Over the festive period, many people will have taken to using internet shopping. However, Labour Councillors are warning people to be aware of some of the easy mistakes that can be made whilst shopping online and are urging local residents to check they have not fallen into the trap of signing up for additional services by accident.
Labour Councillors say that during the Christmas break, it emerged that some local people had discovered that online retailer, Amazon, had charged them £79 for their Amazon Prime service. These customers claim they didn’t realise they had signed up for the service until a much later date.
The issue was brought to the attention of B&NES Labour Councillors when a local resident mentioned that in December she had noticed a £79 charge from Amazon on a bank statement, reading ‘Amazon Prime’. The resident told Councillors that she had made many purchases via Amazon during the Christmas period, but none for that amount of money. When she did some research, it turned out that she had opted for the Amazon Prime service, but says she had no recollection of doing so.
The Amazon Prime service provides unlimited one-day delivery on Amazon products, plus digital photo storage and free access to films and TV programmes. A subscription to Amazon Prime can be triggered when a customer clicks on the button agreeing to a 24 hour delivery service – this automatically starts an annual £79 subscription fee for a thirty day free trial.
Cllr John Bull, Paulton Ward, commented: “I think it is reasonable to expect a multi-billion pound company to make the charges clearer on their website. Our advice to consumers is, if you have used Amazon for shopping, check your bank and credit card statements. If you have accidentally signed up – get in touch with Amazon, as we are told they do offer refunds.”
Jenni Kinnear, a local resident from Timsbury, commented: “This also happened to me a few years ago, so I contacted Amazon and made a fuss. In the end, they refunded me, so I advise others to do the same if they have been caught out. It was lucky I noticed the charge at all, as it came out months after the actual purchase. I expect many other people might not notice.”
Labour Councillors say they are interested to hear from people in the area
who have been affected by emailing: [email protected]
Before Christmas local people were warned about choosing the same day delivery service from Amazon, as towns and villages in B&NES, as well as areas such as Frome and the south of Bath were not included in the delivery radius for same day delivery.