[UGH]

I ordered something on Amazon today, and learned that I now have an Amazon Prime trial membership. I don't remember asking to join. I assume that if I do not cancel soon, Amazon will start billing my card monthly for the membership I didn't ask for. I clicked the "Welcome" email and followed all the links but can't figure out how to cancel. Amazon does not give you a "cancel here" link, and there is no telephone number or other contact information. Everything you click takes you to more items to buy. Other than disputing with my bank when I see the first membership charge (which may or may not work), is there any way to quit Amazon Prime?

[Randito]

Amazon Main Menu Your Account Manage Prime Membership End Membership and Benefits Are you sure Are you really really sure Please hold for a specialist

[UGH]

It worked. Thanks. You really have to protect yourself out there. It's a jungle of a marketplace. So easy to click your life away.

[AlpineRose]

Yeah, you really have to pay attention during Amazon's ordering and checkout process or you will end up with something you didn't want. Just think how technovermin get paid six figures to design a user interface to get this to happen. Think how our best and brightest minds are working on processes to get more people to buy more stuff. Most of which they don't need. Sigh. As well, I've noticed Amazon now drags its feet about shipping out orders if you do not have a Prime membership (over my dead body).

[DIYSteve]

I've ordered lots of stuff from Amazon and never got hit with something I didn't want. the options, ostensible freebies and corresponding obligations are effectively spelled out. I've done the arithmetic. Prime saves us money. YMMV

[AlpineRose]

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. $120 a year for free shipping. I get free shipping for free. I just have to be patient and not want my stuff right this minute. Those same technovermin have figured out just how long to hold an item "hostage" before shipping (good metaphor, Jeff) in order to dupe er, entice customers to join Prime and not piss them off too much if they don't join.

[DIYSteve]

Amazon Prime offers quite a bit more than free/expedited shipping

[Randito]

It's not so much "free shipping" as "pre-paid shipping". Whether it's worthwhile for you depends a lot on how much junk you buy. If you only buy stuff online occasionally, probably not good deal, but if it's weekly.... My son (who lives in Manhattan) finds it a great convenience to have stuff like diapers, TP, paper towels, soap, dog food, etc, etc shipped to his apartment on a schedule. Buying an 80lb bag of dog food and lugging it many blocks is a pain, driving in Manhattan is problematic and few stores have parking. The CostCo in Manhattan does, for $6 / hour. People who drive to the store to shop, have you ever tracked how many miles you drive over the course of a year "running errands" and calculated the cost in gas and wear and tear? Me thinks far more that $120 per yesr.

[graffiti]

To me, the free shipping is just an extra. I mostly have it for movies, TV shows and music. In the end, it's about the same price as Netflix of Hulu but you get music to boot. The free 2 days shipping is just an extra (although it's pretty rare to get anything within 2 days. It's mostly 3+ days).

[boot up]

I think we were charter members of Amazon Prime, but we are getting a bit disillusioned lately, especially with it jumping to $120 per year and charging extra for a service that ships small stuff. I forget the name of the extra "service" that used to be part of Prime. Also note if you go in through a different computer (or clear cookies) without using your Prime, you will often get cheaper prices. i.e. In addition to the $120 year prepay for shipping, you get a surcharge on the items for the "free" shipping. In our neck of the woods, Prime takes a minimum of 3-4 days (not counting the weekend) and with no apologies often takes 5-10+ days. But my biggest turn-off regarding Amazon these days is the high percentage of clones, knockoffs, rejected/returned then "recycled", past date (e.g. batteries) stuff they are selling. And good reviews are often copied and seeded, sometimes by the hundreds or thousands. So now I first check the 1 star reviews for consistent comments that say the stuff is counterfeit or defective recycled items. I am definitely taking the effort, much more often, to check out other sources before going to Amazon these days.

[Navy salad]

As perhaps a minority voice, I love Amazon Prime! I'm a bit suspicious of the comment that Amazon grosses up the fees for Prime members, given that I frequently clear cookies and have never seen a price change after I log in. (And wouldn't grossing up prices for members even be illegal?) I sometimes get stuff with free one-day shipping. And I'm enough of a cheapskate that I usually compare prices with other sites and maybe 90% of the time Amazon is the cheapest. I do agree that you need to do your homework before making a purchase. I also generally look at bad reviews first, although sometimes the one star reviews seem less reliable, so I like looking at two-star reviews. The whole review process on the web seems to be deteriorating everywhere, due to paid-shills or "bribed" reviews. But with a good "BS detector" (and invaluable tool in this day and age), it's not hard to sort out the biased reviews.

[captain jack]