Title: Giles Coren declares war on Amazon Prime over free trial | Online shopping | The Guardian
Headings: Giles Coren declares war on Amazon Prime over free trial
Online shopping
Giles Coren declares war on Amazon Prime over free trial
Patrick Collinson

Content: Richard Brown in Oxford only discovered in late 2014 that he had been a member of Amazon Prime for two years. Amazon has only offered only a partial refund of unused membership. Brown wrote to the chief executive of Amazon UK, saying: “ Regardless of the legality of the transaction and the stance that Amazon will take that it involves selection and a follow up email each year, the structure of this service is clearly designed to benefit from the customer’s lack of attention. “You will be very aware that the USP and perhaps the prime growth driver of Amazon is its very fast and easy use and its reliable trustworthy reputation. The mechanism of this transaction appears cynical and severely undermines that USP and the relationship between the consumer and the company.” Amazon says it has millions of Prime customers in the UK, and tens of millions worldwide. It said: “ Customers who sign up to a free trial of Prime receive an email informing them of the duration of the free trial and how to avoid continuing to paid Prime membership. Customers who become full Prime members can cancel their membership at any time and we will refund the full membership if the customer has not made any eligible purchases or used any Prime benefits.”