Amazon Refunds

[panetone]

I was signed up to the free prime trial without choosing and got charged the £79 fee yesterday. All I had left before they took it was £80 until Monday, now I have £1. I got in touch with them and they happily agreed to refund me the value of £66 because of tax or some BS excuse to rob me. Silly me thought it would be an automatic refund but it is yet to appear back into my account. I'm absolutely fucked for money now and may have to get a food parcel.

Has anyone else experienced this? How long do the refunds usually take?

AIBU to think they should be automatic and should deduct money for 'tax'. They don't know what position someone might be in financially. They have well and truly fucked me this weekend.

[panetone]

*shouldn't deduct money sorry

[PinkSquash]

They should be refunding you the full amount- I would call them and demand the full amount back.

As for how long it takes to return- 3-5 working days sadly

[LunchpackOfNotreDame]

I experienced that but they refunded me the full amount without questioning.

I also get random refunds where they decide to reduce the cost of things after I've bought them.

[Enjolrass]

Do you have proof they signed you up for the trial without your consent?

If so go back to them and tell them what you have. They should refund the full amount if you never agreed to it.

They should also tell you, how long it is before it goes into your account. Remember that your bank may sit on for a day or so.

[DyslexicScientist]

You signed up for a trial and agreed to pay x after y if you didn't cancel right?

[TheHiphopopotamus]

If they only refunded you £66 that suggests that you may have been using the Prime benefits after the free month has passed as it sounds like a partial refund. The tax excuse is bullshit.

Amazon are usually quite good with refunds. Do you have any proof that you were signed up without your consent? (I'm not disbelieving you btw, just that it would help your case). I would go back to them and tell them you want the full amount refunded.

Had a similar issue with Apple. I cancelled a subscription to Spotify (as Apple charge 30% more) and they charged me for it anyway. I emailed them and they refunded it straight away (although it was only £12.99).

[Sallyingforth]

Unfortunately you will have signed up for the trial, even if you didn't realise it. It's easy to do because the website is designed that way. Many people have been caught out and had to complain.
The partial refund will be because you went over the month before realising it.
I'd advise everyone using Amazon to be extremely careful about signing up for the trap trial.

[SideOrderofSprouts]

Its not really a trap. Its in all the terms and conditions and you get an email to remind you that your trial is due to finish

[Alfieisnoisy]

You can now sign up for it monthly and I lay £7.99 a month, as well as free delivery I also get Prime Movies and Prime music. if I had a Kindle I could also download a book a month from the lending library.

[Moonriver1]

Oh OP I'm so sorry, what a nightmare for you.

I agree it's not really a trap though - although they are of course fully aware lots of people forget to unsubscribe before the cut off date.

This did happen to me two years ago and they refunded the full amount no questions asked.

Can you give them the whole 'loyal customer, have/will spend thousands with them over time'?

[Amummyatlast]

It's not a trap. Whenever I've done the free trial I've had an email telling me the date of expiry and saying that I can set it so that it doesn't go over the free trial period (which I have always done).

[Sallyingforth]

I agree it's not a trap. And I used to subscribe to Premium until the price was hugely increased a couple of years ago. But judging from the number of complaints from people like the OP who didn't want to be paying the annual subscription it is only too easy to get involved.

[wasonthelist]

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/household-bills/11448724/Watchdog-bans-Amazon-Prime-free-trial-advert.html

[panetone]

I don't have a problem with them charging me as the trial is up because that's what happens and a lot of people fail to realise what they have signed up for. I do however have a problem with the time it takes to refund and the fact I have deductions from the money. I haven't used Amazon since ordering something over a month ago. They should do automatic refunds as I'm struck for money now and I'm sure a lot of people have been in the same situation

[Stimpack]

It might be that your bank takes a day or two to process the refund.

[NerrSnerr]

It's good that they have agreed to refund you considering you would have signed up for it and then not cancelled in time.

[Enjolrass]

I was signed up to the free prime trial without choosing and got charged the £79 fee yesterday.

What does this bit mean then?

[Enjolrass]

And yes your bank will sit in it for a bit too. It's not all down to Amazon

[cariadlet]

I signed up for the free trial, then didn't bother using it and forgot all about it. The annual cost was automatically deducted from my account, I put it down to my bad organisation and then got in touch with Amazon to cancel so that I wouldn't be charged in future years.

To my surprise, because I hadn't made use of the service, the full amount was refunded pretty much straight away. I'm surprised that your refund is being delayed. Do you bank online? If not, the delay could be down to the bank.

Did you use Prime to get the free delivery? I can't think why else you aren't getting a full refund. I ordered stuff from Amazon during my free trial, but didn't make use of Prime which was why I got all my money back.

[FairyFluffbum]

Ring and ask again?
I once signed up with experian for the free credit check. Forgot to cancel it before the 30 days and was billed. I rang to cancel not expecting a refund as it was my own fault however the operator kept hinting at me to ask. I finally said is it possible to get my money back and he said yes because I hadn't used it. Turns out he couldn't automatically refund, I had to ask

[EachVentureIsANewBeginning]

I've also found Amazon quite good when this happens. DD (13) decided to do the Prime free trial then promptly forgot she'd done that. The next thing was a letter from the bank, when the £79 was taken, asking why she was overdrawn on a young person's account which didn't allow overdrafts. Oooops!
So we straight away cancelled and she was promised a refund of all but around £6, which was fair enough as that represented benefits she'd received after the end of the trial period. And although Amazon said it would take 2-3 days for them to process the refund plus however long the bank needed to do its own processing, the refund was in the bank within 3-4 days, I think. In the meantime I'd put sufficient money into DD's account to get her back in credit.

[AnyoneFucoffee]

I do however have a problem with the time it takes to refund

Your anger is misplaced. It's the banks that take time to clear the refunds. Not the retailer who is highly likely to have actioned it the same day.

[PawsnPurrs]

it usually takes 2-3 days for a refund

[PinkSquash]

I've never had a refund from anywhere immediately returned into my bank the same day. It's normally 2-3 days regardless.