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Amazon Tries To Build Loyalty Through Shipping Club

Surprises

from the interesting-ideas... dept

Wed, Feb 2nd 2005 01:25pm -

Amazon certainly isn’t afraid to try out new ideas to build long term sales. Jeff Bezos has famously stuck by its “free shipping for over $25” plan, despite criticism from Wall Street. Analysts are afraid it cuts into margins too much. Bezos responds that it increases sales. However, free shipping apparently isn’t enough, so Bezos is testing out a new idea that is designed to make buyers more loyal to Amazon. Called Amazon Prime, customers can pay a $79 annual fee and getting shipping perks. While they obviously could still just get the regular free shipping — that often takes a while. The new program gives free two-day shipping, and much cheaper overnight shipping. Of course, it hasn’t taken long for some people to start calculating how many items you’d need to order in a year for this to make sense. Of course, it’s even more complicated, because it’s really how many items you’d need to order that you really want there very quickly against how many you’d order that you’ll be just fine if they show up in a week. While it’s an interesting idea, it seems that $80 is a pretty high price to pay — and only those who order an awful lot and need it quickly are going to be interested. Still, how long will it take for others (or maybe Amazon itself) to modify this sort of loyalty program to make customers feel compelled to shop only in one place? Update: Ah yes, the company also announced this just hours before missing earnings. Think Bezos is trying to send a message to Wall Street?


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588 Comments
Bob says:

Re: money taken out of my bank acct without my o.k

I just checked my bank account and found this $79 charge as well.

My wife has used Amazon quiet often in the past, and now that WILL come to an end.

I’m suprised a business like Amazon has allowed a shady practice like this to exist in their service. I would think that return business would be worth more to them than a one time (and final) payment of 79 bucks!

Another one bites the dust!!

Joy Gooden says:

we also see an unauthorized charge of $79

We got stung also. We did not purposely authorize this charge. Maybe Amazon has some sneaky button that you accept this service charge when you think you’re just looking at your shipping or other orders.

We also checked our our Amazon account activity and did not see this charge. Also, we always get an email saying that we’ve ordered something that shows the cost and shipping charges. We didn’t get any email indicating this charge. This makes me very upset. It seems Amazon is trying to pull a fast one and sneak buy a charge. They must not want you to see it. We just happened to see it by looking at our online bank statement. This may cause us to use Amazon a whole lot less.

Nanne Olds says:

I have also been charged $79 with no request on my part and absolutely no notice from Amazon. I didn’t even know about this “prime shipping club” until I found the $79 on my credit card statement! This is clearly VERY questionnable activity on the part of Amazon and, at best, shows Amazon is operating, at least with respect to this shipping club, in a very shoddy manner.

david rose says:

Amazon prime shipping charge $79 without knowing!

Me too !! I ordered on line but it was not made clear that their was a charge for being part of the club! This is sneakily saying delivery is free by joining a club but not clearly in BOLD PRINT stating that there is a charge for the service! A company like Amazon should not be trying to cheat there customers like this!

negative bank acount says:

why did they do this to us?

I got up this morning, checked my bank acount and found a negative balance!!! I have no idea what this amazon loyalty club even is!!! Has anyone been able to get there money credited back to there acout if so please let me know!!! If there is a nuber to call PLEASE I beg someone to let me know!!!!!

Thanks!

patrick says:

prime time to cancel

same thing happened to my fiance an me. if you go to the help page on the left there is a link under “shipping and delivery” labeled “amazon prime.” once you go to that link one of the options is cancelling your account. we just did it and it said that it could take 24-48 hours to cancel if “there are no qualifiying purchases.” so as we try very hard to remember what the hell buttons we pushed over the last few weeks, we are hoping that this will actually cancel the membership. if that is not good enough you can click on the link for “phone contact” and then amazon calls you. its weird, and it already feels like a terminal hold situation but we will let you know what happens.

p

patrick says:

mission accomplished

i was on the phone with customer support and she was obviously refrencing some email during our conversation. so i said “well, if you are getting emails about this from corporate there must be some system in place to refund the money.” i know, i am tough as hell. ha ha ha. she said that it was one of those three months free and then charge you deals and because we cancelled (read above post) without “using” the membership the refund has been initiated. i have to say she was very nice and i think that any force applied to someone answering the phone will yield you the results you want. i would get in on this early before they have a big meeting on how they are going to stop being easy and start trying to sell you on the idea. good luck!!!

Cindy says:

Thank you Patrick/Get a REFUND

WOW, thanks Patrick. I followed your instructions to the letter and you are absolutely right, it was painless and I am getting a refund. I, like everyone else was shocked at the $79.00 charge but the young lady that I spoke with was really nice as well. Again thanks for your help. All others seeking to get their money back…see Patrick’s post, maybe it can help you as it as helped me. Thanks
Cindy

Jerry says:

Phone Number

I saw the $79 charge as well and went to the web site after reading other entries. I then found the phone link which I put in my phone number and then a representive called me w/in 60 seconds.

The phone number is under the help section of the prime link.

It is kind of a wierd phone procedure, but did work.

good luck

I then receive the following e-mail.

Subscriptions Cancelled Notification

Hello from Amazon.com.

We’re writing to confirm that your Amazon Prime subscription has been cancelled at your request. Your membership benefits have now ended.

As an Amazon Prime subscriber, you have enjoyed free Two-Day Shipping and upgraded Overnight Shipping for only $3.99 on millions of eligible items. If you wish to subscribe in the future, please visit our online subscription pages:

http://www.amazon.com/prime

Thank you for trying Amazon Prime and shopping at Amazon.com.

Best regards,

Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com

debi says:

Amazon charged my card for Prime Shipping subscrip

I spent one hour today trying to find out what I might have bought from Amazon for $79.00 after receiving my Amazon card invoice. I usually do not spend that much at Amazon so I thought perhaps I used the card for another online purchase for my company…even though I couldn’t remember any. Finally, after not finding any charge for that amount ~ I called my card company and ask what the bill was for. The representative told me that he knew what it was for ~ because another lady had called earlier with the same charge. It was a charge for Amazon’s Prime Shipping subscription. I told him that I didn’t order it and that I know for sure because I would never order anything like that. He said that I could dispute the charge. I told him that I would contact Amazon. But after looking online for a phone number to call Amazon and not finding one ( imagine that!) So, I called back my card company to dispute the charge. Once I had the dispute rep on the phone and explained what happened he said that he could dispute the charge. I ask if my card would be credited immediately so that I would not get any late fees or charges for being late on the payment as it was due on November 5th. He told me that he would call an Amazon representative while I was on the phone ( I guess they get that special phone number) and the next thing I know a very nice female representative from “Amazon” who in a very round about way told me that somehow I must have signed up for the Prime Shipping subscription. I told her that I doupt that happened unless Amazon tagged it on to an order somehow via very, very small print. I told her that it looks like I was just charged for something that I did not order, need or want. So she told me that she would credit my card and cancel my subscription. Then I decided to do a search online and see if anyone else had this happen especially after remembering what the first rep told me that another customer had the the same unathorized charge earlier in the same day. I run two businesses and this is wrong and it seems from all the comments here that these are intentional unauthorized charges.

Willo says:

Doesn't look like much loyalty is being engendered

Count me among the victims of the Amazon Prime Shipping fraud. I haven’t paid the $79 that my card was charged, and won’t. But I anticpate a hassle.
I suggest that folks never allow their credit card to be retained by the system for “one click” ordering. Of course if you give your credit card number at all you may be targeted for this scam. Always check your bills!

Dale says:

Amazon Prime Membership

I had on my calendar that I needed to cancel this by December 28th…x days after I signed up….to avoid being charged. Evidently their records said the 19th and by the 21st it was on my card billing transaction list. I went online to “manage my account” and “manage my Amazon prime” where they have a button to “cancel membership”. I wasn’t betting that this action alone would get me a refund of the charge. So it took a while to find a customer service phone number…in fact I never did, but if you look under “customer returns” they have a java script button where you click on it and then enter your own phone number and when you want to be called, like “right now” and your phone immediately rings and they tell you to wait for the next representative. I explained my situation and she was pleasant, said their records were different than mine but did say she would process a credit of the charge. OK, so I’m paranoid, so I also clicked on the “dispute the charge” on my credit card that this was charged to just in case the credit doesn’t show up quickly.

Henning says:

Cancellation/refund without a problem

I have always considered Amazon a guiding light when it came to Internet shopping. The way Amazon has handled the so-called “Prime Club” has been a serious ethical slip of the foot. However, they cancelled my membership and has promised to refund the money (which, of course, I believe they will). Incidentally — in spite of what customer service writes — I have used the prime service for shipments, I just wasn’t aware that I was being charged.

This was the answer I got:

“Thanks for writing to us at Amazon.com.

I’ve looked into your account and verified that you have signed up for a free-trial membership to Amazon Prime, and your credit card was not charged $79 when you signed up.

At the end of the free trial period, we will automatically convert your trial membership to a full 12-month membership at a cost of $79 (that is 12 months in addition to the period of free membership you received).

I have verified that your Amazon Prime membership renewed
automatically on January 01, 2007 and your renewal payment method was charged $79 for continued membership.

As you did not intend to renew your membership, I have cancelled your Amazon Prime membership. Our records indicate that you have not used your Amazon Prime membership benefits, so I have requested a refund of $79 for the membership fee.

The refund should be processed within the next 2-3 business days and will appear as a credit on your next credit card billing statement.

Please know that we value your business, and we hope to see you again soon at Amazon.com.”

anonymous says:

Bad marketing practices will harm customer retenti

First, this site cannot refund your money. You must log into your amazon account and cancel the prime service before you place an order and use the service, or speak to someone in a call center and cancel your service. 1 (866) 577 5820.

Second, the practice of using opt-in marketing with terms and charges hidden as well as they possibly can sickens me. There is nothing free about Amazon Prime. $79.00 Free. Lying on one page, and putting a link to another page where the truth is told is still a lie. I design e-commerce sites for a living and every time a marketing person wants to put something like this on one of the websites I’m working on, I point out the negitive impact that it will have on users that are not aware of it. What has happened is a corruption of what is known as opt-in or “permission marketing.” Permission marketing is marketing centered around obtaining customer consent to receive information from a company. The problem is that to obtain consent, the person giving consent needs to see and comprehend fully what they are consenting to. When the details that would make that consent less likely to occur are hidden or misrepresented, this is where a problem occurs. Amazon has designed a system in such a way that you don’t know that you are buying prime service unless you are very very careful and read multiple pages of material. In addition, they make every attempt to discourage you from cancelling the service and also make it as difficult as they can to cancel the service once it is used for the first time.

Third, I encourage you to remove all of your billing details from sites, like Amazon, that store you credit card information. If you remove your credit cards, they cannot sign you up automatically since you did not give them permission to save your credit card details. That would actually be fraud.

Fourth, I encourage everyone to dispute the charge on their credit card so that Amazon.com’s charge back ratio is pushed to a percentage where their merchant account fees become higher. This is the only message that will get through to their executives that this type of marketing scheme is nefarious at best and just plain ethically wrong.

Jackie says:

Amazon still tricking people into Prime Club Membe

I have to say that whenever I make online purchases the bulk of them come from Amazon. I usually opt for the Free Shipping over $25 and don’t mind waiting for my order. However I was “window” shopping the other day with Amazon and noticed a link at the top of my screen asking if I wanted to try the Amazon Prime Club Membership, which would included free 2-day shipping. I clicked on the link at didn’t really notice anything stating that I would be paying $79 once my 30 day trial was up. It has been a month and I just noticed the charge on my account. Needless to say I called my bank and was informed that this was a Direct Marketing Subscription which basically means I didn’t enter my Credit Card informatmion, it was automagically entered for me. Thanks for the heads up Amazon!!

I did get a number to call (1-866-557-2820) and the guy on the other end was more than cooperative with assisting me on getting my FULL refund. I have learned a lesson and will be more cautious when clicking away. Happy Shopping!

Dan says:

Same here... tell me again what button did I press

I hardly ever look over my credit card bill… but I did today since it was higher than expected… and I found the AMZ*Prime Club 866-557-2820 NV Charge of $79.00 as well…

That was a surprise if I had ever seen one from a major corporation… I don’t see how in the world did I ever sign up for this _ _ _ _…. and I’m not exactly technologically incompetent neither.

At least they gave me my money back. I don’t know if I can do business with them anymore though…

Boyd Rahier says:

AMZ crooks

Today is May 1st, 2007, and they are still trying to rip people off. I just received my Visa statement, and there was an unauthorized charge for $79. I do not know how they got hold of my charge card number. Then, if you want to take on a real chorse, try to find these f—–s in order to send them an e-mail complaint. It’s like they do not exist. Boyd Rahier

Khaled Nasseredin (user link) says:

Same 79$ charge, Amazon have cancelled the number

I am also one of the Amazon victims of the 79 $ charge. All I did is that I searched for that charge on the Internet till I found this site. I called the number mentioned in the replies above, but I found that the number has been cancelled by owner and no longer valid. I searched on the Internet to find any number of Amazon support till I found that number 1-800-201-7575 . I used it and after a 10 minute call the operator notified me that my order has been cancelled. I am really surprised they made that charge and wanted to have me in their shipping club although I would not be able at any time to make use of it as I am living in Egypt and never had in my life an address in the US. This prime club is only valid within the US

jennifer says:

It IS fraud and we should all STOP using AMAZON.CO

This also happened to me and the $79 was debited directly from my bank account on 4-25-07. I called customer service immediately and the employee tried to convince me that I had placed an order at a time when there was a ‘little’ box on the page that indicated I was also signing up for thus thing. NOT. I hadn’t used Amazon.com since last christmas. At the same time, she acknowledged she was refunding my money. When I told her she should be concerned about participating in a fraud and that there were very likely old people with nominal fixed incomes who are being robbed in this manner, she said I was being abusive (I was not abusive at all – very matter of fact actually). Anyway, she disconnected me. I phone again tonight and it has been verified that I will get my money back. The latter is hardly the issue for me though – the issue is doing business in a way that is patently criminal and which uses technology to trick the unwitting who do not check their bank records or who, when they review them, assume it must have been a valid charge. Amazon does not even list its brand name with the banks when it takes these charges! I would encourage anyone reading this to take it very seriously and to contact their state consumer protection agency with details in addition to seeking their money back as this would (if anything will) potentially promote an end to the fraud. You could also contact television or radio producers if they might be interested. Finally, I contacted a law firm in Chicago that focuses on class action lawsuits. You can search for Edelman & Combs. I completed their on-line email ‘contact’ us with my info but I live out of the U.S. at present. It would be better to have U.S. residents as class action representatives. Anyway, enough said. I will no longer use Amazon.com and I hope you all will do the same, at a minimum!

Felisha says:

I spoke with customer service!

I just spoke with customer service, and they gave me no problems and told me that my money would be back in my account within 2 days.
We’ll see if it’s true, but I found them very helpful. She didn’t ask any questions, I just told her I discovered the charge and didn’t agree with it and wanted to be taken off the “prime club” and have the money returned.
I used the 866-577-2820 number. (I just had to be a little patient until speaking with someone).
Good luck!

Joe Customer says:

Re: AMZ Club

Ragab,

Please post your bank account number, credit card number, social security number (if you have one) phone number, home and business address, passport number, PIN number, and any other number that may help us here.

Until you do that, and even after you do that, this website cannot refund to you as it is NOT AMAZON.COM.

Thank you, looking forward to your bank account.

susan kipping says:

I am so angry

I have spent all week trying to figure out what the $79.00 charge on my bank account was. I am sooooooo angry that Amazon did this without even warning me. This is theft. I have called the numbers that are listed above, but they do not work. I will keep trying. Thank you all for posting your comments. This was very helpful. I will never use free shipping again, because it isn’t free.

susan kipping says:

I called and got my money back

I did get through on 866-577-5820 and the woman that answered the phone is giving me my money back. I told her I did not authorize anyone at Amazon to sign me up for anything and it was never brought to my attention. I feel sorry for the people that will not be looking closely to their bank statements and will lose this money. Thank you again, everyone, for posting your comments.

Dee Villarrubia says:

Amazon Prime is crooked. I feel cheated and angry!

Amazon Prime is crooked. I feel cheated and angry!!!! Amazon just lost a good customer. this is a scam.I spent one hour today trying to find out what I might have bought from Amazon for $79.00 after receiving my Amazon card invoice. I usually do not spend that much at Amazon so I thought perhaps I used the card for another online purchase for my company…even though I couldn’t remember any. Finally, after not finding any charge for that amount ~ I called my card company and ask what the bill was for. The representative told me that he knew what it was for ~ because another lady had called earlier with the same charge. It was a charge for Amazon’s Prime Shipping subscription. I told him that I didn’t order it and that I know for sure because I would never order anything like that. He said that I could dispute the charge. I told him that I would contact Amazon. But after looking online for a phone number to call Amazon and not finding one ( imagine that!) So, I called back my card company to dispute the charge. Once I had the dispute rep on the phone and explained what happened he said that he could dispute the charge. I ask if my card would be credited immediately so that I would not get any late fees or charges for being late on the payment as it was due on November 5th. He told me that he would call an Amazon representative while I was on the phone ( I guess they get that special phone number) and the next thing I know a very nice female representative from “Amazon” who in a very round about way told me that somehow I must have signed up for the Prime Shipping subscription. I told her that I doupt that happened unless Amazon tagged it on to an order somehow via very, very small print. I told her that it looks like I was just charged for something that I did not order, need or want. So she told me that she would credit my card and cancel my subscription. Then I decided to do a search online and see if anyone else had this happen especially after remembering what the first rep told me that another customer had the the same unathorized charge earlier in the same day. I run two businesses and this is wrong and it seems from all the comments here that these are intentional unauthorized charges.
I just saw the same charge on my card.. I am amazed and now I am really NOT going to shop in Amazon anymore obviously they are getting desperate to stoop to such a low dirty tactic to generate more revenue.. Bye bye amazon after being a customer for nearly 5 years!
I ordered a few things as gifts. When I checked my account, I found I also had been charged this amount and I did not authorize it. Did this occur when I clicked the ORDER button? I’m contacting Amazon and my bank on Monday to get this resolved. If I can’t, you can add my name to any class action suit.
Second, the practice of using opt-in marketing with terms and charges hidden as well as they possibly can sickens me. There is nothing free about Amazon Prime. $79.00 Free. Lying on one page, and putting a link to another page where the truth is told is still a lie. I design e-commerce sites for a living and every time a marketing person wants to put something like this on one of the websites I’m working on, I point out the negitive impact that it will have on users that are not aware of it. What has happened is a corruption of what is known as opt-in or “permission marketing.” Permission marketing is marketing centered around obtaining customer consent to receive information from a company. The problem is that to obtain consent, the person giving consent needs to see and comprehend fully what they are consenting to. When the details that would make that consent less likely to occur are hidden or misrepresented, this is where a problem occurs. Amazon has designed a system in such a way that you don’t know that you are buying prime service unless you are very very careful and read multiple pages of material.
I was “window” shopping the other day with Amazon and noticed a link at the top of my screen asking if I wanted to try the Amazon Prime Club Membership, which would included free 2-day shipping. I clicked on the link at didn’t really notice anything stating that I would be paying $79 once my 30 day trial was up. It has been a month and I just noticed the charge on my account. Needless to say I called my bank and was informed that this was a Direct Marketing Subscription which basically means I didn’t enter my Credit Card informatmion, it was automatically entered for me.
It IS fraud and we should all STOP using AMAZON. The employee tried to convince me that I had placed an order at a time when there was a ‘little’ box on the page that indicated I was also signing up for thus thing. NOT. He acknowledged he was refunding my money. I told him she should be concerned about participating in a fraud and that there were very likely old people with nominal fixed incomes who are being robbed in this manner!
DEE VILLARRUBIA 210-400-9750 cell
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20050202/1324236.shtml

Mrs Valle says:

Please find attached a URL where you may have all numbers and information to access AMAZON, we just called to fix the prime club mistake but we were told to call back in two hours since they are upgrading their system.

http://clicheideas.com/amazon.htm

we used the toll free for US and Canada: 800 201 7575 and then pressed 7.

You must have with you your account information:
name,
email address,
last digit of credit card and expiring date,
and billing address.

Good luck!, We will try again later.

Mrs Valle says:

Amazon Prime Club $79.00 dollar charge

We have finally fixed the mistake (check comments 43 and 48) They are very efficient and understandable. It took only 10 minutes to get the cancellation and the refund.
We advise you to call and find out personally for your case.
Use the (800) 201 7575 number, then 7.
Thanks for letting us share our experience with you.
Bye.

D. Addison says:

Amazon Prime Club

Awful practice by Amazon.com. I just happened to check my credit card statement and as others found saw that it was higher than usual. This was odd because I’ve been paying off. Anyway, I found the $79 charge with AMZ* next to it. I called that 1800 201 7575 number. The guy was asking when was the last time I ordered from Amazon… (last October!!). I told him that doesn’t matter, end result is that I wanted the charge reversed immediately. He did and said the credit will appear on my next credit card statement. Does anyone know if there is a way to check if this is done before next months statement? I am considering emailing the media outlets about this. Even though we know we should, many credit card customers don’t look at their bills, especially if they are utilizing one of those automatic payment systems.

Incredibly entertaining says:

wait, I have to pay for stuff that costs money??!?

I love the people who are surprised that getting unlimited two day shipping actually costs money. If it’s too good to be true, it’s too good to be true. Simple concept, but incredibly difficult to grasp apparently…

p.s. I love how people are playing around and still saying this is amazon.com, haha. brilliant comedy… it’s a joke right?

Bazemore says:

Unauthorized Charge

I did not order this Amazon Prime feature, I just took a look at it but did not sign up for it. I am a regular Amazon user and this makes me second think about continuing business with them for this $79.00 charge. Thank God I look at my bank statement often for I would not have been aware of this charge. We all should be credited for this and give us a year free charge for shipping. I am shocked at Amazon, I have used them for years.

eliran says:

haw to get your money bak

http://www.amazon.com/help/
Write an email to Amazon.com Customer Service
I got an answer within 1 day.

This is the replay:

“I am sorry for any misunderstanding regarding the charge of $79.00
from your account. This amount was charged for Amazon Prime
Membership.

I’ve looked into your account and verified that you have signed up
for a free-trial membership to Amazon Prime, and your credit card
was not charged $79 when you signed up for this membership

Please note that at the end of the free trial period, we will
automatically upgrade your trial membership to a full 12-month
membership at a cost of $79 (that is 12 months in addition to the
period of free membership you received).

However, your Amazon Prime membership has been cancelled.

Our records indicate that you have not used your Amazon Prime
membership benefits, so I have requested a refund of $79 for the
membership fee. The refund should be processed within the next 2-3
business days and will appear as a credit on your next credit card
billing statement.

Please know that we value your business, and we hope to see you
again soon at Amazon.com.”

Thanks to Amazon Customer Service you can get a full refund

Eliran

eliran (user link) says:

Haw to get your money back

Go to Amazon Help section and write an email to Customer Service.

I got an answer within 1 day, this is the replay:

“Greetings from Amazon.com.
I am sorry for any misunderstanding regarding the charge of $79.00
from your account. This amount was charged for Amazon Prime
Membership.

I’ve looked into your account and verified that you have signed up
for a free-trial membership to Amazon Prime, and your credit card
was not charged $79 when you signed up for this membership.

Please note that at the end of the free trial period, we will
automatically upgrade your trial membership to a full 12-month
membership at a cost of $79 (that is 12 months in addition to the
period of free membership you received).

However, your Amazon Prime membership has been cancelled.

Our records indicate that you have not used your Amazon Prime
membership benefits, so I have requested a refund of $79 for the
membership fee. The refund should be processed within the next 2-3
business days and will appear as a credit on your next credit card
billing statement.

Please know that we value your business, and we hope to see you
again soon at Amazon.com.”

Thanks to Amazon Customer Service you can get your money back.
I have not signed up for a free-trial membership at Amazon Prime by knowledge, but to avoid this situation in the future I think they have to stop charge automatically.

ELIRAN

Pete says:

this happened twice

I have no clear memory of this Amazon Prime business, but apparently it’s been going on awhile. After seeing the $79 charge on today’s bill I checked my past statements, and sure enough, a year ago, I was billed another $79 that I hadn’t noticed. Very odd that a reputable company like Amazon would operate this way, giving no warnings, no receipts, nothing. They kept me on hold for quite awhile, but then told me they’d refund the entire $158. I think they know they’ve been naughty.

Irene says:

Prime Shipping Club

I too wac charged $79.00 and was completely mystified as to what the charge was for….until I Googled “Prime Shipping Club” and found out that the charge was from Amazon. Then I remembered that I did sign up with Amazon a year ago for free shipping on purchases…and that this service was called “Prime”. I buy so many books from Amazon that I’m sure that last years membership more than paid for itself. I don’t know if the same will be true this year. If it doesn’t work for me this year….I’ll just cancel when they send me the e-mail next year. Yes, they did send me notice of renewal about two weeks ago.

Judy Woo says:

BOGUS Prime Shipping

I just fired off an email to their customer service and they had better credit my card or they have seen the last of my purchases. They really have some nerve doing this to people. Enclosed is a copy of my email to them:

“You have charged my Capital One credit card for $79.00 and I DO NOT WANT your Amazon Prime. When ordering something a few weeks ago, I did LOOK at your offer (how could I miss it when you make it impossible to place an order without your unwanted propaganda popping up everywhere) but I did NOT sign up for your yearly membership. You made it sound like it was a FREE-TRIAL OFFER TO SEE IF I WOULD LIKE IT. Well, I don’t like it one bit. I am a regular customer of Amazon.com (books, DVDs, housewares, etc.) but this makes me wonder if I will continue ordering merchandize from you. I would greatly appreciate it if you would please credit my credit card for the $79.00 you have stolen from my account. You really have a lot of nerve taking this type of transaction on yourself and from what I’m reading online, there are a LOT of people ticked off about this.”

Donna says:

Customer service refunded my account

I, too, was shocked and confused to see the $79 charge for AMZ Prime– a service which I’m sure I never assented to. I called the 800 number and had the charge credited without a problem. Amazon is also reimbursing me for the overdraft fee that I received because of the unauthorized charge.

Barbara J. Collins says:

Surprise charge

I just checked my bank account and also found the $79.00 taken out of my account 2 days ago. Didn’t know who it was and put AMZPrime in my search and it came up with Amazon. went to their site mad and found how to reach them and clicked on their call me right now and sat with the phone in my hand!! The call was immediate, the lady was nice , took my information and cancelled the $79.00 which she said was being put back in my account with interest> She also said that I was being sent an e-mail with the cancelation. Too bad I didn’t get the e-mail with the charges. Have been a member of Amazon for a long time. They say this is to build up a loyal member base. Well they just lost my loyalty! Won’t be ordering any thing more from them.

Sunil Govinnage says:

Amazon dot charges for Prime Club

Hello,

I had a similar charge about which I reported using Amazon.com Customer Service website under other services!

I got a reply confirming that they wold refund $79.00 within 2-3 business days to my credit card.

I’ll wait and see and report back about the outcome.

Sunil Govinnage
AUSTRALIA

Steve says:

I called the 800 number listed in the credit card charge. I casually mentioned all the unhappy people I found on google and the possibility of a class action suit. They canceled the account and supposedly the refund will shop up in a few days.

The most frustrating part was repeating my email address over and over for alomst 10 minutes until the operator finally got it right.

Brian says:

YOU PEOPLE ARE RETARDED

If you morons would read the terms and conditions of the Amazon Prime Club, you would see that you get one month free and it reverts to autobilling you for an annual fee. Did you people HONESTLY think that you would get free 2-day and $3.99 overnight shipping for nothing. You people make me ashamed to be an american. Quit bitching.

Chris (user link) says:

Ladies and Gentlemen

We at TECHDIRT understand your frustration, however, we ask that you stop SPAMMING our website and tell it to someone who can do something about it (maybe amazon?)

We are not amazon.com nor are we affiliated with them. We did not charge $79.00 to your credit card, we cannot refund said charge. Please contact amazon and NOT TECHDIRT to resolve any problems you may have

vijay says:

I am a kind of moron.. The kind who does not read the fine print.
And I was shocked to see $79 charger to my credit card.. Man!. .I would have gone for a 2 day shipping by paying the amount instead.. I am not sure if I’d get the money back [I wont :(].. Anyway to give it a shot, I just sent the Help centre this email.

If anyone has faced this problem before and found a solution, please mail me to amirivija at yahoo dot com.

———————————————————–
Subject: Query regarding the Amazon prime account cancellation and refund of the charged amount.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I had ordered for a HP Pavilion DV6345US Entertainment 15.4″ Notebook PC on June 20. The shipment has been received and I thank you for the same.
I am surprised to see that I have been charged an additional 79$ for the Amazon prime membership. I do not need that membership as I would not be utilizing Amazon Prime Membership [as Amazon does not ship to my address of residence]. Would I get a refund of the charged money if I cancel the membership. I am willing to pay the shipping costs that have been incurred. Could you please help me in this regard? [At present my Amazon prime membership ends on June 20, 2008].
This is my first purchase at Amazon and it would be great if my problem with the charging 79$ to my credit card is mitigated.
Expecting a good service and a quick reply,

Thanking you in anticipation,
Vijay
———————————————————–

Burned and Burning says:

$79 Rip-Off

I sent the following email to customer service at Amazon.com:

This morning upon routinely checking my bank account I discovered an unauthorized charge for $79 from Amazon.com. I checked online to find if anyone else has experienced the same problem and found the following comments (see below). Is this the underhanded, sneaky way you people conduct business at Amazon? Is this the type of reputation you want in today’s business world–to be associated with common internet scammers who seize decent folk’s money in a way they don’t suspect or understand?

As a businessman, I can tell you that these types of antics may pay off in the short term but certainly not on the long term. I wonder who at Amazon authorized the implementation such an unethical policy of bilking its loyal, unsuspecting customers out of their hard-earned assets in such an unscrupulous manner. I have ordered many books, etc., from Amazon.com, and this service might even be worth the cost for me, but in view of the manner in which I was unknowingly charged, I am not interested in doing business with a company that with a quick sleight of hand, bilks me out of $79.

You will probably provide me with some sort of shaky evidence that I authorized the charge in some unknown (to me) manner, but that’s what makes your policy even worse. That’s what business ethics are all about–insuring all parties in a transaction that the customer knows and understands exactly what they are getting for their money–with no surprises. I’m sure that others like me, who have been burned by this practice, will never order another book from Amazon.com. Judging from the number of people who actually took the time to express their disgust with your policy, won’t the vast majority who didn’t report your actions simply decide never to do business with you again. I am certainly planning on informing others of your approved company policies and practices.

Danita Cronkhite says:

Re: $79 Rip-Off

Same here, I Just checked my account and found the charge too. So I decided to see if I could find something on it that’s when I found this forum. One of the comments said to call 866-577-2820 and you would get a refund, so I did that too. The number has been disconnected, I guess I will go into the Amazon web site and see if I can find a number and call them again so I can have it credited back to my account.

I can’t believe that Amazon did this I deal with them all the time, not only did they charge me this $79, but they sent me the wrong book too.

LJ says:

AMZ*Prime Shipping Club

Gutsy move by AMAZON……I guest they think that customers won’t mind if this corporation dips into their money. I know they will say that I authorized it, but I haven’t placed an order in over five months. Time to have all my information taken from AMAZON so this cannot happen again. Lets see if they really replace the money in two to three business days. I wonder if any laws have been broken?

Vblack says:

FRAUD!!!!!!!!!

Same thing with us. Saw the charge online a month after my last order and called them. They sure were quick to refund without argument. Must be getting alot of backlash from this. Never saw a button confirming they could charge me $79.00, anywhere in process. I wonder how many people, don’t notice, don’t call, and Amazon keeps their money. NICE!!! Maybe they were just trying to give good customer service by anticipating our needs. NOT!!!!!

Vblack says:

CALL AND GET YOUR REFUND!!!!

Get your refund, call 866-557-2820. Have your email address that your Amazon account is linked to, your name and mailing address.
Funny, but I was just thinking that if they immediately refund the money, all they get is people bitching and no civil suit. Maybe they thought the possible net gain was worth the extra customer service reps to handle people who did bother to call in and get a refund.

Anne says:

Got the refund!!! But what a shock to see that cha

Thanks to all of you who provided the explanation for this fraud. I was able to cancel.
Even though this was a marketing ploy like many others, my opinion of Amazon as a reasonably safe marketplace just took a dive. I don’t know that I will use Amazon as much as used to. Who’s to say these kinds of things won’t happen with other online sellers…

T.R. says:

I got the charge refunded

I just discovered this $79 charge to my card, and found this site in my attempt to figure out what the code-name on my card statement meant. I too felt duped in paying this. I went to Amazon.com and immediately cancelled the Amazon Prime, and called the number on my statement.

The number, 866-557-2820, is for Amazon’s customer service. I explained that I was not aware of being charged this fee, that I had been under the impression it was a free trial, and wanted that money refunded, thinking it a rather under-handed technique. The rep very simply said the money would be refunded.

jennfer says:

charged & called for refund

i just talked with a representative of amazon costumer service (1-866-216-1072)and requested a refund. the lady was really nice and in less than a minute she canceled the subscription and told that the money will be refund in 3 days. i am really satisfied with the service she gave me & will continuing using amazon.com

P Leigh says:

tricky Prime Shipping Club auto renewal!

Call 866-557-2820 and go through voice prompt maze. Eventually you will reach a kind but slightly beaten down customer service rep who will promptly refund the $79 “Prime Shipping Club” membership fee.
Nice try, Amazon, to seek out other revenue streams but subversive ones like this are definitely bad karma…

Kerri says:

Funny

Funny how so many people can be so stupid to forget to cancel a free trial. I went through the free trial, enjoyed my free trial, then told it to cancel after the free trial. It canceled like it was supposed to. No hassle, nothing. It even let me keep the free trial till the very last day w/o making me remember to cancel it at the last minute. People should pay more attention then these things wouldn’t happen to them.

GoblinJuice says:

Re: Funny

I don’t think these people are stupid, actually. I’m hoping they fall into two categories:

1) They did sign up for Prime, but forgot about it.

2) They did sign up for Prime, but didn’t realize it… because they weren’t paying attention.

I can excuse #1, what with me having the memory of a drunk dog, but I can’t excuse bitching about it here @ TechDirt.

As for #2, I have no sympathy for people that go thru life without PAYING ATTENTION.

Ugh. I feel sorry for Amazon. =(

Dave Sempek says:

Does anyone pay attention?

I signed up for the free trial and canceled it as fully explained in the agreement. I had no issues at all with Amazon and in fact 1 month after the free trial expired I signed up (I’m currently on my second year). This service is great, has saved me a ton of money, and has caused me to purchase much more from Amazon than I would have otherwise. Just last week I had a 50 lb item shipped overnight for $4. That alone would have cost over $100. Don’t blame Amazon if you failed to read the agreement. I found everything to be clearly stated and am very happy with the service.

Don, NJ says:

got my money back

was not sure what the charge was – thanks for clearing it up. Got a hold of customer service and they refunded the $79. I do remember when they offered it, saying that your CC will be charged if you do not cancel. no questions asked and refund confirmed by email. I do wish they gave me notice that they were going to charge the amount, and did not have to find it by looking at my statement.

richard says:

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

i had the same charge! OUTRAGEOUS!

just got off the call with them using their “We’ll call you”. Apparently it’s all been canceled.

thanks for your column!!!
Richard

email-1:
“We’re writing to confirm that your Amazon Prime subscription has been cancelled at your request. Your membership benefits have now ended.”

email-2:
“Our records indicate that you have not used your Amazon Prime membership benefits, so I have requested a refund of $79 for the membership fee. The refund should be processed within the next 2-3 business days and will appear as a credit on your next credit card billing statement.”

email-3:
“We always strive to provide a high level of service, and we would appreciate your feedback. Please let us know if we resolved your inquiry.”

Gary V says:

Amazon Prime Victim

Amazon almost always sends a receipt for sales. The exception to the rule is when they have picked your pocket.

I am too much of a cheapskate to give away $79 for a promise of some future marginal benefit. The charge was applied during a month that I made no purchases. This implies that I was lured into some dark alley and had my pocket picked while I was browsing.

Customer loyalty, my apple!!!

Disgusting behavior! – Gary

Mrs.Micki Pearson (user link) says:

Want my money back!!!!

I have enjoyed purchasing from you. But I don’t think that will happen again. You took $79.00 from my bank account and I would like it back. I am a huge fan of The X-Files. I would like to continue purchasing the series from you, but now I’m affraid to. I can’t afford for you to take that money from me. When I do purchase a series from you it’s like treating myself. Please return that money to me!!! Micki Pearson

Cindy says:

Amazon also took my money!!!

I also found my $79 was taken by Amazon Prime Club. I called the number 800-201-7575, the woman also said I signed up for it online and I paid $38 last June and another $38 last July. I didn’t notice that!!!!! I didn’t authorize anyone to take that money. She said the woney will be refunded within two business days. I am waiting. I hope I will get the money back. If not, I will complain again.

basim (user link) says:

86.02 $ was missing from my visa card by AMZ Club

Hi
I was just checking my visa account in my bank website on
line,and discovered there is 86.02 can $ was missing, the money is sent out for AMAZON Prime Shipping Club, I do not know att all your club, I only was checking the advertisements there, I never ordered item, or authorized anyone to take money from my visa card, I am very surprised
so please I want the money be credited back, before I take the case with bank to investigate this fraud. all I need my money back to close the case,with regards: basim

basim (user link) says:

86.02 $ was missing from my visa card by AMZ Club

Hi
I was just checking my visa account in my bank website on
line,and discovered there is 86.02 can $ was missing, the money is sent out for AMAZON Prime Shipping Club, I do not know att all your club, I only was checking the advertisements there, I never ordered item, or authorized anyone to take money from my visa card, I am very surprised
so please I want the money be credited back, before I take the case with bank to investigate this fraud. all I need my money back to close the case,with regards: basim

NoMore Amazon says:

nomore amazon

Whoever thought about this type of scamming marketing ought to be fired.
I spent a good 1 hour trying to recall what I bought for the last 10 days until i found this website and knowing the charges belong to Amazon Prime Club that I am not even know when I signed the approval.

Amazon, tell you what your program works like computer virus and I am not going to buy anything from amazon ever. Your stupid program can only scam those people who do not look at their statement every month.

Fire that idiot who put up such lousy marketing program!!

MOM says:

DELL

That’s not true: Overnight, next-day, or any other shipping
depends on the KEY WORD “IF WE HAVE IT IN STOCK!!!” I fail for this,paid Dell for overnight/nextday delivery: After yes 2,(two) weeks I called and demanded a refund and NO Product. What was dell’s reply? Read the agreement (fine print!) My Reply: ” I DID, AND YOU OWE ME: YOU READ THE AGREEMENT; ItSayS: DELL CHOOSES THE SHIPPER DELL IS RESPONSIBLE…BLA BLA BLA” WELL, I received my refund, but garbage like this is not only an annoyance, but VERY TIME CONSUMING TO DEAL WITH. My time might be most/more vaulable than all these …you get it, All companies are scamming. WHY? WHY? Because we are playing the idiots: FIGHTBACK!!!

J_Gets says:

Not a scam

I also saw this membership program, and understood very clearly that it was a subscription to which I would be signing up to use by joining Amazon Prime. This was even in the very early days of the program, so I know that it was not misleading even when it started. I had to buy a large number of books and other items that I needed to get quickly. I subscribed, bought all of my things, received them, then canceled the subscription before I was charged. Easy, painless, and very clear terms for those who take the time to read what they are agreeing to do.

Viswanathan Venkataraman says:

Amazon $79 debit

Yesterday I received SMS to say I have been debited $79. and the description was AMZ*PRIMESHIPPINGCLUB.

I did not even know what it was and what for. Thanks to internet I googled and got this blog from which I understood thi sdebit is from Amazon. How can they do it without asking and why wouldn’t they send a email that they have charged $79/-

Paul Dill says:

Amazon Prime

I wake up this morning to an unhappy wife wondering what this $79 charge to our account is. We call, a lot more upset by the time we get through and finding all of these web pages stating what Amazon Prime is an you have to sign up for it. I assure my wife and the gentleman on the phone that we did not sign up. He looks at our account, and states “oh, you were accidentally signed up.” His exact words. Accidentally? So Amazon is apparently hitting a lot of people who have account with them, and hoping that some will stay.

No notice, no information, no nothing? Just $79 please.

They have refunded the money after discovering they’re “accident”, however I’m wondering how many accidents they have made, you may want to check your accounts and if you’re here, they probably got you too.

I used to really like Amazon, but this new “accident” that they’re trying to build loyalty with, may have just cost them mine.

Aleta Kennedy says:

HOW TO CANCEL ON THE AMAZON SITE

I just found out today I had been charged and when I went to the Amazon site the first time, I couldn’t find how or where this Prime Club was located. When I searched for it on the website, it didn’t bring up anything but books. After I found this site and learned so many other people had also been ripped off, I went back and found out how to access it. Go to the site, go to “My Account,” scroll down to “Subscription Management,” and you’ll see a link to “Manage Your Amazon Prime Account.” I found out they had charged me last year as well as this year, and I didn’t have a clue about how I got involved. Words like “decptive” and “fraudulent” come to mind, and from now on, I’ll be using other websites…

Chase says:

Unauthorized Charge

Like everyone else, an unauthorized charge of $79 has shown up on my billing statement. I ordered a few items from Amazon about a month ago and did not select any special shipping options yet htis charge still showed up. I am trying to contact Amazon through e-mail and phone calls to dispute the charge.

Silk Soymilk says:

Its kind a odd but you can even out this prime shi

For all the morons, yankee fans and people who suffer from cyber-gonorrhea here it is:

This is how you do it –
a) Go to “Help” (top (almost) right of page) at Amazon.com
b) Click on “Amazon Prime” on the left Panel
c) Click on “Can I cancel my membership to Amazon Prime?”
d) Click on “Manage Your Prime Account”
d) Figure out the rest of this shit.

Its simple to cancel this shit – so please dont break your already spam-fucked head on this! relax and have some soymilk 😉

Ryan says:

Fixed

I read the advise hear after i say the same account withdrawl. I called 1-866-557-2820 right away.They person on the other phone explained to me that I had not canceled the service in time evm though I don’t recall ever sighing up for it or hearing about, but the explained to me that since I have never used it at then they would replace the full $79 withn two business days. The process took about 2-3 minutes and he was ver polite. Simple problem to solve, just call and be polite.

Zhenyu Zhu says:

79$ of AMZ Prime Club

I WAS JUST CHECKING MY BANK ACCT. ON LINE AND SEE THAT $79.OO HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT FOR AMAZON PRIME SHIPPING CLUB. ALTHOUGH I HAVE ORDERED THREE BOOKS FROM AMAZON WHICH WERE SENT TO ME VIA PRIME SHIPPING AS A SALE PROMOTION, I DON’T THINK I HAVE EVER REGISTERED AS A MEMBER OF PRIME SHIPPING AND HAVE NEVER AUTHORIZED THIS. IF I HAVE HAPPENED TO CLICK ON ANY KEY ON THAT MADE ME A MEMBER AUTOMATICALLY, I WANT TO CANCEL MY MEMBER SHIP AND WANT MY 79$ BACK. I WILL RETURN THE SHIPPING COST OF THE THREE BOOKS TO YOU IF NECESSARY. THANK YOU!

Ingrid Linhart (user link) says:

AMZ Prime Club

Hello,
I am in the same situation. Just checked my account and here it was! I did not even realize right away, when I copied it in Google I found your forum, thanks a lot. I think I saw a cross for a free month, thought I would not go on anyway, but I forgot all about it! And I am sitting in Austria in the moment, so it is even more wasted as they cannot send that fast to here anyway. Is there a way out? It looks as 184 has found one. I will contact him. I don’t want to leave Amazon completely, I just have set up my book store new: http://www.book-pegasus.biz/.

Hello from Austria and good luck to all of you, Ingrid

Slim Turnpike says:

Re: AMZ Prime Club

Same thing happened to me. In my case it was my credit card company that contacted me about a charge yesterday for AMZ*PrimeClub with a location in Nevada. I had no idea what is was (Amazon could have used a more transparent code, couldn’t they?), so the card company concluded it was fraud and cancelled my card!

So not only did Amazon rip me off, they’ve caused great inconvenience in having to secure a new card, get a new number, re-do automatic billing with that card and so on.

At this point I still had no idea who “AMZ*Prime Club” was.

I thought that was the end of it, but today I noticed the same charge appearing on a second credit card of mine. I guess when the first card company rejected the charge, Amazon simply transferred the charge to another card (yes both cards were listed on my account).

This time I googled for AMZ*PrimeClub and found this thread. Aha I said. So I called Amazon and cancelled the charge on my second card. They did try to give me a runaround first.

I think this will backfire badly on Amazon. I always trusted them as an online seller before but I know feel that trust has been betrayed, twice in a row. I will be looking elsewhere for the items I used to buy at Amazon.

Glenn Fleishman (profile) says:

Yeah, this happened to me back in the 1990s with a

I was running a set of forum as an early Web host for Peachpit Press, and in some forum on Windows, one person posted a comment about having trouble canceling AOL services. Peachpit lost interest in the forums, I forgot about them, and some period later (a year or two?) I checked and found thousands of messages, because people had somehow become convinced that the forum thread on AOL was the place you went to cancel AOL.

Never underestimate the intelligence of someone who uses Google and believes that it’s results are authoritative.

WRONG WEB SITE says:

WRONG WEB SITE

Repeat after me……..

The web site YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW… is NOT Amazon.com

The web site YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW… is NOT Amazon.com

The web site YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW… is NOT Amazon.com

The web site YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW… is NOT Amazon.com

The web site YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW… is NOT Amazon.com

The web site YOU ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW… is NOT Amazon.com

I repeat… NOT Amazon. This is TechDirt.com. Completely DIFFERENT web site. NOT related to Amazon.com in anyway.

You guys demanding your money back on this site, well, your the dumbest kind of person, and thats probably why you got charged in the first place, you DONT know how to freaking read, or are too lazy to read. Go complain about this on Amazon.com, not here.

If you are too dumb to comprehend what this means, ask someone smarter than you… pretty much anyone that walks by will be much smarter than you, so don’t be afraid to ask pretty much anyone, including children. Yes, even children are proabaly smarter than you.

Brian says:

The irony.

People buying from an online bookseller are pissed because they didn’t read the terms of the free trial they signed up for.

Demanding refunds from Tech Dirt instead of reading the posts that clearly stated that this site isn’t associated with Amazon.

Asking for the steps to get the charges reversed instead of reading the dozens of previous posts that provide those steps in great detail.

The irony…

I feel bad for Amazon because they’ve had to deal with this illiterate group. I feel worse for Barnes and Noble… surely they are having to deal with this group now that Amazon isn’t getting their business.

Jonas says:

I called amazon last night.

I got the charge also for $79.00. The lady at amazon said I clicked on this button for a prime club. The only thing i remember was clicking on this 2 day shipping button and I guess it gave me this club membership but I decided to buy the dvd at target. I was annoyed so I told the lady to take it off because I didn’t authorize the transaction and then I told her to tell amazon to make it noticeable for people to see that they might have to pay and the lady was I guess scared because I was almost yelling because this kind of thing happened to me a couple of times this year on other sites like Ebay and paypal.

Megan says:

Big bad boo-boo

Saw the charge and called both the bank and Amazon. Amazon tried to convince me that either I or my husband had signed up online yesterday…funny thing was that neither of us were online and haven’t been on Amazon for 2 months. Shady business practice-said they would reverse the charge “within 2 days” (love the fact that the charge made me overwithdrawn and tomorrow is the last business day of the week) and turn it over to their investigation department. Lots of bull…I buy tons of books for my classroom and they have lost a long-time customer. Shady.

vern (user link) says:

AMZ Prime Club

Just got a call from my 83 year old mother. She also got hit with the phony $79 Prime Club fee by Amazon. Fortunately, she called her VISA company and stopped the payment as she didn’t recognize the company. Funny how she got billed, she didn’t even know what Amazon is and doesn’t even have internet access to order anything. I know shipping rates are sky high, but $79 for shipping nothing to a little old lady who didn’t order anything seems a little out of line.

alex Crawford says:

re:AMZ Prime Club

what the hell is this Amazon Prime Club?
I just tried to buy my groceries and found out i have only $2 left in my account. i logged onto my online bank statement and found i had been charged $US79 ($AUS89) for this thing! i have no idea what it is, i never signed up for it and i want my money back. i am a hard-working student and need all the money i can get. this means i can’t buy anything until i get paid in 5 days!
i went to the amazon website and found no obvious way of contacting them to complain about this. does anyone have any suggestions?

Anonymous Coward says:

re:AMZ Prime Club

Amazon did the same to me today- the guy I got on the phone (conveniently)had no grasp of the English language and yanked me around for 15 min. before disconnecting me. The second jerk did the same thing. They sent me an email claiming I will be refunded but who knows? I am DONE w/Amazon. Call 1 703 880 6100 and DO NOT GIVE IN TO THESE THIEVES. Yours truly cimow@aol.com

Peter J Flannery says:

AMZ*Primeclub

Amazon stung me too. This is the email I sent them, not having a phone number.

I made orders on October 6th,8th and 10th 2007. I was offered a free trial of prime club which I used. I returned to the UK from the USA on 10/20/07. On 11/06/07 Amazon made an unauthorised withdrawal on my Mastercard of $79. This was not recognized and I informed my bank that a fraudulent transaction had taken place, blocked my card then cancelled it. I see from Techdirt.com/articles that Amazon.com has done this to many other people. I still consider this to be a fraudulent transaction and request that Amazon.com refund the $79 forthwith. A copy of this email will be forwarded to my bank. I am seriously considering having no further dealings with Amazon.com.

Marisa says:

$79 charge

I called and spoke to a really nice person at amazon customer service but she was very shady and unclear in her explaination of how the charge ended up on my corporate amex and said 3 days to credit the account, especailly when I only used it once and didn’t save it as a creidt card of schoice to my account. this is very disconcerting.

unhappy says:

Screwed Me Too

This is really bad business. I work with relationship marketing and this is probably the worst way to make relatinoships with consumers.

I was told that I signed up for this service last September. Not only did they charge me the $79, they were able to charge it to a card that was unaffiliated with the card that I had at that time. They charged it to a card that I opened three months ago and have been making purchases with.

I called and had it removed immediately. The woman I talked with knew what I was talking about before I even described it. Just bad business from the decision makers at the top and the marketing people in the middle. I feel bad for the customer service reps at the bottom who are fielding these calls.

I’m moving elsewhere as well…and telling everyone I know as well.

Bye bye amazon.

Joyce Mills says:

AMZ prime

We always check our Visa bills. My husband read questionable ones to me, if I approve, ok. BUT when he said $79.00 from AMZ Prime, I knew that wasn’t ours.
I did order one thing back in Oct. And that will be the last time.
I called immediately and talked to a woman, told her I did not authorize that charge. And to refund it immediately. Plus I told her I wanted it in writing. Five minutes after I was off the phone with her I had a confirmation email. :o)
I get so tired of being taken!! My husband usually does the calling on such matters but he’s too nice. :o)

Rachel says:

AMZ rip off

I CALLED AMAZON VIA THE NUMBER ON MY CREDIT CARD STATEMENT AND WAS ASSURED I WOULD GET A REFUND ON THE CREDIT CARD. NEXT STATEMENT CAME AND …NOTHING. CALLED AGAIN, AND AMAZON REP LOOKED AT MY ACCOUNT AND ACTED LIKE I WAS NUTS – NO REFUND WAS REQUESTED, ACCORDING TO HER. DISCONNECTED. CALLED AGAIN..DISCONNECTED AGAIN.
FINALLY CALLED THE CREDIT CARD COMPANY TO FILE A DISPUTE.

I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH BLATANT SCAM. I WILL NEVER BUY FROM AMAZON AGAIN AND I TOLD ALL MY RELATIVES & FRIENDS THE SAME.

Mark says:

AMZ Prime

I got the charge of $79 on my credit card too. I’d ordered two CD’s in November of this year and wanted ‘two-day’ delivery (only one made it in the two days anyway) and NEVER indicated I wanted to ‘sign up’ for some ‘free’ delivery for a year for $79!

I called the 1-866-557-2820 number and was assured by ‘Ahmed’ I’d receive a refund in 2-3 business days.

Based on what I’m seeing in this blog, I’d better check to be sure that happens!

What a scam!

Rains says:

Years Later, And The Same Thing Is Going On

I discovered the charge today, and am glad to see I’m not the only one who got scammed, but of course outraged by the whole thing. If you go to the amazon site and do the little deal where they call you, and talk it out with one of them over there, (Make sure to say things like you did not authorize this, you were not notified you would be charged, and that you want your money refunded) you should be able to get them to at least say they would refund you, it worked pretty easily for me. Now, the final task: to see if I actually get the refund.

Lemon says:

AMAZON PRIME CLUB

I got the same charge on my card and it lists the customer service phone number, so the charge subject was: AMZ*Prime Club 866-557-2820 NV.

I just called this number and as long as you tell them you accidentally clicked on the link to join this “prime club” and also as long as you haven’t already used the free 2-day shipping feature more than once, they will give you a full refund.

I am always really careful about this kind of stuff, so Amazon has definitely designed a clever scam…

Scott Lillig says:

Canceled my entire account...

Called customer service and I actually had a charge for Dec. 2006 and Dec. 2007 even though I haven’t used Amazon since Oct. 06′.

The lady on the phone was extremely nice, obviously trained ahead of time of people recording these calls and posting them on the internet. (which I was recording the call 😉

She refunded both charges and I asked her directly how this happened since I had not used Amazon since Oct.06 and they charged me on Dec.4 06′. All she could tell me that it was on the website and that somehow I subscribed too it even though I had not logged into my account or used their service nearly 3 months before I was charged the first time.

Then I explained how there were over 247 complaints on this forum for the same thing. And she told me there were plenty of happy people using the service as well. (I’m still wondering if they even know they signed up for it?)

So, I asked her how to go about deleting all my information and account from AMZ and she said she would send me an email to get this started…

Looks like I’m shopping at the bookstore down the street again!

Bonnie says:

i got bit by a Borders order (partnered with Amazo

I got the $79 charge automatically charged to my card about 2 weeks after I purchased a Borders gift card online. I was never asked if I wanted the card, I never had any opt in or opt out checkboxes for it and I was never sent any notice that I was registered for this “club” that I did not sign up for. I spent about an hour on the phone with the Amazon customer service routed through India. They said my card will be refunded in 3 to 5 business days. We’ll see! My bank will take care of the charge for me if they don’t. Sad thing is – now Borders and Amazon have lost my business. Beware of both Borders and Amazon purchases.

Miguel Arce says:

Canceled my Prime Club without problem

After a first angry moment, I found this web place and, following your instructions, I contacted amazon via e-mail. A very nice attendant responded me next day, with the cancellation confirmation and assuring me they will refund $ 79 on my credit card. I think this is an abuse position of Amazon, but they resolved the problem quickly and politely.

My sugestion for new people with this problem: go to http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=prm_su_lmd and enter your amazon.com account user name and password, click in “Can I cancel my membership to Amazon Prime?” and you are in way to solve the problem.

T Hotop says:

I've am a victim also....

I too just discovered an unauthorized $79 charged to my account. Thanks to all of you for providing your commentary, this will help me get the charge removed quickly (I hope). I’ve been a longtime Amazon customer and this is the first time I’ve ever experienced anything like this from them. Let’s hope it isn’t a trend!

Peter says:

Outrageous

I just opened my VISA bill, like so many others, to find this phantom charge. After looking for several minutes, I finally found the number to call. (Long are the days when Jeff Bezos got emails!)

I live in Europe and it is especially fraudulent for me because the free shipping is only within the US. I will be looking for a new vendor for future purchases, and encourage everyone else to do the same. Let’s make history, and CNBC, by showing how this kind of fraudulent, borderline criminal activity can actually punish the bottom line of the corporation who use these insidious practices.

Let’s get these guys.

Charles Krafft says:

Nicked by Amazon

I opened my bank statement today to find the Amazon Prime Club $79 charge attached to a series book purchases. I didn’t sign up for Prime Club membership. When I called 1-866-557-2820 to contest this charge the customer service rep said I had signed up. I DEFINITELY did not sign up! She cancelled the membership and said the $79 will be refunded within 2-3 business days. I told her to expect a call from me again if it isn’t. This was
underhanded. I’m glad I caught it! There’s something very fishy going on here.

Anonymous Coward says:

Thanks for all your comments. After discovering the $79 charge on the account, I googled ‘AMZ primeclub’ and found all this information. I called up Amazon number (it was mentioned as part of the transaction description on my credit card statement) and the lady I spoke with agreed to give a refund. She also apologized when I told her that I never subscribed to the club.

AMAZON Needs_A_Lawsuite says:

AMZ*PRIME Club

The issue here is that Amazon is charging customer’s cards without people realizing they are getting charged. I just happened to catch it on my statement. I missed the same charge that was made last year.

Amazon must make a MINT off of people simply missing the charge on their statement. Google this issue and many pages appear. Perhaps people don’t read all the ‘fine print’, but should that give Amazon a license to print money?

Lewis Yeager says:

AMZ Prime

Where do I join the class action suit against Jeff “Bozo?” I don’t care that they refunded my $79, it has got to be illegal to put a charge on my credit card without authorization through some slick “opt-out” scam that puts you “in” unless you take the time to read and click the right buttons to decline some service or product. As post 267 points out if a company wanted to add several millions of dollars to their income in a few weeks just hit all customers with a big unauthorized charge and sit back and count the loot (even if some a smart enough to demand a refund). Sue the bastards!

KB says:

what cheek!

We haven’t been in the USA for the last 4 months, relocated to England; I found a charge on my credit card that was registered with Amazon for 79.00. No permission or warning. What gall!! We are not able to call toll free numbers from here so are trying to resolve this through the credit card company, what a headache! the reWish I knew how to set up a warning for the poor suckers who may not fiqure it out!

Judy says:

Unauthorize Charge to my account!

This really takes some nerve! I received my charge card bill
in the mail this week and noticed a charge I had not made.
I went on the Internet to research the vendor listed and discovered it is some type of shipping club that Amazon.com
is signing members up to with or without their permission!
I believe this is about as dishonest as if a stranger obtained my credit card and make illegal purchases. I am so upset that I will never buy from Amazon.com again!

Judy says:

why did they do this to us?

I am with you 100%. I will never buy anything from Amazon in the future. Don’t want to buy from a merchant I cannot trust. I never received any notifcation of this charge and find it very dishonest of them to “automatically” think I
they could make this charge on my account. I called the Credit Card company the charge was made on and they are reversing the charge.

Rabih Makki says:

money taken out of my bank acct without my o.k

I have also been charged $79 with no request on my part and absolutely no notice from Amazon. I didn’t even know about this “prime shipping club” until I found the $79 on my credit card statement! This is clearly VERY questionnable activity on the part of Amazon and, at best, shows Amazon is operating, at least with respect to this shipping club, in a very shoddy manner.
Is there anyway to get my money back

Sheila H says:

AMZ Prime Charges

I actually paid this fee in Feb of 2007 and didn’t catch it; however, I did catch it this year and they are processing a refund for $79. They will not refund the prior year. I have not ordered from Amazon for 2+ years so it’s not as though I benefited from last years membership?!?

They told me that customers sign up for the Prime Club during the ordering process without understanding what’s happening, then freak out when the annual membership charge goes through. I told them I would just stop using Amazon then. What a CROCK!

Cesar Cerda says:

$81.24 CDN.???? WHY??????

I WAS JUST CHECKING MY CREDIT CARD ON LINE AND SEE THAT $81.24 CDN HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT FOR AMZ*PRIME CLUB 866-557-2820 NV, WHICH I DON`T UNDERSTAND AND I HAVE NEVER UTHORIZED THIS OR WHATSOEVER AND WANT TO BE CREDITED WITH THE MONEY NOW!!! I HAVE NOT VISITED YOUR WEB SINCE LONGTIME AGO I DID NOT ORDER ANYTHING.THANK YOU
cESAR CERDA

PLEASE ANSWER TO MY REQUEST!!!!!

Demetrius says:

AMZ Prime Club Charge of $79

Amazon is still charging the unauthorized fee of $79. I checked my credit card statement online today and the charge had posted on 2/14/08. I read the blog and called 8665572820 and pressed 7 at the prompt and spoke to an agent who processed my refund. He actually told me that he verified that I did not subscribe to AMZ Prime Club.

JAMES KULKAY says:

UNAUTHORIZED CHARGE

SAY WHAT?-My Bank notifies me of both daily balances and debit/charges.

02/18/08, I joined the “group” that have been charged $79.00 UNAUTHORIZED. I have ordered from Amazon.com ONCE-and that nows appear to be once too many.

I have spent hours wasting time (the bank is great- they recognize this “trick”)- Just fortunate that like the other Complaintants -we “caught” in time. Let me know your “reactions”/”results”

Veronica says:

Unauthorized AMZ $79

Unbelievable how long this has been going on…I too was hit with the $79 charge. Gotta love the internet, googled the name AMZ Prime and low and behold here was this wonderful site to help us all!! Cancelled on line tonight and will call # in the a.m. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to log this…sneaky tactics when you read the info on the Amazon site about this offer – quite misleading!

Taeho Jun says:

$79 unauthorized charge

I just checked my bank account and found unauthorized $79 charge as well.

I used Amazon to buy books last month, and then this situation happend.

I’m very suprised that Amazon takes my credit out of my account without permitting. I ask you to refund the money ASAP.

I’m considering I should keep dealing with Amazon or not.

Thank you

Jennifer Burke says:

$79 dollar rip off

Amazon did the same low down thing to me. I found the number and called and threatend legal action against Amazon and my money is now happily on the way back into my account. As instructed, I am faxing in my overdraft fees on my account that I incured because of this charge. Thanks Amazon for ruining your good reputation. Anyways the number is 1-888-216-1072.

Longtime Amazon.com customer says:

Shipping club fraud

Like the 300-or so others who wrote, I found a $79 charge listed on my checking account for “AMZ Prime Shipping Club.” I had never heard of it but Googled this site. Talked to my bank and they said they’d investigate it as fraud. Talked to Amazon and, after being switched to India, was told they’d remove the charge from my account.
I am a longtime Amazon.com customer, usually satisfied (even when they farm out my order to some small book store). No more. I am now a former Amazon.com customer.
In the above comments, several people wondered how much money Amazon has collected this way. Good question, one I’m sure the New York State Attorney General, who had been death on a lot of such fradulent acts, will be interested in.

Suzanne Kendall says:

Contact the Better Business Bureau

I also got dinged for $79 on my checking account and did not know what I was signing up for. I called Amazon.com and they said that they are going to reverse the charges. However, I was still pissed off that they pulled this scam in the first place. I don’t like getting tricked in this way.

I complained to the Better Business Bureau. I suggest that others do as well. Maybe we can all get Amazon.com to stop this trickery. It’s very easy to file a complaint online:
https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/complaintlink.aspx

I have a friend who is not going to dispute the $79 charges because she says she should have read the fine print. I think that is bullsh*t. She didn’t know that she was being signed up for it. She shouldn’t have to spend money that she doesn’t have on something that she doesn’t want. Too many people are ok with getting deceived and it’s considered ok business practice, and I am not ok with that.

Doris Sevilla says:

Unauthorized $ 79.00 Charge on my account

I WAS JUST CHECKING MY BANK ACCOUNT AND SEE THAT $79.OO HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT FOR AMAZON PRIME SHIPPING CLUB, I DID NOT AUTHORIZE THIS AND WANT TO BE CREDITED WITH THE MONEY NOW!!! ALL I DID WAS LOOK AT THE CLUB STUFF. I DID NOT ORDER IT AND I DID NOT AUTHORIZED AMAZON OR ANYBODY TO CHARGE MY ACCOUNT. IF I DO NOT GET MY MONEY BACK IMMEDIATELY I WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTIONS. THIS IS WRONG!!!! UNETHICAL AND SIMPLY (CREDIT CARD THEFT)
THANK YOU

A Hocking says:

BS Charge of $79.00 for Amazon Prime Club

I contacted Amazon and they stated that I had never signed up for the Amazon Prime club. The gal on the phone stated that the information would be forwarded to their investigators. She advised me that this occures every once in a while…..from reading all the post here it occures quite often….someone over there is making some serious cash if every person who ever ordered from Amazone is receving this charge…anually. Either they are practicing complete BS business tactics or someone over there is comminting some major fraud and I hope that bastard gets cought. I was advised that i would recieve credit to my account in 3-5 business days.

ALAIN AUGUSTO FIRMO QUERETTE says:

Unsubscribe and refund me.

Dear Sirs,
I did not know the details of AMZPrimeClub until translate the page on laguage tools of Google.
Firstly I am not interested this service, because buy just a year.
Secondly thought to be any promotion of AMAZON, and the site gives me to confuse.
So ask cancellation of the annual rates of refund me and which has already paid.

Best Regards.

Steve says:

AMZ prime 79.00 fee

I called 1-866-216-1072 EXT 7 (button 7) and had them cancel my AMZ prime service. This disturbs me because no one asked me to get this service and I have to wait 3 days to get the charges reversed. I found the phone number by looking it up on google. I hope you all will file a complaint at the FTC.com which is the federal trade commision complaint website. I have filed a complaint with them before and they do go after companies doing this foolishness

Murali Sudhakar Pulimi says:

AMZ Prime Club $79 unauthorised fee

Dear Sirs,
I did not know the details of AMZPrimeClub until translate the page on laguage tools of Google.
Firstly I am not interested this service, because buy just a year.
Secondly thought to be any promotion of AMAZON, and the site gives me to confuse.
So ask cancellation of the annual rates of refund me and which has already paid.

Best Regards.

Rich says:

unauthorized $79 credit card charge

same problem as all the previous complaints. sent the following email to amazon customer service…….

I called and canceled whatever caused my credit card to be billed $79 to my credit card. The charge to my credit card was identified as #AMZ*PRIME CLUB – nnnnnnnn that was never authorized by me or anyone else. Your security sucks! Nothing was purchased and I never logged in to my account. Browsing for a book should not trigger a unauthorized charge to my credit card.

This makes me ask the question, do you want me as a customer? What assurances can you give that something like this doesn’t happen again? Will you please remove any and all credit card data from my account. thanks, Rich

Lolo says:

Thank you all so much for the commentary here! I called amazon.com customer service and canceled my membership and asked for an immediate refund. They said it would be 2-3 business days so we will see. This is so unbelievable! I have had other problems with Amazon in the past where they have made very small charges ($1.00 each) to my credit card which were refunded. They are total crooks.

Mark says:

Rip-off/scam/Amazon

Can’t beleive how many of us have been ripped off!
Here’s a good tip:
When you phone: AMZ*Prime Club 866-557-2820 NV, ask them to check how many times you have been charged. I was charged twice before I realized! They have refunded both but as a UK user when they refunded me the exchange rate had changed so I was still left with 2 pounds 43 pence in the red. They have refunded that as well now though.

Think how much money they have made from us all in the interest alone. This could go down as one of the biggest corporate scams in internet history!

Felice Sitia says:

undue payment of $ 79.00

I WAS JUST CHECKING MY BANK ACCT. ON LINE AND SEE THAT $79.OO HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT ON MARCH 13th FOR AMAZON PRIME SHIPPING CLUB I DID NOT AUTHORIZE THIS AND WANT TO BE CREDITED WITH THE MONEY NOW!!! ALL I DID WAS LOOK AT THE CLUB STUFF I DID NOT ORDER IT.
PLEASE REPLY! THANK YOU
FELICE SITIA, MILAN, ITALY

Kellu says:

Amazon

Like everyone else I have just looked at my credit account and found a $79 charge for the amazon prime club I have no idea what that is and am sure I have never signed up for it, however I did just call and cancelled my subscription I never signed up for and should see a refund to my account in a few days. We’ll see! I am not happy about this and will never use amazon again!

Lori says:

Me Too...Amazon doesn't deserve our business

AMZ*Prime Club 866-557-2820 NV Just showed up on my bank statement. Apparently, when you look at an email from Amazon about the great deals their “club” has to offer they automatically use your credit card number on file to sign you up for this “club”. Simply call the tollfree number above and tell them you want that cancelled and that you didn’t willingly sign up for it. They say I’ll receive a full refund. I’ll write back if I don’t receive it ~ that’s for sure! Cut out the middle man and buy direct from the product’s website…Amazon doesn’t deserve our business with a shady tactic like this!

John Mycroft says:

Me Too...Amazon doesn't deserve our business

“Simply call the tollfree number above and tell them you want that cancelled and that you didn’t willingly sign up for it.” Simply?!?!?!?! It leads you round and round in circles as does the Help on their website (though you do eventually find a tiny “email” button.)
Call it what you like but sending me an email and charging me $79 for not replying sounds nothing short of criminal.

Ed Franks says:

Me Too...Amazon doesn't deserve our business

As someone who originally hated Amazon, I now use them as my “retailer of choice”. I voluntarily signed-up for Amazon Prime (both my wife and I use the feature) and we’re pleased with it for a number of reasons.

That said, “opt-out” sales are a royal pain. In the past, when I had a problem (different folks), I just contacted my bank’s credit card department and told them I didn’t authorize the charge. I’m not sure what took place after that, but my account was credited and from comments made by the banker, I believe that the seller wished they had used a different technique.

Iwantyou Bankaccountnumber says:

$81.24 CDN.???? WHY??????

Hello Cesar.

We will be more than happy to refund your money. However, since this is not Amazon.com, this means nothing.

Please post your credit card number (with CVV2 code) in this forum, and we will take care of you within a few minutes.

Your bank account would be good, also.

Thank you,
Dewey Cheatum, Senior Flogger

Lost In Translation says:

Unsubscribe and refund me.

Dear Alain,

We did not know the details of this not being Amazon.com until translate the page on language tools of Google.

Firstly, we are refunding you not, because Amazon.com is not this web page.

Secondly, reading the first statement is what you should.

So, ask you regarding the proper web page for the securitization of refund, WHICH CAN NOT BE HERE. AMAZON.COM is not here.

Best Regards,
L.I. Translation

Finn O'Shea says:

Amazon Prime membership

I also noticed the deduct from my bank account for the Amazon Prime membership that I did not want and did not authorize. I called amazon and they did cancel this and will refund the money in 2-3 business days. Sums of bitches!

“Hello from Amazon.com.

Your Amazon Prime membership has been cancelled, per your request.

Our records indicate that you haven’t used your Amazon Prime membership
benefits, so I’ve requested a full refund of $79 for the membership fee. The
refund should be processed within the next 2-3 business days and will appear as
a credit on your next credit card billing statement.

Please know that we value your business, and we hope to see you again soon at
Amazon.com.

We always strive to provide a high level of service, and we would appreciate
your feedback. Please let us know if we resolved your inquiry.”

And they have been so good to deal with. I wonder if this happened a year ago and I didn’t know it.

call them!!!!!!!

Martin Schmok says:

why did they do this to us?

I found a telephone number
it is 866-557-2820

I have not ordered anything but was inquiring and now my American Express has $81.97 Canadian ($79.00 US) taken from my account. I call this theft, and would like it returned. I thought there were safeguards when dealing with any inquiries on the internet. If this is how Amazon operate, I will never even consider dealing with them.

Michael Russo says:

$79.00 Dollar charge

I am outraged as well when i was balancing my checking account online when I saw this 79.00 charge. I ordered a CD for $7.97 and above it I saw this outrageous charge. I have ordered from Amazon.com for some years now and this is the first time this has happened, and if it happens again, it will be the last time I order with them.

CHRIS says:

FRAUD

My husband just found out this unauthorized charge of $79.00 from so-called “AMZ Prime Club” and is hitting the ceiling now. On top of the very unreasonable and rude services we received from United Airline (and it is still in the process with them now), we are charged this $79.00 from “AMZ Prime Club”, out of the blue, without any previous agreement with us. What kind of world it is right now?!

gong hui says:

Shame on AMAZON!

Like all of you, I was at loss when I found this item of payment, what the hell is this AMZ CLUB? I never joined this and I never want to join this! I don’t live in the USA. What I did was just ordered a book from amazon when I was in NY.

I will never purchase things from amz, and I would write on my blog about what amz is doing to its customers. I will sugguest my friends not buy things from amz ever again.

pmt says:

tears

I have also been hit with this. I live in the UK and received a birthday ‘gift’ voucher from a friend in Australia. I did not want to join this club. They have also managed to charge me on a pmt day so this has sent me into tears.
I have never used Amazon before. I have received better birthday presents.
I don’t have a home phone, my mobile doesn’t allow international dialling but it would probably cost me the same again to get in contact with them.

Amurdaraj says:

PRIME CLUB FEE

i have also been charged $79 with no request on my part and absolutely no notice from Amazon. I didn’t even know about this “prime shipping club” until I found the $79 on my credit card statement! This is clearly VERY questionnable activity on the part of Amazon and, at best, shows Amazon is operating, at least with respect to this shipping club, in a very shoddy manner.please credit my amount to my credit card as soon as possible,if not i will make a notice to court and police

Regards,
AMURDARAJ

s. brown says:

Amazon Prime Scam

Just call 1-866-557-2820. I told them that I did not sign up for Amazon Prime. They told me that they would cancel the membership and refund my money within 2-3 business days.
(p.s.—the way I ended up being charged was that at one point or another, I accepted a free trial from them for 1 month and if you don’t cancel it within the time frame ,,,you basiclly bought a years subscription and worse yet, it renews yearly unless you cancel.)

c. h. says:

Amazon Prime shipping

In what world is it ok to arbitrarily take something through access that you have entrusted to a company? This isn’t even remotely ethical. And the only alternative is to cancel your account? Wall Street has gotten to Bezos, with bells on. Corruption, greed, and blame it on the stockholders, but the stockholders aren’t usually the ones making the big bucks. As long as we think it’s ok for the top echelons to make millions they will and the rest of us won’t. If I had chosen to sign up for this that is one thing, but this method is pretty low. Thankfully, good call center reps reimburse the account(s)without incident.
Thanks for listing the number.

TickleMeCthulhu (user link) says:

cancelling was easy....

…once I found the phone # in your posts(1-800-201-7575), the Amazon Help Dept. was very kind and quick to understand the situation(they didn’t even ask any questions as to why I was cancelling). Before I called, I cancelled my Prime membership: go to YOUR ACCOUNT–>SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGEMENT–>MANAGE YOUR AMAZON PRIME MEMBERSHIP. You don’t have to do this, though- because the Amazon Help Dept. offers to do it over the phone. I asked for a refund, and they processed it and sent me an email confirmation.

It was sneaky of them to charge the $79- a good business puts their charges in bold print- but, at least, the refund was painless.

Thanks to everyone here for their advice and guidance!

William A. Adams says:

Illegal withdrawal of monies

Why was $79.00 withdrawn from my checking account???? I don’t recall buying anything nor joining anything. I am retired from the Military and I contacted the Judge Advocates Office and was assigned a case number in reference to this matter and I was told to inquire as to the reason for the withdrawal and to notify them as soon as I received a response from your fiirm. Sincerely William A. Adams

be robbed & sob says:

Amazon, Youre The Only Victim Here

I too was charged $79 for some stupid membership fee that I didnt sign up for.I googled it and found this forum 😀
OK well I called 1-800-201-7575 the guy was real nice, he didnt speak very good English but he literally helped me out in a matter of minutes. He canceled the subscription and said I’ll be reimbursed in 2 to 3 business days. The only kinda weird thing was that he gave a little “Ah” when I told him the reason why I was calling. Almost like he gets phone calls of angry people flipping on $79 unauthorized charges all day long LOL
Anyways this just goes to show that,
You Cannot Trust Amazon.com With Your Debit/Credit Card Info.
Although Customer Service rep was cool I’m still canceling and deleting my whole account. No more business for thieves!

Peace out

n.h.benedict says:

AMZ Prime Club

A $79 charge appeared on my visa for 4/24/08 with a telephone number 866-557-2820. I never subscribed to this “club”. Apparently I, like numerous other people, had the same experience. I called the number,spoke to a customer service rep and she said they would refund the charge on my next visa billing. We shall see….but what an underhanded move by an outfit I always thought was reputable.

Geoffrey (user link) says:

Got refunnded without any problems

Having found this page, I was delighted to see that I wasn’t the only person stung by this Amazon ‘deal’. I used the customer service number here to call them. Living in Ireland, I explained how unbeneficial it was to be a ‘Prime’ member. And of course their proceedure was illegal since I never recieved any email reciept of agreement and transaction. The first notice I got was seeing this mysterious $79 deduction from my credit card statement. I was refunded within 3 working days, as they said. DON’T FORGET TO GO TO THE AMAZON PRIME SITE AND UNCHECK THE AUTOMATIC SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL BOX WHEN CANCELLING THE MEMBERSHIP. I hope Amazon sort out their terms and conditions clearly for their Prime Club or they will lose a lot of customers.

Kayla Woods says:

This happened to my mother...

I don’t have my own credit card yet so it didn’t happen to me, but it just happened to my mother. She called me down asking me if I had borrowed the credit card and done somthing and I hadn’t. However she just called the toll free number 866-557-2820 and they are canceling the membership and giving her her money back.

Gary McKinsey says:

Charge of $79.00 Refunded after phone call

I received a charge in the amount of $79.00 for a membership that I did not knowingly authorize. When I contacted Amazon they explained that I had signed up for a free 30 day membership and when it was not cancelled they billed the $79.00
After my explanation that to my knowledge I had not signed up for any type of member ship, the charge was cancelled.
There must have been a button on the sight that I inadvertently clicked on
I will be much more careful next time I am looking at the Amazon site

Lydia says:

$79 charge from Amazon!

I had the same charge on my account when I checked it this morning. I’m going to contact Amazon and see if they will remove it, it seems that they have been understanding in most cases from what I’ve read on this site. If they don’t refund the money though, I’m pretty sure that we have enough people who commented on this site alone to constitute a class action law suit. I always thought Amazon was a good company, who knew…

Laura says:

Accident - yeah right!

I am livid. I just got this charge. When I called the first time, the call “dropped.” Huh? The second time they offered a refund. I was told I probably accidentally clicked on something that signed me up for a membership. Are they serious?!! I told them that anything that would cause me to accidentally sign up for something without my even realizing was deceptive and dishonest business practice and had ruined my faith in the company.

Jeff says:

Check the history!

I had the same $79 charge and I called Amazon @ 1-866-557-2820. They informed me that I “joined” this club back in 2006 and I was charged in ’06, ’07 and now!!! I use my bank card for everything so I have a lot of charges on my statement. I never caught it. If you don’t check your account regularly, find out when you “signed up” for the club and tell them you want a refund for all the charges. If you are checking past statements, it should be exatly a year from the most recent charge from Amazon. The supervisor said he will refund all charges and they didn’t really give me a hassle. We’ll see if I get my refund!!

bretlen says:

This Is Such B***S***

how dare Amazon do this to us all. i trusted them with my credit card # and pretty much all the information of my life. this was such a cold move and i am now in trouble with making my rent i a day or so? i need every penny in my account and have really no room for error! i have heard something about a phone # you call and they will refund it within a day or so. IS THERE ANY ONE OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP ME AND EXPLAIN THE PROCESS TO ME, IM NOT GREAT AT THE WHOLE COMPUTER THING??

Jen says:

You all are craaaazy....

I just got the $79 charge on my bank account. I cancelled it, and will get a refund because, just as it states on the website, if you haven’t actually used the Prime service you’ll get your money back. Now, I know I signed up for this. About a month ago Amazon offered me a free trial of the Prime service. I took it, and got free 2-day shipping for a month. I forgot to cancel, so I went on and did it when I saw the charge. I have two things to say to everyone posting on here:
A) START READING! No one can charge you for something you didn’t approve. You must have seen just the “free 2-day shipping” and failed to read the details about the Prime membership. It was crystal clear to me, so I don’t know what everyone else’s problem is!
B) STOP CALLING AMAZON CROOKS WHEN THEY ARE NICE AND REFUND YOUR MONEY! First you fail to read the “fine” print (which actually isn’t that fine, or that detailed… just need to use your brain a little), and then you still complain about the charge EVEN AFTER and super-nice Amazon representative immediately removes the charge…
What is wrong with you people? Amazon has done nothing wrong, and even if they did, they fixed it immediately. I really don’t understand how any of you can be so angry and resentful. And best of luck with other internet sites. Amazon is among the best online store I’ve ever shopped with and I pity those of you who will not shop there now because of your OWN stupidity.
Sheesh…

Matt says:

What scam...Amazon has lost another cuatomer

Comment #407 must have been made by an employee of Amazon – anyone can see that this practice is unscrupulous & just plain wrong. We (like everyone else) live on a very tight budget & this $79 charge could have very easily caused our account to be overdrafted if we hadn’t caught it so quickly. Amazon is probably making a mint off of people who are not checking their statements carefully. What a scam.

Kevin Munro says:

Amazon Scandal

Hi, this morning to my surprise I was debited £49. I called the fraud department of my bank who informed me it was Amazon. The tel no. to get them on is (UK) 0800 279 6620, then option 8. They didn’t know why it was debited but processed a refund immediately, they’re a sneeky lot and I’ve lost faith in a company I used regularly, a PR disaster!

Tom says:

Unauthorized charge of $79.00 from Amazon Prime?!

I just found a charge from something called AMZ Prime–I searched it and found this site where apparently I am one of many who have been erroneously charged for something I had absolutely no intention to or knowledge of joining. I rarely order books online. I will be asking for a refund and an investigation through my bank.

Henry Mullaney says:

AMZ Prime Club

We have been a good customer of Amazon, ordering dozens of items per year. A week ago, my wife placed an order. When it came to shipping method, one of the boxes was free 2-day delivery. I just got a bill, and it turns out that “free” means $79. I’m going to reverse the $79 charge, since we never authorized it. However it will take a long time to get rid of the sleazy feeling this gave me!

Bill H says:

AMAZON is not that bad as you guys think!

I think all you guys hiding the fact that you did know the charge after one month free trail and just forget to cancel the service before it charge to your credit card. Just dont bull-shit here and call the Amazon to get refund. To be fair, I think Amazon is handling this issue very well, I called and get my money back very easily. What I dont understand you guys sounds like innocent but DONT ADMITTED YOU MADE THE MISTAKE FIRST!!!

Ron And Lynn says:

AMZ Prime Club

I just found a $79 charge on my charge card. I called VISA and they put me on the phone with Amazon directly. I can’t understand how Jeff Bezos can authorize charges on anyone’s accounts without permission. My rep said they would reverse the charge but tried to blame me or my husband for clicking on “something” that authorized this charge. If looking for a job authorizes this kind of behavior from Mr. Bezos he will have no future business with us.

Gina C (user link) says:

Amazon Fraud: AMZ Prime Club

What a horrible example for a leading internet retailor to set. We found that we had been charged this mysterious $79 fee for the AMZ Prime Club and we could not match any of our purchases to this. Thank you to all that provided the answers to this mysterious charge. We will attempt to settle it with Amazon but I certainly will report this to our credit card company too. This was very underhanded and not what I would expect from a company such as Amazon. I guess it’s back to the retail store for this family!

Mary Ann Basurto says:

money taken out of my bank acct without my o.k.

Ditto! I did not authorize this fee from my online bank acc
for Amazon Prime Shipping Club fee. It has been taken out of my account unlawfully. My on-line account shows a debit
in the amount of $79.00 dated 8/4/2008.
CREDIT MY ACCOUNT IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MARY ANN BASURTO

Jeff Porter says:

This is outrageous!

My story is the same as everyone else’s! $79.00 taken right out of my account today! I called the 800-201-7575 number and got it cancelled with a promise of a refund in 2-3 days! I have spent sooo much money at Amazon and am just so taken aback by their dirty trick advertising. If, indeed, we all did click on the wrong thing, wouldn’t it have been nice if something had come up giving the details of how they were going to take money out of your account and give you an opportunity to cancel right then! I certainly would never have authorized that and I highly doubt that anyone else on here would have either! I am certainly no longer a loyal Amazon shopper and am spreading the word.

Rosemarie says:

I don't believe they got me too!

That is the last time i buy from Amazon. I have had more trouble with them double billing me since they send me double orders, then they have the nerve to tell me i ordered twice. Anyone have this happen?
Now this. I am closing my account down as soon as i get my refund for this phoney charge.
I am also going to cut up my card. If we all do it maybe
scammers like this will stop.

May Ma says:

This is just not right

I am a Chinese during my staying in The U.S. I ordered online from Amazon.com with my credit card, I got the same problem as all your guys are facing at today, And i did not see any explaination about there is a membership fee involved with this services, i thought this is Amazon special promotion, but luckily i called my credit card company and be able to stop this payment, and Yes i canceled what they called Primary Membership.

pete says:

cunning bastards!

Hey Bill H and other less sanctimonious victims

charged $79 like everyone else here. but actually read the fine print (just not the fine fine print). when they offer the “free” 2 day shipping, the fine print says that you won’t be charged unless you choose to activate after the trial period ends. Sadly it appears that it is organised in such a way that choosing to activate involves letting the trial period lapse and doing nothing (I guess hidden in the fine fine print somewhere)

No problems getting the refund though, call, say you never signed up for this, and you’ll get it. The operator I got was pretty friendly about it too (must be getting it a lot)

Peter Davies says:

AMZ Prime Club - 866.557-2820 nv

I am surprised that Amazon has done this to its customers especially without notifying the account holder. There is no excuse whatsoever to justify this kind of shoddy transaction of 79 USD without my consent. I need a reimbursement right back……Quote, “taking without asking is called stealing”

Swank says:

AMZ Prime Club

I also fell for this in 2007, and I like to think of myself as particularly suspicious of such things!
Unfortunately, I just noticed the charge because I was one of the lucky 41 million people who got their card number stolen from retailers last week. So I actually looked at my account on-line. Amazon immediately agreed to refund the recent charge, but they will not refund last year’s money. I refuse to believe that they can not do so, but they will not refund it. It’s too bad I will never again use Amazon. I have never had a bad experience except this one, to the tune of almost $160!!!!!!!! Way too much and WAY too sneaky, Amazon. SORRY.

Anjana. Roy says:

Card fraud by Amazon!

I am extremely frustrated and angry that Amazon has chosen to treat their regular customers in this manner. I DID NOT subscribe to this site and just looked at the club page and I have been debited TWICE NOT ONCE!! This has been caught by the fraud department of my bank, my card cancelled – I am going on holiday without a valid BANK card – how inconvenient is that!! I am a regular Amazon.co.uk customer will have to think very carefully if I will avail of their services anymore. Very, very disappointing as they have broken my TRUST above ALL!

Wing Pan Yeung says:

Unfair $79 charge from my credit card

I ordered a gift for my friend’s wedding last month. And today, I discovered another $79 have been billed on my bank statment and states “AMZ*PRIME CLUB 866-557-2820 NV “. When I were ordering a gift, I just left my personal information (such as my name, email, billing & shipping address) and then click with free-shopping, paid the amount,finially entered my credit card number…………,somehow I already became a club member !!! I don’t know how they dare to charge such a unfair fee without customers authorized? They don’t even notified the billing to customers until you check it by yourself. I won’t go shopping at Amazon anymore.

PS: BE ALERT

19 Aug 2008

MiGi says:

Stealing from the customers

i was checking my stuff on online banking
so i am like, wtf is amz prime club
googled it .. and i was PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i emailed them.. i hope i get the refund cause i didnt use amazon for more than a month..
its very rude to charge someone unauthorized
i am a student i dont have that type of money to loose

hope someone can help me out

Patricia says:

AMAZON's snicky way to get $79 from unaware customers

Or I should say EX-Customer! Never again I will order through them. $79 was taken out of my bank account without being notified. I used their so called “Free” prime shipping last year. They never sent anything that will make me aware that this option was on and I will have to pay for it. This put me on an overdraft with my bank account and now I have to pay for that also. I manage my account to avoid any fees, Amazon should pay for this fee.

David Trunkfield says:

Amazon Prime Member Fee

I bought a book on Amazon recently for £12 and in addition Amazon took a further £49 on a different date but in a way that hid the supplier by calling the debit AMZ.
How many people worldwide will not query the transaction.
It did not take me too long to contact them and they are refunding the amount within the next 4 days which means that they have had my money for 2 weeks. WHAT AN EARNER ???

Barbara Swygert says:

Amazon & Greed

Its too bad that a trusted site like Amazon has come to this sort of deceitful practice. Like you guys I made many purchases with good results. From the length of this thread I am amazed at how this guy just woke up one day and thought he could scam ALL THESE PEOPLE (US) and just get away with it. For all of us that thankfully caught this fluke, how many of us didn’t. My friends, times are very different and you MUST check your bank accounts at least every two days just to protect yourself. Thanx to all of you for contributing to this thread. I called today and was told I’d receive a refund in 2-3 days. This kind of theft also results in Overdrafts Fees against a person’s account. Have any of you had any overdraft fees due to this unknown charge being deducted from your account? I hope you get resolution. Be Safe!
Barbara S

Barbara Swygert says:

Amazon & Deception

Hi Folks:

Just wanted you to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. On Monday 9/15/08 I discovered the $79.00 charge to my account via Amazon. Today 9/17/08 I went to my account and it had credited for $79.00. I thought I had a really big fight on my hands, but they paid up. Still, its amazing to me that this thread started 8/3/06 and we’re still complaining about the same exact deception. All I can think about is all the people who don’t pay attention to their accounts like we obviously do. They’ve already made a huge sum of money. Take Care and watch those accounts closely.

Thouraya says:

$79 REFUNDED

I did get a number to call (1-866-557-2820) choose number 7 from options the guy on the other end was more than cooperative with assisting me on getting my FULL refund in 2-3 days.

first BEFORE calling go to your account on amazon go to prime membership CANCEL it and make sure the automatic one is also canceled then call that number tell them you did not give an authorization to take the $79 from your account to amazon nor received an email telling you they will- and that you have just canceled your prime membership.
he will ask for your email address and physical one then will refund the money since you did not shop after deducting the amount.
all the best 🙂

79 Dollars less on the account says:

Prime Shipping

I was surprised, sometimes my wife shops on my cart, but never without me, or at least telling me. So I see that 79 bucks were taken away.

I have called them, ofcourse it was outsourced Customer Agent, according to the accent from India. I made sure I am not in the prime membership before calling, my account said I was never registered. So I yelled at them saying that I googled out about 1400 pissed off people in the Internet complaining and if I will not have it couple of days I will sue them. They will try to shave you off for 3-4 days for Investigation, but them after further yelling they will refund in 2 days. I got fed up by all this shit and closed my account with Amazon for ever, which I will advice to everybody.

Rachael says:

SCAM!!!!

I also noticed a charge for $79.00 on my bank statement today. After thinking about what I could’ve bought, I noticed that the date was for today….I’ve been at work since 7, can’t really buy much there. So while sitting on hold with my bank, I decided to google the prime shipping club that it was noted as on my statement. I called Amazon immediately and the rep was extremely helpful and refunded my money no questions asked. We’ll see how long it takes to get credited to my account. A large corporation like this has balls to pull a scam like this. Judging by the dates on these postings, they’ve been doing it for way too long. You’d think they’d get it after millions of people call complaining and wanting refunds. I understand that its a business scheme and that most people probably don’t check their statements anymore and just pay their CC payment monthly; they may get away with it with a lot of people, but I’m sure the amount of money they’re losing by driving their loyal customers away with this crap, is a whole heck of a lot more than the money they’re scamming. I’ll never do business with Amazon again!

CGP says:

There's more to Amazon's scandal

For those of you who think the $79 is worth the prime membership, you should be aware that you are being ripped off another way. I searched for an item on AMZ and found it for $19.99. After I signed in, I looked at the same item and the price was $26.16. It was the same item, and both were from Amazon (not another seller). They’re charging me $6.17 for my loyalty and for my $79 per year. Try it occasionally, there are thousands of items like this that will jump in price upon signing in. That sounds like a true scam worthy of legal action to me.

rafael says:

I HAVE THE ANSWER!

Hello everybody! I too was outraged when I saw this charge when I checked my online bank account. So I called my bank, and they gave me the number to dispute it at Amazon. Here it goes:

(866) 557-2820

I just gave them a call and transfered all the way to a customer representative. I was very upset and asked to IMMEDIATELY have that money refunded to my account and cancelled whatever that stupid “prime shipping” thing is. I also asked to be sent an email confirmation of my refund and cencellation. I suggest that we put a stop to Amazon’s sneaky ways. I for one am done shopping at Amazon.com.

Good luck everybody!

Annemarie says:

I was refunded $79 within 24 hours

FYI: I DID sign up for the trial loyalty club to get my items quicker, but then forgot to cancel my membership within 30 days; however, I just signed onto my account and changed my preferences to “do not automatically renew membership” and since I hadn’t made any other purchases since signing up for the club, I was refunded my money. In fact, I didn’t even have to call them or request a refund, as it happened automatically. I was really pleased not to have to call and beg for a refund.

Maybe a bunch of people complained and saved me the trouble! All I know is, I’m happy to get my $80 back and recommend trying what I did. It may save you the aggravation of having to talk to someone.

K says:

The difference between YOU and ME

Here’s the difference between most of you and a few of ‘us:’

We in fact did READ everything before agreeing to Amazon Prime. We KNEW that Amazon would not give us FREE 2-day shipping for nothing — that is NOT how a business -works-. Not only did we likely KNOW that, we also actually read the part where Amazon clearly states that in FACT you WILL get charged $79 a year for the service. There was no voodoo magic involved that got me to agree to Amazon Prime without plainly knowing what was involved, first.

There was NOTHING deceptive about this with one exception:

Clearly, Amazon.com overestimated the collective brain power of some of their customers.

You all are likely the same folks who sign up for a mortgage without actually reading it (ridiculous considering it’s the biggest purchase most of you will ever make).

And here’s the deal — I really do NOT revel in people getting ripped off. But all of you should be ASHAMED of yourselves for just clicking buttons on the internet without actually reading what you were doing and without actually _thinking_; you know, it’s called USING YOUR BRAIN!!

FACT: Amazon did NOT charge your account/card without your authorization (they are giving refunds because that’s what an at least half-arse company does for its customers; besides which, I would imagine it’s much like arguing with drunk rocks to try to explain that you all just DID NOT READ before clicking).

FACT: You were incapable of reading what you were signing, whether from years of being trained not to use your brain, or by simply lacking the ability to think in the first place, or possibly both.

FACT: Since you paid no attention to any of the terms to which you were agreeing, you were caught off-guard when your ignorance came back to bite you in the arse.

FACT: I saw the very same Amazon Prime promotion that you did and signed up for it, knowing exactly what it was to which I was signing and agreeing — the expected $79 charge came a month later, as clearly explained in the agreement I accepted.

FACT: My family apparently taught me something yours didn’t (or you just forgot!) — always READ the contract BEFORE you sign it.

Really, if you can’t be bothered to read a contract, then you have no business signing it in the first place.

And no, I am absolutely in no way, shape, or form an employee of Amazon. In fact, I’m usually not on the side of big business, but this is not Amazon being ‘crooked’, this is a bunch of people agreeing to things and clicking buttons without paying any attention to what they were doing. And those same people have learned to blame EVERYONE ELSE AROUND THEM before ever bothering to look in the mirror.

WAKE UP, people, and learn to THINK FOR YOURSELVES! Or are you really all just a bunch of lemmings? That’s what the folks at the top think, anyway…

Keep proving them right. 😐

John A says:

Get Real

Come on, folks. Amazon is the greatest company out there. I have been shopping there for years. Yes, they are not perfect, but any time there was a problem, they always made it right for me.

I have prime shipping, and it has worked out great for me. I buy everything from amazon, from TVs to deodorant, so I am way ahead in the game. I realize that prime shipping is not for everyone, but it works for me.

I really don’t think that Amazon set out to defraud people. And I am sure that if the people here just give them a call, they will refund the money. Someone here was complaining that it would take 2 days to process the refund. Give me a break, what do you expect, a Brinks truck to come to your house within an hour and bring you cash?

Lonnie says:

Amazon Prime Club

The $79 is spelled out in the contract you accepted. If you planned on getting your free fast shipping during the trial period and then cancelling then shame on you for forgetting. But you know what, Amazon will still cancel the charge for you. So instead of ranting about AMAZON, take your ADD medicine then call Amazon. They will courteously and without questioning you give you back the money you told them you were willing to pay for the priviledge of free fast shipping.

Lindsay says:

$$ STOLEN BY AMAZON FROM MY ACCOUNT TOO

This is just an informative website; they’re not actually in charge of the Amazon type websites–they only report on them…so asking for your money back here is useless. However, I really got stung by this. I haven’t ordered anything from Amazon in years, yet today I checked by online bank activity and found that, not only did AMZ*PRIMESHIPPINGCLUB take $79 from my checking account, but it caused my account to go into overdraft, and now I am dealing with multiple fees for using my debit card. I guess Amazon or Bezos would be the evil entities to contact. The only thing I use Amazon for is to write book reviews for certain books that I have edited. Quite frankly, I don’t know how they got my Visa debit account number.

miso says:

i dont like amazon

i came from slovakia. today i was in my bank, because the only thing as a description was an not identificable formula. they told me that it was some AMZ PRIME SHIPPING CLUB. i was trying to search it on the net, and now i know…
so i have canceled the membership, i hope that they will pay me back this $79, otherwise i will give a reclamation to my bank.
i think that was my last buy throught amazon. no more!

Erasmo Nuzzi says:

AMZ SHIPPING CLUB SHAMELESS AMAZON SCHEME

The jerks at Amazon tried to debit my credit card with US$79 for a scheme called AMZ SHIPPING CLUB.
I called their hub (probably in India or Pakistan, I could berely understand what the ASSOCIATE JERK was saying) and had to yell at the IDIOT to stop reading their offers script and cancel the debit.
MY ADVISE TO EVERYBODY IS TO CANCEL THEIR AMAZON ACCCOUNT OR AT LEAST THE ONE CLICK DATA!!!
Leave no Credit card # with them
BEZOS YU ARE A JERK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve Dippel says:

$79 AMZ Prime Shipping Club Fee

Jeff Bezos, SHAME ON YOU!

Just when you think you have found an online company you can deal with comfortably and can trust their integrity, you guys pull a stunt like this.
Always before, you have given a confirmation notice of any charges or transactions via email, but not this time. Which can only lead one to believe that you were hoping your customers wouldn’t notice. Now that your company attempted to scam me with a phantom charge, I can no longer trust your company. I hope it was worth it Jeff! Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice shame on me. I promise you, I will never subject my self again to one of your future scams……..But hey who cares as long as you meet your projected earnings for this quarter, right Jeff?

Believe me Jeff, People are going to remember this in the future. You might factor that into your upcoming quarterly projections to your stock holders

Happy Freaking New Year to you too buddy!

Matt says:

WTF??

Like the article states – I am one of the idiots(?) who didn’t read the fine print (was there any??).

Just logged into my checking account and said who the hell is AMZ prime shipping club?! I suspected Amazon as I had just ordered a few things a week ago, and now this mysterious charge, tagged with “AMZ…” shows up.

Anyone know how to dispute this or get it refunded? I don’t order on Amazon.com enough to justify the expenditure.

I wonder, when the ballsy Mr. Bezos conceived this nefarious marketing scheme, did he also have the cajones to make this an “autopay” item that saps your checking account on an annual basis?? Do I need to cancel somehow, or face the same unwarranted charge next year??

Anyone???

– A More Than Irked (former?) Amazon Customer

Matt says:

WTF?? #2

It may or may not be obvious from my previous posting that I did not have – or more importantly, take – the time to sift through the ~500 comments on this topic that have accrued over the last 3 years…

However, as help to future readers on this subject:

Simply call 866.557.2820 (Amazon Customer Service, yes, even on a Sunday) and explain that you would like the charge removed; they will gladly oblige.

Seems Amazon has received some pressure from buyers on this subject 🙂

g. prez says:

AMAZON'S apparant deceptive practice

Just discovered the unauthorized $79.00 charge by “AMZ*PrimeShippingClub” against my bank account via a VISA charge by a ‘subscription merchant.’ The bank said it could not stop payment on this pending charge ‘because it was made by a legitimate subscription merchant.’ The bank referred me to AMAZON.COM at 1-866-557-2820 for rectification of this unauthorized charge. AMAZON.COM cheerfully told me that I MUST HAVE accepted a 3-day trial offer of this shipping club offer, which, after 3 days, became an authorization to subscribe to this shipping. I did not accept, nor was I ever aware of any AMAZON.COM 3-day trial shipping service. Cheerfully, the AMAZON.COM customer service lady repeated that I MUST HAVE!!! Then cheerfully, and without any appology for the trickery, agreed to refund the $79.00 to my bank account within 3 business days. For years I have been completely satisfied with AMAZON.COM as a trusted, and completely reliable source of books, dvd’s, and of late, most anything of quality I wanted to purchase. I will never again contact AMAZON.COM to purchase anything because of their apparant deceptive practice to charge me for a service that I did not authorize. Let’s hope my vote counts!!!

rachel says:

WTF?!

I, like the gazillion other customers before me, just logged onto my checking acct & saw the unauthorized $79 charge from Amazon…long story short, call 866-527-2820 & Amazon will process a full refund, no hassel at all! Apparently, this subscription was hidden somewhere in a “free shipping” deal I had around the holidays. Hope this helps! 🙂

rachel says:

WTF?!

I, like the gazillion other customers before me, just logged onto my checking acct & saw the unauthorized $79 charge from Amazon…long story short, call 866-527-2820 & Amazon will process a full refund, no hassel at all! Apparently, this subscription was hidden somewhere in a “free shipping” deal I had around the holidays. Hope this helps! 🙂

Steven Levy says:

Same thing - AMZ Prime

See post 495 above for the actual number – it’s a digit off in the most recent posts (takes you to DELL custmoer service instead). Anyway, it is easy to get the refund for the fraudulent charge. Just be sure to mention the word “unauthorized”, twice if you need to (the second time after they say “do you remember signing up for a trial membership…”)

Cesar Davila says:

Fraud

It?s a shame that a company that i thougth was responsible is doing this kind of cheezy deals, i was very pleased with the service but now i will get my money back from them and cancel my account, some people in all countries always want to be smarty pants like the ass of DS of the 492 comment, maybe he doesn?t have any friends and all he have it?s his computer and his amazon account….poor idiot.
Try to get real friends and stop defending this company. Mr. Obama it?s time for you to do something about this too.

Be well.

James Jackson says:

$79.00 unauthorized

My story is a bit different. I go to bank to make some deposits, I have a written check form one account and was depositing to another account. Reason for this is because we are close to a closing date for our 1st home. Well the teller informed me I did not have enough funds to cover that check, I explained to her, the funds was there yesterday maybe its a mistake. She told me it was not, there was a $79.00 charge from AMZ shipping. I told her I dont know who AMZ is, we buy our shipping supplies from U Line. So what was done is , I went in canceled my credit card and ask for a new one with different numbers, filed for a charge back, and a discrepancy form. I have not purchased anything through AMAZON for quite some time and I know I never applied for the shipping thing.I have not received anything pertaining to a invoice for this nor a email from AMAZON, so what gives them the right to steal my money? Amazon has permanently lost me as a customer or will they get my new credit card number. As I have sifted through all the post pertaining to this same issue, it appears to me there still doing the same thing from 3 yrs ago, apparently they have not fixed there glitch or whatever has been causing these un authorized deductions form everyone’s accounts. Basically this is a scam, do we realize how many people this is happening to and going un noticed? Im fed up with this con. AIG has stolen billions of dollars right under our noses and I’ll be damned if Im going to let this go, If Amazon does not call me back before the end of this day, I’m going to file a complaint with the US Atty Generals Office. This has to stop and I would recommend all of you file a complaint with the US Atty Generals Office, for the simple fact that this has been going on for several years and there has been no corrections to prevent it.

BUNN AMANTE says:

AMZ*MEMBERSHIP

THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG, SCAM BUSINESS BY JEFF PISOS.
I HAVE A FREE SHIPPING ON MY MERCHANDISE ALREADY,I DONT NEED THIS SUBSCRIPTION.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS OF BROWSING THEIR NEW OFFER AND IN THE END THEIR WAS A FEE SO I DIDNT FINISH IT IN OTHER WORDS I DIDNT AUTHORIZE THEM TO TAKE MONEY TO MY CARD…

THIS IS VERY CROOKED, HOPE AMAZON STOCK GO DOWN INTO A DOLLAR A SHARE AND LOTS OF LAW SUIT TO KICK THAT PISOS OUT OF BUSINESS.

Carol says:

AGGGHHHH!!!

Yes, I also got scammed by this Prime Shipping Club. It was a pending charge on my cc and didn’t have a telephone #, but when it actually posted there was a #. The # is 866-557-2820. My husband called Amazon and was told that it would take 2-3 days for the refund. I will keep my fingers crossed that I will get my refund and will let you guys know what happened. These are very sneaky practices on Amazon’s behalf and I don’t believe I will be dealing with them anymore.

Raquel says:

OUTRAGEOUS...WHAT A SHAME!

I usually don’t use Amazon and certainly I won’t use it again. I bought an item that cost less than $50. In the shipment options there was a promotion that said ‘free trial of our two days shipment’. My first reaction was to think : where’s the trick?, but then I went carefully through all the steps to make sure that my credit card was not going to be charged for some crazy amount and when I got to the last step the shipment charge indicated $0.00. I still keep the receipt of my online order. This was a month ago. Today I looked at my credit card charges and I found a $79 charge from amazon. I goggled the charge description “Amazon.com Prime 8665572820 NV” and found about the scam and this website. Tomorrow I am calling my cc company and dispute the charge.

How could Amazon could get so low? Did they think that people are so stupid that they could get away with it?

I really hope they learn their lesson.

Raquel

Ree says:

shipping club $79.00

I noticed the charge on my corporate account today. I called the number that was on there 866-557-2820 and told them its an unauthorized charge. The girls name was Kileen and she hung up on me. I called back got Gav and he took the info and said they would investigate. I have not ordered from Amazon for years. I will never order from them again.

moulaye Elhacen Saleck says:

amz primeshi 79$

have also been charged $79 with no request on my part and absolutely no notice from Amazon. I didn’t even know about this “prime shipping club” until I found the $79 on my credit card statement! This is clearly VERY questionnable activity on the part of Amazon and, at best, shows Amazon is operating, at least with respect to this shipping club, in a very shoddy manner.
Is there anyway to get my money back

Ann Addington (user link) says:

AMZ Prime Shipping - WTF!

Just noticed today that my debit card was charged by Amazon for the prime shipping club in the amount of $79.00. I went to my account with Amazon and said I did not want it and was told they will refund my money. In the meantime I cancelled out my account with Amazon because I will never do business with them again since they charged me for something I never signed up for. I then called my bank and they said they would make sure the charge is not paid. This is fraudulent so I think I’ll report it to the Better Business Bureau.

Monicaed says:

Contacting amazon from Europe

Hello all,

this amount of money has now been charged to my credit card for two consecutive years, I only noticed it now (2009) and it seems the only option I have is to cancel my credit card!

I only shopped at amazon once a year ago and it seems the stuff I bought is going to cost me a whole lot more than I first thought. To try and get in touch with customer service I would need an email address, guess it will be more difficult to get the money back when I am in Europe and cannot call in by phone.

I must say I started hating this whole thing, and if the people at amazon.com has any interest in their future business they should take a look at this list of complaints and do something…?!

Teri says:

$79 Out & In Again

This morning I found the $79 charge listed as “pending” on my online bank statement. I called Amazon and spoke with a “Stephen Z”, who said that on July 14 I had signed up for a “free trial” of Amazon Prime Shipping. I had NOT. I always order enough for free shipping. He then said that after the 30-day free trial, the $79 annual fee is charged. He did, however, courteously agree to replace the $79 in my account and immediately sent us a confirmation letter.

PAT M. (profile) says:

AMAZON $79.00 CHARGE

WACHOVIA DID NOT HELP ME MUCH BECAUSE THE WOMAN I SPOKE TO SAID SHE COULD NOT HELP ME & TO CONTACT AMAZON OF THIS. SHE SAID I MUST HAVE ACCIDENTALLY CLICKED ON THE MEMBERSHIP. I KNOW DAMN WELL I DID NOT DO THIS!! I CALLED AMAZON. I SPOKE TO A MAN NAMED JOSEPH. HE SAID SINCE I PLACED AN ORDER & SOME OF THE ITEMS I RECEIVED FREE SHIPPING HE WASN’T ABLE TO REFUND ME. I TOLD HIM I NEVER ASKED FOR THE AMAZON PRIME SHIPPING CLUB!! I ALWAYS PAY FOR THE CHEAPER SHIPPING BECAUSE I DO NOT NEED MY ITEMS RIGHT AWAY!! HE THEN SAID HE WOULD PUT IN A REQUEST FOR A REFUND & WOULD EMAIL ME THE REQUEST & THE RESULTS. I AM BEING REFUNDED $79.00 IN 2-3 DAYS. I DECIDED TO TRY A LITTLE HARDER IN TRYING TO FIND WHERE THEY POSTED THE $79.00 CHARGE IN AMAZON SINCE I HAVE ORDERED FROM THEM IN THE PAST & WORRIED ABOUT PAST CHARGES.
I CLICKED ON- YOUR ACCOUNT & NEXT SCROLLED DOWN TO SETTINGS. UNDER ACCOUNT SETTINGS I CLICKED ON MANAGE PRIME SETTINGS. SCROLL DOWN TO PAYMENT HISTORY & YOU WILL FIND MEMBERSHIP CHARGES THERE. NOT ONLY DID I FIND THE UNAUTHORIZED $79.00 CHARGE FROM TODAY BUT I ALSO FOUND ONE FROM LAST YEAR WHICH I CALLED AMAZON ABOUT & AM WAITING TO HEAR ABOUT THIS ONE. I HAD TO THREATEN THEM WITH A LAWSUIT SO WE WILL SEE. IN THE MEAN WHILE I NOTICED THEY TRIED TWICE TO CHARGE ME $79.00 ON JULY 10, 2009. IT WAS DECLINED BECAUSE I NO LONGER HAD THAT CARD NUMBER. ALSO ON JULY 10TH THEY SHOW THEY CHARGED MY NEW CREDIT CARD $79.00 BUT YET THEY ARE TAKING $79.00 OUT ON 17 AUGUST 2009. SO NOW I WILL HAVE TO INVESTIGATE MY WACHOVIA ACCOUNT FROM JULY 10TH. ALSO IT SHOWS UNDER MY AMAZON ACCOUNT THAT I AM NOT SET UP FOR AUTOMATIC RENEWAL. SO TELL ME HOW WAS IT THEY AUTOMATICALLY TOOK $79.00 FROM MY CREDIT CARD AS WELL AS TRYING TO ON A CREDIT CARD I NO LONGER HAD. AMAZON LOST A LOYAL CUSTOMER. WHEN I REALIZED THE PRIME CUSTOMER LOGO I THOUGHT IT WAS FOR GOOD CUSTOMERS WHO PURCHASED ALOT FROM THEM. NO MORE!!

TRACY D says:

YOU CAN EASILY GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!

Ok, same thing happened to me today. Luckily on my Bank of America Online statement it gave me this phone # right there with the transaction. 866-557-2820 Amazon offers you 1 month free trial membership of Amazon Prime Shipping. It is a service where for a “fee” ($79.00/yr) you won’t pay any shipping on anything shipped DIRECTLY FROM AMAZON. So, this means if it ships from a third party you will still pay shipping and not even notice that you had the service. You will see this charge exactly 1 year after you make your first purchase from Amazon. If it’s not your first year of purchasing from them, well, you probably had a charge last year too and didn’t notice it. Anyway, just call the number, give them your info, explain to them why you are calling and tell them you don’t want the service which really isn’t worth a crap anyway. They will credit it back within 24 hrs and it should be back in your account within 2-3 business days. Hope this helps!

Nocturnalsight says:

YOU CAN GET THE REFUND BACK

The same thing happened to me today. BOA online statement showed this $79.00 charge and I immediately called the number provided with the transaction. I hate these types of sneaky transactions. Would be nice to get a courtesy email from AMAZON stating that the free member trial membership is about to expire, and we as the customer should take action whether to cancel the free trial membership or not to avoid the $79.00 fee on the credit card number provided to them. ITS THAT SIMPLE AMAZON!!! But as busy as we are, its sometimes difficult to remember when to call to cancel these special “free” trials!

Anyways, I went to my Amazon account online and cancelled the membership along with calling 866-557-2820 to confirm it has ben cancelled. The call center was quite pleasant and was told that the refund will be back in my account within 2-3 business days.

Definitely call. I was pleased with the representative for AMAZON. I will remain a customer…for now unless something like this happens again.

Kym says:

Amazon Prime Ship is a scam

I made a purchase from Amazon on 10/30 and did sign up for the free trial. The fine print said that my account would NOT be charged during my trial period of 30 days. The same day that the merchandise charges hit my accout, so did the $79 fee. When I called to complain, they gladly cancelled my account. However, when I asked why I had been charged, they agent said the their records showed my “free trail” began on 9/20. I reviewed my records and had not ordered since January. The agent said “sometimes this happens, but don’t worry you will be creditted the amount.” Needless to say, I won’t be ordering from Amazon ever again.

mia says:

Despite all the negative feedback about amazon.com I have to say my experience with the Prime Shipping Membership has been rather positive.

When you sign up for the trial period, it very clearly states that you will be automatically upgraded unless you acces your account (Account Settings – Manage Prime Membership) to turn off the automatic upgrade option.

I did get two $1.00 charges on my credit cartd account from Amazon (one of them was a prime membership charge). I just got off the phone with customer service, I didn’t have to wait long on hold either, and the representative was very clear and helpful. I was told that Amazon charges a pending $1.00 for each order from their site as a way to check your credit (like how some bars charges a pending $20 to $50 on your tab to see if your card is valid enough but then goes away after a few days).

I was not charged $79, though my trial has not ended yet and I did already cancel/deselect the option for an automatic upgrade when my it does expire.

Overall, I have to say I will still continue to use Amazon though I do think it is a little inconvenient to charge pending amounts with each order made and to select out of the automatic upgrade. I think it should be up to the customer to validate/initiate that option as opposed to Amazon making that decision for us. It seems like a lot of havoc could of been avoided if they just gave the customer their freedom of choosing as opposed to letting us fall into the $79 charge and then having to retrace our steps and being refunded. But I digress, in my experiences with Amazon, they are always willing to deal with their mishaps so I have to admit, I’m still a happy customer.

Will says:

Now what you can do.

ok, if you got the charge and have not used it you can get a 100% refund by going to your account -> manage premium services -> Cancel membership. It will tell you if you have not used it then you get the refund. But if you have used it. I dunno then. Call customer services for that one. I got mine back because I didn’t use it.

Anonymous Coward says:

the same thing happen to me but likely i am a person that checks my account daily i called my bank called amazon they claim i sign up for a membership the guy refunded my money on my card said it would take 2-3 business days and that was it he said i sign up for it a month ago bullshit if i did why didnt u bill me last month i don’t know if i will be ordering from them anytime soon.

carolyn says:

fraud

i check my bank account everyday sometimes two or three times a day to my shock i had a charge from amz shipping prime that i have never heard of before i called my bank and was given a number to call i reached a non american person who was difficult to understand he said someone signed up for this service not so because i am the only one who uses my account and i have look at amazon items but not enough to sign up for this fraudent service this site needs to shut down they are con-artist they said i would get my money back but how did they get my bank account number and email address talk about terrorist

Keish says:

SCAM

I also recently checked my account and saw something pending and it has been pending for a few days now. Amazon has charged me $79 for this shipping club that I never signed up for and I am furious at how they can go behind someones back and take their money out their account without their knowledge. Thieves!! I have bills to pay with that!!

Paul Chunglo (profile) says:

What the HELL!

I Agree with you 100% I bought a couple games for my son over a year ago and yesterday I found that $79.00 charge on my debit card, which made my account go negative and now I have two $35.00 insufficient fees on my account. Thats $149.00 I’m out because of this shit. I’m pissed off and I’m with you 100% if you need me. You would think a big company like Amazon.com would never do something like this. What jerks.

Paul

Paul (profile) says:

Bad marketing practices will harm customer retenti

Thanks ANONYMOUS, I got wacked the $79.00 a year after I bought something and I used my visa/debt card. I got hit with a couple insufficient funds fees too. I went right to my bank as soon as I found the charge on my on-line banking statement. They are handling the $79.00 and the insufficient funds fees. I than contacted Amazon and talked to them for a while. Yes they said they would credit my account the $79.00 but not the insufficient funds fees. Real nice of them, eh? I just hung up on them and changed all the info they have on me on thier site.

Bill says:

$79 hidden charge

my 17 year old order a card reader for his laptop for $14.95 and somehow a month later got charge this $79 fee for Prime. same thing they told me he signed up for it when he made the order..bull. and seeing how in the last seven years there has been complaints on here about this crap they know they are hiding this Prime Club thing.
It was real easy to get it refunded too, this tells me that since I have been unable to find any legel suits brought against amazon about this club charge that they know they are screwing people over and as long as the one who call and get refunded for the frauduant charge, that there are many out there who don’t catch on and amazon is richer for it.

Will never use it again

Louise says:

I also had this charge with out me knowing. However making it worse for me it caused me to go over drawn with my bank and my bank charging me with unplanned overdraft charges. The account I used I don’t keep loads of money in which is why it made me go overdrawn I am really not happy about this but amazon have given me the money back however im still having to pay the overdraft charge. Does anyone know if there is any way of me claiming this money back? Thanks in advance

Joanne says:

Amazon

I looked in my account Saturday Amazon gone in took £79.00 pounds wasn’t made aware they was going to do this, with it being easter weekend can’t get my money back for up to 2 to 3 buisness days, they took money I needed to buy food and pay bills. I am not made of money and have to be a good steward with my money every week, we should be able to sue Amazon for just being able to do this too people. They breaking the law , it’s like thieving money out of people accounts without signing any documentation to say you agreed to wanting prime service. They just deliberately going into people’s accounts and taking this money, they should be done for fraud, and if at the time spent this money could of put my account in having to pay bank charges.

Mrs Margaret Budd says:

Prime 30 day free trial

I am most concerned that Prime took £79.00 out of my bank account on 03/04/2017 without my authority ,I begrudge paying over the top for postage I would rather pay and and when,I wanted the free 30 day free trial to try out to see if next day delivery,but on one account I ordered 3 DVD’s and it took a long time to arrive weeks actually.
You took £7.99 March then again in April another £7.99 true you have just credited to me one of the £7.99 so infact instead of getting free 30 day free trial you have taken £7.99 in March for Prime

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