I remember the old days when there was no Prime membership and Amazon used to ship everything the day it was ordered and it would normally arrive the following day at no extra cost.

They rewarded their loyal customers by then sitting on the products for days before shipping them unless you gave them more of your money on a regular monthly basis with a thing called Prime …. basically just corporate greed at the expense of their customers.

A couple of times recently I’ve not been logged in and have seen a product at one price and it says “Delivery at no extra cost for Prime Members” … you then log in and find it is available but at a higher price in essence to pay for the next day delivery which is meant to be included with prime at no extra cost.

Occasionally it’s been from a different seller but more and more it’s stated as sold and dispatched by Amazon so they have no excuse for the difference in cost and the hidden shipping fees which you’ve already paid for.

I’ve copied and paste both links but if you’re not logged in as a Prime member you can’t see that the higher cost one is with prime delivery so below the links as I can’t see how to attach and it / can’t copy and paste pictures in here there’s a link to a document where I’ve screenshot what I’m referring to.

Interested to hear what others thoughts and experiences are but it just seems to me that if you’re loyal and pay them a monthly subscription they then just rip you off …. what a despicable way to reward your loyal customers … surely this is blatant fraud isn’t it unless I’ve somehow misunderstood … in which case I’d be eager to understand where I’ve gone wrong?

Link to screenshot version
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2tkk65kt1vscl74/AABU3S_sk8kNY_QTeOfyNQSma?dl=0

You are a customer. They are a business. It’s your choice to use them or not use them.

basically just corporate greed at the expense of their customers.

Large corporation extracts as much revenue as possible from customers shocker!

Same day delivery often costs extra even with Prime, I think that’s what you’ve got selected there. Maybe it sets that by default if available.
See if you can get it next day delivery for £54.99 only?

Aren’t they different phones, one with answer phone one without?

I think it’s safe to assume anything Amazon does is to maximise their profit or increase their market dominance – it’s not for the benefit of the consumer (although some things may also benefit the consumer). That’s true of many companies though.

You’re right that Prime is far from as good a deal as it might first seem and shady stuff like higher prices on items that offer Prime delivery does exist, along with a lot of other stuff that IMO should be illegal but it isn’t so at the end of the day you have to decide whether the convenience of using Amazon outweighs the implicit approval of their business practices that comes along with it.

is that not just 2 different sellers with different prices?

cheaper one looks like 1-2 weeks delivery even with prime. dearer one looks like same day delivery?

If so, I don’t really see the problem? You can still get the cheaper one on prime if you are willing to wait a bit?

There was a programme on telly, I think it was on last night channel 4? “The truth about amazon”. I saw a preview where some people were shocked the reviews aren’t real 😆

As said, you can choose to use them or not. You don’t even have to get off your arse to “shop around” these days. And a lot of folk are still too lazy to do it. So Amazon are going to take advantage of that, naturally.

plus tbh first result after searching is next day for £54.99 for me.

Same price (54.99) logged in and out for me for the first item (the second doesn’t seem to have a prime option? )

A bit cheaper for a refurb of the second one if you want.

I pay more per month for Netflix and they don’t even deliver anything.
I pay more per month for Sky movies too.
And Spotify.

Amazon Prime is worth it for me even if I never ordreed a single product.

That screen shot is for two different items. Possibly from different sellers.

If there were for the same item then I would expect the number of reviews and ‘questions answered’ to be the same.

They also have different RRP of £69.99 Vs £59.99.

If you are looking for the cheapest price, then there appears to be some manufacturer refurbished ones with 12 month warranty on eBay for £34.99 Inc delivery.

I pay more per month for Netflix and they don’t even deliver anything.

Nor do they charge extra to watch the good films 😉

that is very obviously 2 different products 🙄
don’t think anything in the OP is actually correct

I save more than the cost of prime annually by not having to drive to a post office or depot to pick something up, add in the time saving by not having to be in for a parcel plus them usually being the cheapest (or very close) then it’s value for money for me. Add I the stuff on prime video and it’s a good deal for me personally. It’s actually been a godsend over the last few months as I can buy and get delivered things direct to my parents pretty much straight away, perfect for when they have to isolate or have other issues meaning they can’t get out themselves.

If you don’t like it then just don’t pay for it.

They rewarded their loyal customers by then sitting on the products for days before shipping them unless you gave them more of your money on a regular monthly basis with a thing called Prime …. basically just corporate greed at the expense of their customers.

Prime is a Video subscription service with some discounted delivery, isn’t it?

you then log in and find it is available but at a higher price in essence to pay for the next day delivery which is meant to be included with prime at no extra cost.

Is that still the case? Sometimes it’s just free, sometimes it’s free next day.

To be honest, the idea that everything was honest and decent in the good old days and now it’s rampant corporate greed is a bit mythical. Amazon have always been the same – a business trying (and succeeding) to make money. But as far as corporate greed goes – they want to make money just like you or I or indeed everyone else. As said above – you don’t like the terms don’t shop there.

‘Corporate greed’ as an issue relates to practises far more shady and less obvious than this. It’s about how big companies treat their workers, the environment, and how they get authorities to benefit them. It’s got nothing to do with ‘loyal’ customers. They don’t care about how you feel – sorry to burst your bubble!

FWIW I don’t see next day on that phone, only Friday delivery. I guess it’s got something to do with logistics, some of you are probably closer to the depot than I am. Under the listed benefits of Prime it says this:

Not all delivery speeds are available for all items or all addresses.

More info here https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201910490

Was Prime music always a separate thing or is it more recent? I used to be able to select some music from my Echo but now tells me I need a different subscription, which I’m not going to buy.

unless I’ve somehow misunderstood this in which case I’d be eager to understand where I’ve gone wrong?

As noted above, the products are different prices, because they are different products.
The same product is available at the same price.

and the second option was for delivery the same day, if you don’t think amazon offer good service, you could always look for other companies that offer a same day delivery option and use them ?

Do people still buy that old technology stuff ?

Was Prime music always a separate thing or is it more recent? I used to be able to select some music from my Echo but now tells me I need a different subscription, which I’m not going to buy.

You get Amazon Music with Prime, but you probably want Music Unlimited cos it’s better. But the prime included one is another decent perk of Prime tbh.

I think the bigger question here, anyhow, is, why do you still have a house phone? 😆

I think the bigger question here, anyhow, is, why do you still have a house phone?

Not one, but two.

Need to make sure that you don’t miss that all important “accident that wasn’t your fault” call whilst on the loo.

If you are only a Prime member for the faster/cheaper delivery then you are probably not getting very good value for money.

But if you have it for things like Prime Video, unlimited photo storage and Prime Reading as well as the fast delivery and early access to deals then it becomes a much better deal.

Do people still buy that old technology stuff ?

Top reply so far (need a smiley)

Actually I stand corrected they are different products one does have the answer machine and the other doesn’t!

Quite a few people saying the same day or next day delivery is the reason for different prices … this just seems to be location dependent, if I put my daughters University address in she’ll often get same day delivery I guess it’s just closer to a depot …. I switch the delivery to the home address and the price doesn’t change but the delivery becomes next instead of same day.

I don’t mind these business practices too much. Nothing is free so getting fast delivery or whatever will cost the company and they pass the costs onto you. If you want that then pay for it, if you are happy without the extras then you don’t have to pay for it. Same with Ryan Air and the like. If anything it’s actually more open and ethical and the old ways where extra costs were hidden in the bottom line.

As for Prime specifically I only ever get it occasionally for a month when I need something delivered quickly and the sub is the same as postage. You then get free (admittedly pretty poor) TV for a while. Its very easy to cancel and they even give you money back if you cancel early sometimes. There’s a lot not to like about Amazon but I don’t think this is one of those things.

Is it just me, or is the prime video offer just really bad. There’s very little decent content, mostly bad dated movies or really bad series of random channel 5 style stuff. It’s like going into a video shop in the 90’s! Plus it heavily prioritises things you have to then pay more for to rent, and add to that the UX is horrific using the TV app, I do remember the stick being slightly better to use.

I think we’ve watched 2 things on it in the last year, probably the same the year before.

Delivery is ok, but again not that much that you want is on the prime offer.

Delivery is ok, but again not that much that you want is on the prime offer.

We use Amazon a LOT (even more since lockdown(s) started) and almost never order/need anything that isn’t available in Prime offer.
Can’t remember the last time it happened tbh

I remember the old days when there was no Prime membership and Amazon used to ship everything the day it was ordered and it would normally arrive the following day at no extra cost

I don’t remember that – when I started using Amazon (and they only sold books…) it was never that fast. The big selling point of Prime was precisely that – quick and “free” shipping. (Free as in pre-paid, clearly). I do agree it seems to have gone downhill, where it used to cover all products that’s progressively been reduced, or the number of excluded products has increased more.

My only real issues with Amazon are the way it treats its workers, and possibly the amount of packaging used. And indirectly I have an issue with the EU allowing Ireland to get away with those ridiculously low corporate taxes, which screws it up for the rest of us.

Is it just me, or is the prime video offer just really bad.

can’t agree with that, there’s loads of great stuff on there, also some of their original content is excellent (The Boys, Jack Ryan, Bosch is apparently v good)
Agree the UI is shite tho 😀

Prime Video has a reasonable selection of stuff with a reasonable discount on delivery costs if you regularly buy stuff from the amazon warehouse. However, the UI is donkey balls in the sense that it seems to do “more of what you just watched”. Sometimes I like to broaden the gene pool you know? It doesn’t encourage that.

Netflix seems more betterer value if you want films and video.

Sky is lots more and still charges to watch the newer/better films.

They sell a kabillion items from thousands of different sellers, of course sometimes Prime isn’t the best option.

But, it is reliably the best Amazon, new item option which is all you can really ask.

Prime Video is OK, with a few gems but also a lot of padding – mind you Netflix isn’t much different (apart from there not being additional charges). Apple TV+ is worse though and Disney+ is basically The Mandolorian + the film back catalogue. My biggest issue with Prime Video is the UI and it often showing you the non-UHD option so you need to search for the title to get the UHD option.

As for the program about Amazon that was on last night, I didn’t catch all of it but it wasn’t as simple as “shock, horror some reviews are fake”. It highlighted a fair few things (I was aware of the reviews no longer being for the product on same when the seller had changed the product but I wasn’t aware some sellers basically just stole reviews from other sellers – at least not to the extent that one cable adaptor went from 5000+ reviews and average 4.6 rating to 0 reviews once reported to Amazon and they removed the stolen ones…). It’s pretty pathetic some of the stuff Amazon just lets happen – a lot would be very easy to stop if Amazon developed simple systems to combat it but they obviously have little interest currently in doing that.

You are a customer. They are a business. It’s your choice to use them or not use them.

But that’s not the OP’s point (although they clearly got the products wrong, but I can understand what they are trying to say). The point is that Amazon Prime is possibly fraudulently claiming things like ‘Free for Prime’ or inflating the base cost for the same product if selected using the Prime feature.

For example, yesterday I wanted some straw for our rabbit (Pets at Home had sold out).

I can get this for £7.13 with free delivery (but it will take a few days to arrive) but if I get it using Prime then it is £10.60 and next day.

I think it’s a bargain, the service is excellent and stuff arrives every time, on time. Rarely a day goes by when we don’t order something on amazon.

One is sold and delivered by another company using amazon as a storefront (and might not make it to you until next month)

The other is sold and delivered by Amazon and will be delivered tomorrow.

if that is the best example of “possible fraudulent” claims, I’m not really seeing an issue.

One is sold and delivered by another company using amazon as a storefront (and might not make it to you until next month)

The other is sold and delivered by Amazon and will be delivered tomorrow.

if that is the best example of “possible fraudulent” claims, I’m not really seeing an issue.

But they are both being purchased via Amazon – what is the point of having Prime to get quicker delivery times when they are charging a premium for the product over buying from another source on the same platform at a cheaper price. If not fraudulent, it’s still highly unfair.

Also, take a look at the Ratings and Questions – they are identical – so it is the same listing, just altered the source for the despatch. I bet that if I was to order the ‘Prime’ one it would be despatched from the same source as the other.

I’ve experienced the exact opposite. Sometimes when I log in, the price as a Prime member is lower. I also get to watch The Expanse while waiting for it to arrive.

But they are both being purchased via Amazon – what is the point of having Prime to get quicker delivery times when they are charging a premium for the product over buying from another source on the same platform at a cheaper price.

Prime is for products and services from Amazon, not for third party suppliers selling via Amazon. Only you can decide if it’s good value or a rip off… don’t have Prime if you don’t think it’s good value. There are often third party suppliers that are cheaper, even when taking into account postage charges. There are also other ways to buy that could be even cheaper still (at least for now).

The point is that Amazon Prime is possibly fraudulently claiming things like ‘Free for Prime’ or inflating the base cost for the same product if selected using the Prime feature.

@johndoh that isn’t what happens though, ever. In your example, yes it’s the same product but from a different supplier. Amazon is a marketplace as well as them selling goods themselves – the marketplace sellers set their own prices & delivery terms. (Often they are cheaper but with longer delivery times as you note.)

On prime you get The Expanse for free. Thats worth it alone.