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Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

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Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#161

Post by rendaw »

sib wrote: post #100

It's sad to see it come to this. When I worked there (more than a decade ago) senior leaders and old-timers were extremely proud of the fact that they did things like sending "your Prime membership will renew in (a month - I think) - be sure to cancel if you don't want it to" emails. This was quite different from typical subscription services providers at the time. In fact, I had more than one old-timer mention that…

That's impressive but man what an unfair hiring policy. A candidate is trying to guess corporate culture, makes the wrong guess, and then you reject them? It's a coin flip.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#162

Post by JamesAdir »

al_borland wrote: post #68

I cancelled Prime last year after getting fed up with Amazon in several ways. Bringing ads to Prime Video was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I do still end up ordering from time to time, and the checkout process for non-Prime members is horrific. Multiple Prime sign-up offers that I always need to carefully read so I don’t click the wrong thing, illogical default shipping options, with more tricks to try and…

As a non-US based customer, I can totally relate. Even though prime is not really applicable to me (in terms of free shipping, a small selection of the media libary, etc), I'm still getting pushed to try Prime each time I try to shop at Amazon.

The main problem is that unless it's a specific brand store, with products sold and shipped by Amazon, all the other products are pure junk. I can easily find them on AliExpress with much lower prices.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#163

Post by xboxnolifes »

bombcar wrote: post #81
al_borland wrote: post #68

I cancelled Prime last year after getting fed up with Amazon in several ways. Bringing ads to Prime Video was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I do still end up ordering from time to time, and the checkout process for non-Prime members is horrific. Multiple Prime sign-up offers that I always need to carefully read so I don’t click the wrong thing, illogical default shipping options, with more tricks to try and…

Prime ain't what it used to be. Used to be reliably 2nd day delivery, by a real shipping company, and good movies added, etc. Now it's as slow as "free" delivery, by a random contractor who does God knows what to the package, and prices aren't even better than Walmart or Target on many things. The "avoid subscribing to prime" shuffle you have to do to even order anything anymore drives me away too, I only use Amazon…

I somewhat feel the opposite. I used to pay for Prime for 2 day shipping when 1 week or more was the norm. Now I don't have Prime and still get 2 day shipping most of the time.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#165

Post by luigman »

dijit wrote: post #123

$2.5B. I genuinely can't fathom these numbers. As in: it could be $25B or $250M and it would mean the same to me. Does this materially impact Amazon? I'm ( really ) not a fan of Amazon, but to me that's an existential amount of money. I don't think I've ever worked anywhere where that kind of money wouldn't be a "ok, I guess we're closing down, turn off the lights when you leave" situation, and I've worked at some la…

Amazon made $638B in revenue, $60B profit in 2024. Yes $2.5B fine is a lot but it will not significantly hurt the company

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#166

Post by Macha »

robotnikman wrote: post #46
jkestner wrote: post #42

Amazon is bad, but as others note, it’s insultingly transparent more than anything. But the worst in my recent history is Duolingo. Constant pestering to upgrade your subscription, fine, but once you do, it frequently “forgets” the subscription (through the App Store) and goes back to nagging you, only fixed by digging a few screens into the profile and tapping “restore purchases”. Bigger issue when your family is us…

It keeps nagging me to upgrade to the family plan or plus or whatever. And if I ignore it enough it enrolls me in a free trial of the family plan without me even asking every once it a while. The amount of up-selling they try to push on you now is so annoying. If anyone has any recommended alternatives where I can learn Japanese I'm interested. Despite all the crap Duolingo has, it has been very convenient when it co…

As for alternatives: Bunpro (grammar + vocab + kanji), Marumori (tries to do everything), Wanikani (kanji) are the ones usually recommended. Personally I used Bunpro + Wanikani. That said, you do need to spread your wings out of the apps eventually. Learning words 5000-6000 are less helpful than practicing listening in context for example.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#167

Post by Der_Einzige »

Brybry wrote: post #61
Larrikin wrote: post #3

Is this one of those situations where we sign up and get a bit of money from the company, or will we have already been contacted?

Amazon will pay $1 billion to the government as a penalty and set aside $1.5 billion for consumers. The settlement terms have most of the details. [0] Amazon will do an automatic payout to some people for up to $51. No need to claim anything for that. I'm guessing they'll mail checks or prepaid debit cards or something. Then Amazon will make a website, within 30 days, and post it on their site (and I'm sure news medi…

I fking hate these sorts of pay out terms.

Dont pay people automatically so that the remaining ones who do claim it get paid a lot more than 51$.

In fact, a lottery where only 1% of victims got 5000$ would be even better.

America loves its inequality. Stop making us equally poor and let the lucky few of us get a 1 oz bar of gold!

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#168

Post by al_borland »

crazygringo wrote: post #141
kjkjadksj wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s usually cheaper if you can source it from the manufacturer even paying their shipping rate. In fact the pricing structure on amazon often seems to include this shipping from manufacturer charge in the total cost just you aren’t aware of it. You still get 3% back on that card without prime on amazon fwiw.

> It’s usually cheaper if you can source it from the manufacturer even paying their shipping rate. This is rarely the case. In fact, it's against Amazon's policies for manufacturer/third-party listings. But I've found that even when that's the case, returns can be such a gigantic hassle it's not worth it -- getting an RMA, having to pay for return shipping, being forced to use an inconvenient shipping service of thei…

Amazon’s insistence on the prices being the same, even though they take a large cut of fulfilled by Amazon, on top of their devil-may-care practices around returns, while at the same time being so big that companies feel they have to be there for the eyeballs, have put many companies in a really bad and vulnerable position.

This is why Amazon will often tell you to just keep the item you want to return. The companies lose money on returns and need to sell 2-3 more to make it up. It’s not worth it for them to even take it back. In other cases, Amazon will blindly resell the returned product and damage a company’s reputation. I saw an instance where someone returned a children’s swim suit with poop in it, then Amazon went and re-sold it to someone, poop and all. That review tanked the whole company.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#169

Post by doublerabbit »

bombcar wrote: post #81
al_borland wrote: post #68

I cancelled Prime last year after getting fed up with Amazon in several ways. Bringing ads to Prime Video was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I do still end up ordering from time to time, and the checkout process for non-Prime members is horrific. Multiple Prime sign-up offers that I always need to carefully read so I don’t click the wrong thing, illogical default shipping options, with more tricks to try and…

Prime ain't what it used to be. Used to be reliably 2nd day delivery, by a real shipping company, and good movies added, etc. Now it's as slow as "free" delivery, by a random contractor who does God knows what to the package, and prices aren't even better than Walmart or Target on many things. The "avoid subscribing to prime" shuffle you have to do to even order anything anymore drives me away too, I only use Amazon…

Now that you can no longer read reviews without an Amazon account, I bypass all things amazon.

Re: Amazon fined $2.5B for using deceptive methods to sign up consumers for Prime

#170

Post by willis936 »

everdrive wrote: post #116
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Home Depot reuses SKUs for different products. When they fulfill an order from a local store it's a gamble if you're going to get the item you wanted. You also can't exchange those orders online and are forced to go to the same store it came from.

Best feature for home depot (and lowes) is that you can always constrain your query to the store. And when you do this, each product's page will show the the aisle and row the item is located at. (yes, I know the smartphone app will help you here but 100% of smart phone apps are bad, as are those who recommend them) Just spend a few minutes writing down your items & aisles and go visit the store. Trust me, it's bette…

I did this recently for a lawn mower that wasn't actually at the store the website said. We went to the exact location and it wasn't there. We talked to customer service and they said they could order it for us. No thanks, Home Depot.
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