Amazon Prime sucks massive donkey balls

Soldato
Joined
16 Aug 2009
Posts
7,728
I just cancelled my free trial with amazon prime.

Their film and video selection is rubbish.

There wasn't much worth watching and once I'd watched what was then I didn't see any point in continuing the subscription. I guess if its for family viewing and want something to put on in the background or to keep the kids quiet for an hour or two I guess I can see why some people might want it.

I did read a Which? review of streaming video services and they were singularly unimpressed amazon got 3/5 along with just about everything else except Netflix which got a 4/5 mainly for its back catalogue.
 
Associate
Joined
4 Oct 2017
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1,201
Amazon used to great in all aspects but as they've gotten bigger they care less and less.

Customer service is horrendous, and I generally always get problems with delivery.

I remember the days where you could pay for express shipping by 1pm, and when they'd also use DPD. The amazon logistics is crap.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2010
Posts
21,781
Sometimes when I search for a specific item it doesn't show, but if I log out and repeat the search it comes up straight away
search mechanism is junk - often better to search in google for amazon hits -
afaik you can't even force keywords like "ebay" ... it's like they want you to buy other stuff.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
15,940
Amazon used to great in all aspects but as they've gotten bigger they care less and less.

Customer service is horrendous, and I generally always get problems with delivery.

I remember the days where you could pay for express shipping by 1pm, and when they'd also use DPD. The amazon logistics is crap.

it's weird - I still find everything I need/want is generally cheaper on Amazon, Tv selection is excellent, Amazon photo's back up is very good, delivery next day without fail, Customer service has never failed me in 20 years + of using them.

Horses for courses I guess.
 
Associate
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it's weird - I still find everything I need/want is generally cheaper on Amazon, Tv selection is excellent, Amazon photo's back up is very good, delivery next day without fail, Customer service has never failed me in 20 years + of using them.

Horses for courses I guess.

With regards to most products (especially toiletries) they tend to be cheaper for me, but I've found when I've had issues getting them resolved has been much harder.

The last real issue I had was when my PS5 at launch was marked as delivered even though it wasn't, trying to get my money back was a nightmare. There were many people effected, so much so that Amazon implemented the passcodes shortly after for high value items.

In general though before Amazon would normally be eager to just refund, exchange etc but now I find they sometimes put up a fight.

Obviously within 30 days you can do everything automated through your account without talking to someone, but after 30 days when the refund/exchange options disappear they can be awkward to deal with.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2006
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6,113
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Nottingham
No adverts here. Are you sure you're not watching something on one of the channels that says "Free on Prime with Adverts"?

Yes it turns out that I was watching IMDB TV it seems Amazon have integrated it into the fire stick. Looks like they have moved some shows over to IMDB as I watched the first few seasons with no adds and now there's loads.
 
Associate
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19 Mar 2006
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Location
Livingston
I have never been let down with prime. Most next day, if not it usually tells you when so you know it's only a couple of days.

Never had a prime delivery take over 3 days and they are few and far between usually because there is an alternative seller.

All those free deliveries and TV is well worth it.

I pay twice as much for Netflix, at least with prime I save on postage costs so it kinda pays for itself.

It's where I get mostly everything now, Ebay delivery times are no where near as good.
 
Associate
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Macclesfield
Depends what you're buying whether it's good value or not. Too much of the stuff is Chinese garbage and the Chinese have also taken to selling directly through Amazon and simply doubled prices even though ordering direct from China off Banggood or Ali Express takes a similar time to deliver. Pays to shop around.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Sep 2007
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West Yorkshire, England
I love how misleading Amazon can be! Ready to place an order, tells me both items eligible for Prime and offer me 7 day trial for 99p. Sure why not I thought, so you pay for Prime and only one item has changed to arrive the next day, but the other one still says the exact same date I received from Free Delivery, but now it's called Prime Delivery. Nice, had I known, I could have saved myself 99p :cry:.
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Aug 2009
Posts
7,728
I have never been let down with prime. Most next day, if not it usually tells you when so you know it's only a couple of days.

Never had a prime delivery take over 3 days and they are few and far between usually because there is an alternative seller.

All those free deliveries and TV is well worth it.

I pay twice as much for Netflix, at least with prime I save on postage costs so it kinda pays for itself.

It's where I get mostly everything now, Ebay delivery times are no where near as good.

I've never had a non-prime delivery take that long either they even come in a box with "prime" plastered all over it....

Argos is really quick delivery too! I've even click 'n' collected from their outlet sainsburys store next day when amazon delivery would've taken several days...
 
Soldato
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Second Star to the Right
Over the last three months Amazon Logistics have misdelivered my (and one of my neighbours) parcels no less than 4 times, Not only that, but one parcel for my neighbour was dumped through my letterbox ... and so was the 'sorry we missed you' card. How was my neighbour supposed to know where the parcel was actually delivered?!

Utterly useless organisation. It's not like the house numbers aren't on ALL the houses either. There's absolutely no excuse for it!
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Feb 2006
Posts
9,571
Trading standards need to stop Amazon Prime auto enrolments. So 2nd March I wanted to place a order with free slow delivery and the Prime advertisement before submitting the order clearly mislead as I ended up with prime and no order placed. As I wasn't in the next day, I cancelled prime but had to have the free trial. So no order placed until a couple of days later.

Today is 2nd April and my credit card bill had Amazon Prime on it! Fortunately I spotted it instantly and was able to cancel and request a refund.
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jun 2021
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3,604
Location
UK
My observations:
- I buy a lot of trash on impulse (about half my orders is stuff I don't really need).
- Most stuff can be bought IRL for similar price.
- Returns policy is supposedly good, but I always find returns awkward. A choice between sitting around waiting for an unspecified collection, or going somewhere inconvenient to drop off, isn't a policy when there are Amazon delivery drivers passing my house every hour who could easily collect.
- The amount of times they send the wrong product, or the product is cheap trash with surely fake reviews, causing me to need to make a return is getting irritating. Sometimes I don't even bother making a return, just accepting trash products, why? ... (idk)
- I do watch quite a bit of prime video, but maybe that's a bad thing.
- Amazon music got very naggy about subscribing for unlimited music, so I abandoned it for Spotify, which is much better, I won't be going back.
- I used to watch quite a bit of Twitch, but there's no need to subscribe to prime for that, and the Twitch experience is better if you don't log in anyway.

So I'm going to cancel my prime:
- My current annual subscription runs out next month.
- I was going to cancel it now so it doesn't auto-renew, but the cancel process takes away all your benefits immediately (paying for benefits you don't get seems illegal imo).
- There's a couple of tv seasons I want to catch the end of, so I've set a calendar reminder to cancel nearer the time.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Dec 2003
Posts
4,931
My observations:

So I'm going to cancel my prime:
- My current annual subscription runs out next month.
- I was going to cancel it now so it doesn't auto-renew, but the cancel process takes away all your benefits immediately (paying for benefits you don't get seems illegal imo).
- There's a couple of tv seasons I want to catch the end of, so I've set a calendar reminder to cancel nearer the time.

What benefits do you lose by cancelling your sub ahead of time to stop auto renewal?
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jun 2021
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3,604
Location
UK
What benefits do you lose by cancelling your sub ahead of time to stop auto renewal?
Everything, according to the UI. Maybe it's a lie, I can't tell.
According to search results, it used to offer you the choice between ending immediately with partial refund or ending on renewal date.
This is what I see:

Screen 1 - I click End Membership (observing there's a reminder option which I have now used but won't be relying on it)
oEvjwNl.png

Screen 2 - Distinct lack of a "Confirm Cancellation" button
uhEHzpm.png
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jun 2021
Posts
3,604
Location
UK
Decided to have a chat with Amazon customer services out of curiosity...

Finding the option to chat with a person was a quest, but eventually I got there...

1. Their first tactic was to tell me I would lose my benefits between now and my cancellation date if I cancelled now, so I should do it nearer the time.
3fhJSAT.png

2. They offer to turn off auto-renewal for me. I enquire where this option was because I couldn't find it. They don't seem keen to tell me.
zW9PkzK.png

3. I repeat my request for instructions - but get back instructions that would take me to the same page I was stuck on in my previous post, there was no "Turn off auto-renewal" option there as you can see from my previous post.
RhY4Cat.png
 
Soldato
Joined
24 Jun 2021
Posts
3,604
Location
UK
Following that web chat I received an email from Amazon:
"We are confirming that you have turned off your auto-renew setting. Your Prime membership will not continue and you will lose access to your Prime benefits at the end of your membership period."

Sounds like what I wanted, good stuff.

While writing my above post I received 8 more emails from Amazon:
- 1x the above email, again.
- 1x a generic "rate your customer services person" email.
- 6x "Delivered: " emails for deliveries I've had over the past couple of weeks.

Now the website is trying to get me to "Continue Your Membership".
ppzAX5H.png

I look forward to getting continuously hassled or tricked into resubscribing after it expires.

Edit: The one thing that didn't happen, which should have happened, was being able to give a reason for cancellation. I guess they already know they're bad, or don't want to improve.
 
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