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FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

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Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#181

Post by taude »

scrum-treats wrote: post #127
timmytokyo wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that Amazon is mostly low quality drop-shipped garbage from fake brands like KULUZU and PORKTI, fast and cheap shipping are about the only thing they have going for them. If that's gone, what's left?

I would say, new "lows" are in store for Amazon. Amazon is now requiring customers to file police reports in order to have any chance at refunds now. Customer Service spews tons of lies, customers half-heartedly believe in good faith, and then get screwed. Customers then take to social media forums such as Reddit to request help and to vent. Instead they are met with Amazon employees who gaslight them further. Again,…

Not to defend amazon, but at least in the US, they have a awesome return policy. It's even easy to just scan and drop-off at UPS/WF, etc...

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#182

Post by adoxyz »

registeredcorn wrote: post #137
JohnFen wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I stopped using Amazon a couple of years ago and haven't missed it even a little bit. They're not substantially better than most others.

Would you mind listing a few alternatives you use? I generally try to avoid Amazon when I can, but have had problems finding a general good site. In case anyone is wondering what I use, here's a short list: Computer/electronics, I visit Newegg. (I haven't been thrilled with them moving into other areas like Auto parts, etc. but they seem alright for the time being.) Hardware or similar, I go with Tractor Supply Co, H…

Honestly so many Amazon items are literally Aliexpress drop shipped items. For most results when you get a random brand name like XYZKA, DKSJD, etc. if you search for that product on Ali, you'll find it at 1/5th the cost and it's literally the same exact item.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#183

Post by [deleted] »

0xffff2 wrote: post #163
wand3r wrote: post #89

Tangential: Does anyone have a good alternative to privacy.com? I really don't want to use Plaid to integrate but I basically need disposable/controllable cards for online purchases because so many places have poor security and dark patterns.

Even if there was a privacy.com alternative (I'm not aware of one), they would almost certainly use Plaid. As far as I can tell it's the financial-institution-backed industry standard these days.

[deleted]

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#184

Post by denton-scratch »

JohnFen wrote: post #66
ekianjo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The whole Amazon.com experience has been getting worse and worse as the years go by. Maybe, but they are still miles better than most other online shops, so they still get to grow. Just for the return policy, they are kind of worth it.

I disagree. I stopped using Amazon a couple of years ago and haven't missed it even a little bit. They're not substantially better than most others.

DOP San Marzano tomatoes. Sometimes Amazon is the only place I can find them.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#186

Post by badRNG »

Dwolb wrote: post #145

Slight OT, but wow. What an example of how local optimizations within an organization can destroy long term customer value. Many comments below discuss how Amazon has lost customer trust through these practices. Most likely the PM or business lead was praised at the time for the short term revenue bump gained from these dark patterns.

> What an example of how local optimizations within an organization can destroy long term customer value.

It's not clear that they haven't profited more by having people retain prime through these patterns than they have lost through losing consumer trust.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#187

Post by whoknew1122 »

burkaman wrote: post #26
PaulHoule wrote: post #2

I wouldn't say the process of unsubscribing from Prime is 'deceptive' but it sure has many steps. They tried just about everything to persuade me to stay except offer to bring back two day shipping. (I know many of you in urban areas are getting one day shipping but those of us in less favored geographies, such as the same ZIP code as AMZN warehouses, have seen two day shipping turn into five, which makes Amazon unco…

The complaint says they internally called the cancellation process "the Iliad Flow". See page 43 for a full description: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/amazon-rosca-pu...

Disclosure: Work for AWS. My only experience with Prime is as a customer (and the odd beta for new types of programming).

I wouldn't read much into the internal names of things at Amazon. They're picked at random by nerds. I've seen apps internally named after space, Dragon Ball Z, Lord of the Rings, coffee and candy, etc. I'm pretty sure I've used another, completely different thing that's also called Iliad.

It's not malicious. It's just one of those Amazon things that make working there sometimes a chore.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#188

Post by suddenclarity »

nobody9999 wrote: post #88
nceqs3 wrote: post #37

Wild the FTC isn't suing the NYTimes, WSJ, or every other paid news outlet for far more egregious cancellation process practices. Almost as if the FTC is a political weapon.

>Wild the FTC isn't suing the NYTimes, WSJ, or every other paid news outlet for far more egregious cancellation process practices. Almost as if the FTC is a political weapon. I'd posit that suing news organizations would be perceived as more political than a retailer. Or am I missing something important here?

> Or am I missing something important here?

Probably because newspapers are notorious to be the worst of the worst when trying to cancel free deals that automatically turn into expensive memberships.

Common methods are to only allow cancellation through telephone and only have open during work hours when most people can't call. If you manage to get hold of a human being, then you'll have to spend an hour arguing before they accept your cancellation. Then, even if you manage to get through it, you're missing the paper trail so the newspaper can just claim you changed your mind.

As late as yesterday, the Swedish Consumer Agency published a report on the issue.

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#189

Post by bluepod4 »

scrum-treats wrote: post #114

As someone who managed to successfully cancel Prime, and then tried to purchase an item on amazon.com, it took me over a minute to figure out how to not accidentally sign up for Prime membership when trying to checkout. There was only one place I could click that would allow me to advance to the next screen (simple text), the text was super small placed below a giant image, and my cursor didn't change to indicate tha…

> It's not free shipping, it's not free grocery delivery, it's not Music or Video, it's not discount prices on Amazon retail website, and it is most certainly not any assurance of authentic goods.

FWIW, I use it for Prime Video, Prime First Reads ((where you can choose from 1-2 free books per month)) and Prime Reading.

A long time ago, I did use it for faster delivery. There was definitely a difference. But the items I tend to order now are usually heavily stocked and are delivered quickly anyway.

I wonder if people who live in rural areas are still benefitting from faster Prime delivery.

(Also, no offense, but I canceled my annual Prime subscription when they upped the price and then restarted a monthly plan later when I decided I did want to keep the other benefits. It wasn’t as difficult as you’re making it seem to cancel. And it didn’t seem any different than when I cancel other services where they try to get you to stay.)

(Also, I’m not sure if you were aware, but technically you can split the cost with multiple people (i.e. friends or relatives) if you set up an Amazon Household account)

(Also, interestingly, it looks like you can ((in certain countries I think)) just subscribe to Prime Video instead of the whole service. I guess Kindle Unlimited can be considered a separate ((and slightly better)) service for Prime Reading. Hmmmmmmm, maybe I will cancel the whole service.)

Re: FTC sues Amazon over ‘deceptive’ Prime sign-up and cancellation process

#190

Post by dboreham »

denton-scratch wrote: post #184
JohnFen wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I stopped using Amazon a couple of years ago and haven't missed it even a little bit. They're not substantially better than most others.

DOP San Marzano tomatoes. Sometimes Amazon is the only place I can find them.

Costco now has them.
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