.
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AMZ*Prime Club by Jim on Aug 8th, 2007 @ 12:39pm
Thanks for twigging for what this is. They discontinued the 'mambership' and stated that they would refund $79.00.
JOR
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Amazon Prime by Gene Bass` on Aug 11th, 2007 @ 7:57am
I too got charged $79.00 on my recent credit card and I'm very much pissed off. I'm having my lawyer send a letter to Amazon.
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Amazon Prime by Bill Guthrie on Aug 17th, 2007 @ 1:27am
Good news article, and in truth I did find your blog with a Dogpile search which didn't give me Amazon right away. I don't have time to read the long string of comments so forgive me if I repeat what someone else has said. I read the first ten and saw most of it was repetition.
Fury is unnecessary: Soon as I found it was Amazon Prime, I went to the website, logged in, found the cancellation button through the Help FAQs, cancelled, had my notice of cancellation in ten minutes, and in another two minutes had a promise that in two days the charge would be deleted from my credit card.
To correct some of the record above: the "application" was just a box-check while ordering, which did not solicit credit card information. If you didn't read the contract, which I did not, then Amazon Prime took your membership fee from the card used for the purchase.
So now you want to know why I didn't read the contract? Easy: last year Amazon ran what looked like the same offer, without automatic membership billing. I had used that offer and had shipped one box free without joining.
Amazon runs its business honestly, near as I can tell, and letting me off the credit card hook for pushing two buttons, and even getting a pleasant [automated] note from them, that's way ahead of the three or four unsolved problems I've had with Microsoft in the last ten years.
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thanks for this!@ by jess on Sep 2nd, 2007 @ 10:59am
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Re: Reading comprehension by Mike Honcho on Sep 24th, 2007 @ 1:01pm
Unlike you, Mike Masnick can actually write sentences that use proper language constructs while still making sense.
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Re: Amazon Prime by Matt on Sep 24th, 2007 @ 1:02pm
Umm Why don't you just ask Amazon for a refund. You are the one who screwed up in the first place, Amazon makes it incredibly obvious, and I am guessing they did not steal you wallet and get your credit card.
No you should compound your mistake by bringing in a lawyer, which will automatically cost you more than $79.. I doubt someone with your level of comprehension can afford to do this for "the principle".
A clue to everyone if a free trial asks for a credit number, 99/100 times it automatically becomes a paid service at the end of the trial period. This is not a new phenomenon, it has been the way the world has worked since at least the 1970's. (10 records for 1 cent ring a bell to anyone)).
People need to grow up and take responsibility for their own stupidity.
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by Art Carnage on Sep 24th, 2007 @ 3:24pm
I also signed up for Amazon Prime. The notice that I would be automatically subscribed was pretty obvious, and something I fully expected, as any rational person who's not an idiot would. I set a calendar reminder two days before the auto-subscription would kick in. I ordered a good deal of stuff that month, enjoying the quick delivery. And then when the notice popped up, I turned off the Amazon Prime feature. It took maybe a minute. End of story.
As for those who think they got "duped", they probably deserve to learn a $79 lesson.
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by Tony on Sep 25th, 2007 @ 8:32am
TLDR
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Re: by Anonymous Coward on Sep 26th, 2007 @ 5:01pm
Wow- I commend you for being such a well....nerd! I am sure one day something not so "rational" will happen to you for being so judgemental.
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AMZ*Prime Club by Bernardo Quijada on Sep 27th, 2007 @ 10:14pm
Thieves give my money back!!!, they never say will charge $79 dollars, i want my money back.
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Why does it have to be auto deduct?? by Disappointed with Amazon on Oct 1st, 2007 @ 11:07pm
Didn't know such a big company will behave in such a cheap manner to extract money from their customer!! Damn amazon. i am one of the ppl got cheated by you.
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Hold it right there by Old Person on Oct 7th, 2007 @ 6:53am
How many Amazon shills are flooding this blog with replies? Surely the entire world does not contain such a number of angry young know-it-alls who so passionately defend Amazon's crooked business practices. Really--"idiots" "can't read" "old ladies"?? So cranky! It sounds like the customer service crew at Amazon venting their anger at their employer by abusing the faceless "lusers." By the way, if you really, really feel passionate about fools who don't read Amazon's fine print, then you need to get out more.
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Prime Club by martha cottrell on Oct 17th, 2007 @ 5:08am
Here's one more unhappy customer. Amazon.com is on my delete list. Will never use Amazon.com again.
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Prime Club by martha cottrell on Oct 17th, 2007 @ 5:51am
Here's one more unhappy customer. Amazon.com is on my delete list. Will never use Amazon.com again.
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Ghetto Booty by Rick on Oct 25th, 2007 @ 3:14pm
No, seriously... if they really think TechDirt is who charged their credit card number because a quick search on Google has you as the first result, they should get away from the damn computer. They are a danger to themselves.
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Amazon Prime by Roy Brewster on Nov 1st, 2007 @ 5:07pm
I advise anyone to be very cautious using Amazon.com from now on. Their their trial period for Prime cost me a hassle and time to retrive my $79.
I percieve that Amazon.com mislead me. I will not be so stupid with them from now on! They have earned my distrust.
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... by Victor F. on Nov 7th, 2007 @ 12:50pm
yea... i admit i didn't read the fine print... but that is rediculious, a free trial typicaly expires, they don't add on a suddent 80 dollar charge.... hell, the things i ordered took almost a month to arrive... curse you amazon...
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Re: Re: Re: same deal at TechBeat by Melba.Stokes on Nov 14th, 2007 @ 12:28am
Remove the $79 charge from my account immediately! You must think that I'm crazy. No more business with Amazon for me
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AMZ Prime Charges by Slightly Confused on Nov 26th, 2007 @ 2:45am
I disagree, with all the hardline stances by those that did in fact read the really, really small print. For those, that did pick up on it, congratulations. For those that didn't (myself included), would it not have been reasonable for Amazon to send out an e-mail in regards to the charges? (ie. "If you are satisfied with AMZ Prime would like to continue your subscription please click 'yes' if not the free trial will be terminated") instead of using an autoenrol program. I don't know, but in Australia, we must do things differently.
And secondly, from when I took contract law, I always thought that there must be consent from both parties before a contract is enforced. Negative affirmation (i.e. 'if you don't reply, I will consider it a yes and the contract goes ahead') does not count, which appears to be the equivalent of what Amazon has done.
On a final note though, I do think it is pretty funny that people are e-mailing techdirt demanding a refund. Contact Amazon and they will be more than happy to refund your money provided you have not used AMZ prime services.
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Anonymous Coward by Slightly Confused on Nov 26th, 2007 @ 2:56am
Sorry, but do you have a life?
I don't mean it in a mean way, it's just an observation (I kinda get that vibe from your comments) You just seem like one of those guys that spends an inordinate amount of time in front of their computer.
I don't really have a solution, but maybe getting a girlfriend would help. It would give you a break from your computer (and your hand.)
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Re: Re: Amazon Prime by Slightly Confused on Nov 26th, 2007 @ 3:04am
Disagree Matt. AMZ Prime trial period was offered to already existing Amazon customers who already had thier credit card details listed. Also, many that were duped by Amazon, were long-standing customers who had always trusted Amazon not to employ shady business practices. It was actually an easy error to make...
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