Attention Amazon.com: You Have A Bunch Of Pissed Off Customers... And Some Are Blaming Techdirt
from the reading-comprehension-needs-work dept
Two years ago, we had a post entitled Look What The Search Engine Dragged In! which some people liked. It highlighted a few old Techdirt posts from the archives that were given new life, thanks to random search engine queries that drove people to Techdirt -- where they were often quite confused and acted accordingly. So, for example, there was a post from 1999 about stolen AOL passwords, which for many years was a top search result for "stealing AOL passwords" leading to hundreds of commenters asking how to get the password for someone else's AOL account. Then there was the bizarre case where a story from 2000 about a dot com millionaire using his millions to build schools in central America. Somehow, people who had come across hard times started flocking to that post in order to beg for money, even though it's hard to believe anyone could show up on that page, read the post, and not realize that no one there is giving away money, and even if they were, it was for schools in central America, not individuals relating sob stories.However, the latest such case is even more bizarre, and it's beginning to become a nuisance -- that I'm hoping Amazon.com might be willing to fix. You see, a couple years ago, Amazon.com launched a service called Amazon Prime. If you were willing to pay $79/year, you could get free 2-day shipping. It didn't seem like that great a deal to me, but I know that at least two Techdirt employees are actually happy customers of the service. I did, however, write about the program here on Techdirt -- though, if you'd asked me a week ago, I'm not sure I would have remembered writing that post.
However, a week ago, we started receiving somewhat bizarre angry emails to our feedback form complaining that we had unfairly charged the emailers' credit card for $79 and demanding that we issue an immediate refund. This was definitely odd. While we do accept credit card payments from the customers of our paid services, we certainly haven't been charging individuals' cards. After a few of these emails, we started to get concerned, and had our accounts manager try to contact a few of the irate emailers to make it clear that we had not charged their credit cards at all. Then I started to notice something. The post I did about the Amazon Prime program was getting a bunch of recent comments -- even though it was from over two years ago. Also, a lot of those comments were from people who were very, very pissed off at Amazon for charging them $79 (sound familiar?).
From there, it wasn't too difficult to piece together the rest of the story. Amazon has been aggressively pushing the Amazon Prime program lately with a brightly colored banner at the top of the checkout page and the following text: "You qualify for a FREE trial of Amazon Prime." The free trial lasts a month, but the fine print reads:
By clicking the button below, you are purchasing the item noted above (at its regular price) as well as signing up for a Free one month trial of Amazon Prime. As the trial ends, if you want to join Amazon Prime, do nothing. At that point we will enroll you in an auto-renewing, annual membership and charge a $79 annual fee. If you prefer not to upgrade to full membership, you can easily let us know at any time before your introductory membership ends, by changing your preferences in Your Account.This certainly isn't hidden, but it is the fine print, and people (especially those who might confuse Techdirt with Amazon.com) don't seem to read the fine print. People signed up for the "free" trial, forgot about it (or assumed it simply went away) and then were surprised to find a $79 charge on their credit card statements one to two months later. When they don't even remember the Amazon Prime program (or don't connect the name of the charge to it), the first thing they do is hit their search engine of choice and do a search on the name of the charge: AMZ*Prime club. If you've read this far, you know it's Amazon, but that might not be obvious at first glance. On both Google and Yahoo!, the first results lead to Techdirt. As of this post, on Google, Amazon doesn't show up in the search at all. On Yahoo, it's result #14. The reason we're listed at all is because someone wrote about it in the comments. In fact, the original post got no comments when the story first broke -- but as of this post has nearly 60 comments since last August of people complaining about the charge. Some of the comments include directions on how to get the charge removed, others demand (again) that we remove the charge ourselves (reading comprehension isn't a strong point, apparently).
All in all, it's an interesting look into a few different things. First, the oddities of search engine traffic on archived posts. Second, the reading comprehension skills of some individuals. Third, the fact that there appear to be a fair number of people who are pretty pissed off at Amazon for not being clear enough about how their Amazon Prime "free" trial works. So, in the interest of preventing us from more angry emails, Amazon.com: would you please (a) make the details of the program a lot clearer, or (even better!) not pull that sleazy "auto-enroll" crap that no one likes on your Amazon Prime testers or (b) if you insist on continuing to do so, do a little SEO work to get your own page at the top of a search for AMZ*Prime Club, so that we're not receiving the brunt of your angry customers. Thanks!
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Reader Comments
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Reading comprehension
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Re: Reading comprehension
;-)
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Re: Reading comprehension
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Re: Reading comprehension
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And to think...
Damn straight I'm scared of the idea of employers using the net to check up on potential employees. If people can't read the fine print of an online service how do you expect them to take the time to make sure the person they are considering hiring actually mactches the result(s) of a net search?
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Re: And to think...
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Re: Re: And to think...
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same deal at TechBeat
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Re: same deal at TechBeat
Seems Amazon attracts a very specific kind of people... Humm, can I say old and confused. Duh People!!
Don't hate me, I'm not implying all older folks have tech issues.. just the ones that use Amazon alone when buying on the internet.
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Re: Re: same deal at TechBeat
I have to say, the older people are the ones that worry me the most. They have no idea how the internet works, they have no idea how to use it, and they have no idea of the risks involved. Back when I did tech support, I would say that 80% of the computers with serious virus problems were from people 50+. These viruses do not just cause them problems, but they serve as hosts for the virus far longer then most other people (since they are far less likely to upgrade systems or learn about them). They are also more likely then most to end up as a zombie machine or to have their information used for ID theft.
Seriously, if you can not figure out who you are buying from online, maybe you shouldn't be buying anything at all. Call someone who knows what they are doing and ask them to explain it and to do it for you.
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Re: Re: Re: same deal at TechBeat
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Re: Re: Re: same deal at TechBeat
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Re: Re: same deal at TechBeat
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When do I get my money!
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Re: When do I get my money!
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silly
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Why give out CC# for a free service?
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service?
You know the victims (I mean, lucky customers) were most likely making a purchase at at Amazon (probably with a CC) when they were swindled...err, I mean blessed with the opportunity.
I do feel kinda sorry for the net drones that had this happen. One would think a site like Amazon would be trustworthy(ish), that's just sleazy.
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service?
(For an explanation of "free*" see http://ubersoft.net/d/20070503.html)
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service?
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Re: Why give out CC# for a free service?
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Why don't you just remove all the comments from that post?
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Responding to the irate emails
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Oh and
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Re: Oh and
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Re: Oh and
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People are idiots.
Anyway, before I get too off track I just wanted to chime in with a situation we commonly find ourselves in. I work for a financial services education company, we do not actually manage any money, but everyone thinks we do just because we run a website. In fact some people (including *certified* advisers) think that we actually are the money managers. On a regular basis, typically around tax season, we'll start to receive huge checks made out to us! Each time we have to waste our time by following up with these people and explaining to them that we don't have anything to do with their investments. The shocking thing is that almost half of these mistakes come from the advisers themselves.
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Re: People are idiots.
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People are both idiots and lazy
Same thing applies in real life. Read the fine print, or get someone else to do it for you if you're not willing to, or simply avoid the product/service entirely.
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Re: People are both idiots and lazy
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Re: People are both idiots and lazy
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Re: Re: People are both idiots and lazy
I didn't get a lawyer to read the fine print before playing World of Warcraft... and I dare say I'd point and laugh at any idiot who does. The *real* lesson is: The word "Free" is flypaper for idiots. If you *really* think you'll get that 80 gig ipod for clicking a button, you're going to get what's coming to you, and it's not a free ipod.
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Re: Re: Re: People are both idiots and lazy
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Re: Re: Re: Re: People are both idiots and lazy
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j/k :)
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Re: $ 79
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Its not Amazon's fault
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And that is why...
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Re: And that is why...
Neither do I. A local computer expert with his own call-in radio show signed up for a free trial of Video Professor after receiving numerous complaints from his listeners. The company stuck it to him just like they did to everyone else, making it nearly impossible to stop the bombardment of charges to his credit card account. He could have stopped it immediately by getting his credit card company involved, but he wanted to see what the average person without tech savvy goes through. And he could not get Video Professor to reverse the fraudulent charges.
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Re: Re: And that is why...
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Let me help
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I just wanna know - when the hell is techdirt gonna give me back my money goshdarnit!
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Re:
The first one is pretty surprising considering that these kinds of free trials, "give us your credit card upfront" deals are not new - and they had to give Amazon their CC info and specifically authorize it.
The second one is a growing problem. I've seen many blogs and boards like this. Go over to whocalled.us - where people work together to identify spam callers and you have posters, quite irately, demanding they be taken off the call list - as though they are talking to the telemarketing company. They're either too stupid or too lazy to figure out where their google search landed them - or they just assume that since it is the first result, it must be the right place.
I'll spot you one of these, but if you are a double-winner, you deserve to have all of your money taken from you until you can no longer afford internet access or a computer.
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Gotcha
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Re: Gotcha
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I like AMZ*Prime
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Read. Follow Directions.
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you jackals charged my credit card!!!!
just kidding.
i don't think that the problem has to do with idiocy as much as it has to do with not understanding the internet and how it works.
a lot of people don't understand that the world wide web is not a service provided by AOL, or google, or their companys' IT departments.
this is why phishing is so effective, most people can't determine the source, or the authenticity, of many emails and websites.
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Funny
Apparently the wrong people are online. Let's take the computer away from the stupid people and give them to the people not yet online.
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Amazon - Good Customer Service
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Another kind of moron
What we have here is many people posting to this article, and not comprehending the basis of the article itself.
This free trial from Amazon appears as a banner on the checkout page. Obviously, if you have made it to the checkout page, then you are trying to buy something. Since websites don't normally accept cash transactions, that leaves the credit card.
Nobody is giving their credit card info for a free trial, they are giving their credit card info for a purchase of some product that Amazon offers. In doing so they have also agreed to the free trial, wich is just tacked on to their order.
Please, before you post a comment please be sure you understand the article, otherwise, you're just grouping yourself in with the morons who are writing in for a refund.
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Funny
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Re:
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Anonymous Coward
I don't mean it in a mean way, it's just an observation (I kinda get that vibe from your comments) You just seem like one of those guys that spends an inordinate amount of time in front of their computer.
I don't really have a solution, but maybe getting a girlfriend would help. It would give you a break from your computer (and your hand.)
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*Idea!!* - I'll just not buy stuff from Amazon! That would solve both of those issues.
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Reading & writing skills
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"I have to say, the older people are the ones that worry me the most. They have no idea how the internet works, they have no idea how to use it, and they have no idea of the risks involved. Back when I did tech support, I would say that 80% of the computers with serious virus problems were from people 50+. .
Nice to learn, on his/her reliable research and experience, that there are no morons online under 50. Very reassuring. Quite what that has to do with the thread is a bit of a mystery, but thanks non-the-less.
Then we have this:
This is nothing new. Just about every "30-day free trial" offer ever conceived has a bill tacked onto it after the trial is over. Especially the ones that require you to give your credit card info.
Er....yes ... but Amazon didn't ask for anyone's credit card info. As has been pointed out, it was an offer to buying customers.
Peter
P.S. I came into computing rather late in life at the age of 48 - mind you that was way back in 1978. I suppose there is no hope for me. :)
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Re:
Logan's Run wasn't an entirely bad concept. j/k
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Re:
you calling me stoopid or sumptin ??/?
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Amazon Prime
well that's my two cents on the situation, as someone who actually has first hand experience...
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sheesh
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On multiple occasions in this article and its post, and I'll add one here, it has been stated that this was an offer given to people at checkout. For those of you that don't understand check out, checkout is the point where you have finished your online shopping spree and are preparing to pay for your purchase. The credit card is most likely now sitting in front of the user, ready to be given to the evil giant online retailer.
One way or the other amazon was gettng the card number, either for the purchase or the service.
Warning. Prepare for flaming in the following posts.
Also, I was one of those guys taking calls for Video Professor. Contrary to what janine writes, the charges were not fraudulant. Numerus times in during the sale it is stated that the customer will be charged $79 if they do not return at leas one of the cd's within 10 days.
The problem here is that the script is and subsequent sale is worded in such a way as to be very confusing to the caller. I don't think I ever had one caller who was really comfortable with the sale, but only about 1 in five people actually aske questins to clarify the details. Once those simple questions are asked it becomes apparent what will happen and the sale is dead.
This is not an uncommon practice. 99% of the infomercials you see on television come with an offer for something else. This is often hidden in the sale or worded in such a way as to be misleading.
While having above average reading comprehension skills myself (not bragging) I cactch on to these things the first time I read the script.
A word of advice Most infomercial sale tactics are ILLEGAL!! The most common tactic used is called "bait-and-switch". You are offered one product and sold another for a higher price. Unfortunately companies get by with this because there are relatively small percentages of complaints. If more people would report incidents like this to the bbb we would not be in this situation.
OK. enough of my rant. Any bets on how many people still don't get the post?
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As a web designer...
Even if .05% of your customers are retards, it can easily add up to be a couple thousand people.
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i guess my novel of a post was too long. they want to review it firs.
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I totally avoid "free" trials, but reading the fine print on how to avoid these come-ons really causes one to have a miserable shopping experience. Theoretically Amazon would want its customers to have a pleasant experience, but I guess there are enough morons out there who fall for these offers thereby making these unethical business practices profitable. Too bad.
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Not A Bad Deal
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People expect Live/Google/Yahoo/etc to bring up the page that they want as the first result, a musunderstanding of how search engines work. They see that result come up, and immediatly decide that if Google feels that it is the most relevent result, then it must be the originator of the charge.
I would be willing to bet that these are the same people who think Bill Gates will send them $10 if they forward an email to 5 friends.
Gullible people make themselves look like fools in real life too, it's just faster on the internet.
As for Amazon Prime, I am extremely happy with it. I just ordered a new grill which weighs enough that 2 people have to carry it. Shipping on that item alone would have added up to more than a Prime membership for a year. If you are just ordering books and small items, and taking advantage of super saver shipping, then there is no incentive, but if you are making large purchases, then it pays for itself easily. Back when I had my free trial (they were 4 months at that time), I knew full well that if I didn't cancel it, I would be charged, and I am pretty sure they even contacted me before the free subscription was up.
Remember, a full 50% of the people in the world have below average intelligence (this isn't technically true, but whatever).
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google bomb
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Morons...
LOL that is one of my favorite posts from the previous topic on Amazon prime shipping. How hard is it to click 'Help' on Amazon's homepage, look to the right of your screen, and see "Talk to Customer Support by Phone"
Someone else mentioned a class action lawsuit against Amazon for fraud. Can we all band together for a class action lawsuit against all those morons who posted to that blog? Maybe we can get their computers permanently taken away...
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1-800-201-7575
1-206-266-2992
I have trouble understanding how people cannot understand what a Free Trial is. This is not something new that came along with the Internet; businesses have been using them for decades. Free trails always turn into paid services if you don't cancel the service during the trial (unless you haven't given the company in question your credit card number). This is not at all a shady business practice in and of itself. Some companies have free trials and then ignore cancellations - that's a shady business practice.
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Re:
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Teach 'em young
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Regardless...
Amazon seems a little technically-challenged. SEO is something every web dev should know... that's pretty sad that a company Am4z0n's size can't complete the basics.
Amazon blows now IMO. See, even people who weren't charged the $79 now think Amazon sucks just becuz of this issue.
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Re: Regardless...
How does this hurt Amazon? These morons think Techdirt is responsible. If I worked at Amazon (and had no soul, but maybe the latter goes along with the former), I sure wouldn't be rushing to make sure these morons knew it was Amazon's fault.
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Double sleazy
If the service was good, people would pay for it, rather than needing to be tricked into a auto-renew situation.
But, companies count on the fact that a large percentage of the customers will forget to cancel. That's easy money for them! Sure, some customers will want refunds or maybe even file chargebacks, but more money will come in next month from even more customers who forgot to cancel.
Second, I can see how the "AMZ*Prime" charge could confuse people. Why didn't it say "Amazon.com Prime" so people would know it came from Amazon.com? Is it because the credit card companies only allow so many characters to be printed on the statment, which then forces merchants to use cryptic characters instead of their full real name?
On the other hand, isn't there any kind of contact information next to the "AZM*Prime" charge- maybe a phone number or address? Why are so many people asking TechDirt for a refund when they could call that number or simply call their bank to track down the charge?
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amazon
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AMZ*Prime Club
IF I clicked on an ad, it was to kill it(though that often opens these obtrusive ads).
What is most distressing to me is that I NEVER use the credit card to which Amazon billed the charge. I will call Amazon and give them an earful!
I HATE Amazon and will never do business with them (I rarely do anyway).
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AMZ*Prime Club
If I remember correctly, from my course in contract law at Bernard Baruch College of the City University of New York, that this means that the contract is voidable at my option.
There must be agreement by both parties to the terms of a contract.
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I just got hit!!!
I don't like programs that "automatically" enroll you for the full program. To me it's a dterent anyway. i guess i should have been smarter. Gotta dash and check there are no more pendings to cancel.
cheers
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not so obvious
Interestingly, I signed on to my Amazon account after visiting this blog and tried to "manage my prime club account" but I am not enrolled according to them. So why the heck am I being charged $79? This is not directed at Tech Dirt. I am simply sticking up for those of us who are not technologically incompentent, actually can read (degree from a good university in English) and got duped anyway. Amazon is not so innocent as some like to think.
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AMZ prime club
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amazon prime
Furthermore I cannot believe people are not more careful about free trials, I hate to go economics 101 on you (I REALLY HATE it), but one of the first things we learn is that free things don't exist someone pays for it. Online retailers love this, expecting people to forget and then when you complain, all they have to say is read the terms you clicked and agreed to.
I enrolled in the amazon prime, I needed to get something before I went on vaction in like 3 days, first thing I did, I found out how to cancel and imo amazon makes it easy, you don't even have to call! Anyway I went to the page, clicked on the box so that prime would not be automatically charged to my credit card, and that was that. It's 2 months later, I've been keeping up with my credit card charges and no charge. It took 5 minutes. Read people!
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I'm not stupid I swear
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Amazon Prime
Ron
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Amazon Prime
them to delete my account and all my personal info, mainly
the CC #'s. No longer going to do business with them.
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That ain't all...
So I found another vendor of the same item. Shipping policy: $4.49 per SHIPMENT. Placing one item into cart: $5.29 !!!
Wonder how many other vendors are perpetrating this kind of fraud on Amazon.com's site. Wonder how many thousands of dollars a day people get screwed out of (illegally, I might add...). It helped to finally push my trust in Amazon over the edge.
FYI: The first vendor is APlusSmile (they never returned my emails when I pointed out the error), and the second is SmileMedic. Avoid them if you can.
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AMZ*Prime Club
JOR
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Amazon Prime
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Re: Amazon Prime
No you should compound your mistake by bringing in a lawyer, which will automatically cost you more than $79.. I doubt someone with your level of comprehension can afford to do this for "the principle".
A clue to everyone if a free trial asks for a credit number, 99/100 times it automatically becomes a paid service at the end of the trial period. This is not a new phenomenon, it has been the way the world has worked since at least the 1970's. (10 records for 1 cent ring a bell to anyone)).
People need to grow up and take responsibility for their own stupidity.
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Re: Re: Amazon Prime
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Amazon Prime
Fury is unnecessary: Soon as I found it was Amazon Prime, I went to the website, logged in, found the cancellation button through the Help FAQs, cancelled, had my notice of cancellation in ten minutes, and in another two minutes had a promise that in two days the charge would be deleted from my credit card.
To correct some of the record above: the "application" was just a box-check while ordering, which did not solicit credit card information. If you didn't read the contract, which I did not, then Amazon Prime took your membership fee from the card used for the purchase.
So now you want to know why I didn't read the contract? Easy: last year Amazon ran what looked like the same offer, without automatic membership billing. I had used that offer and had shipped one box free without joining.
Amazon runs its business honestly, near as I can tell, and letting me off the credit card hook for pushing two buttons, and even getting a pleasant [automated] note from them, that's way ahead of the three or four unsolved problems I've had with Microsoft in the last ten years.
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thanks for this!@
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As for those who think they got "duped", they probably deserve to learn a $79 lesson.
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Re:
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AMZ*Prime Club
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Why does it have to be auto deduct??
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Hold it right there
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Prime Club
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Prime Club
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Ghetto Booty
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Amazon Prime
I percieve that Amazon.com mislead me. I will not be so stupid with them from now on! They have earned my distrust.
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...
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AMZ Prime Charges
And secondly, from when I took contract law, I always thought that there must be consent from both parties before a contract is enforced. Negative affirmation (i.e. 'if you don't reply, I will consider it a yes and the contract goes ahead') does not count, which appears to be the equivalent of what Amazon has done.
On a final note though, I do think it is pretty funny that people are e-mailing techdirt demanding a refund. Contact Amazon and they will be more than happy to refund your money provided you have not used AMZ prime services.
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Duped by Amazon
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AMZ Prime Club
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AMZ scam
Next question: is there any way to get out of this $79 charge now that it's already in place?
Anne Dhu McLucas
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Amazon Prime rip-off
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AMZ Prime Club
Kulwant Madan
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AMZ* Prime Club
THANKS AGAIN FOR THE INFO!!!!!
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AMZ PRIME CLUB
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Amazon and auto enrol tricks
I don't blame the customers for being misled. These sites are designed to mislead people so it is not surprising they catch a few fish in their nets.
Why do the companies say "Free" when they have no intention of giving something away? I think it is a form of fraud to advertise something for free and then take clicking on the "free button" as implied consent. It's a ridiculous practice. The only reason people like us are not caught in these scams is because we know that they are scams. Usually we had to learn the hard way too.
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Been charged and want a refund
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And this is end of February!
It's too late to cancel and get a full refund because I bought $5 book with
Amazon Prime (even though I didn't know that at all)
finally, I can get $46 refund, better than nothing!
Thanks Amazon!
No more business with you!
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$79 free shipping
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Re: $79 free shipping
I had selected not to auto renew. I lost $103.36.
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pissed off
about unauthorized purchases being made on my card. I think
promotion like this could cause them to loose a lot of loyal customers. If I go back to Amazon and still see this promotion there, I will cancel my account with Amazon.
Thanks for lettting me vent my anger.
Yours truly,
Wayne Clark
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prime member shipping question?
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Amazon giving out credit card information
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NO AUTO RENEWAL SELECTED BUT AMAZON PRIME TOOK MY MONEY ANYWAY, CHARGING SECONDARY CARD!
Amazon reps have lied and said they gave the refund, it was in my bank, that the bank is holding the money and that my bank is lying to me. They said the refund had "Succeeded", which I guess means it was a successful robbery of my assets. Either way, they were not truthful.
My bank says Amazon has not put through the transaction and that they could not see any pending refund. They issued a credit, but it fell off after they investigated it and found no refund was ever issued by Amazon and the Prime account is now "Closed".
Long story short, they auto renewed an account with no auto renewal selected, charged an unauthorized card and then lied about the refund.
Isn't Amazon rich enough without STEALING from it's customers? The Transaction ID they gave me to give my bank was even erroneous.
These big companies are taking over the world and will destroy honest dealing. I am sick of these problems!
Amazon has since admitted the errors were "GLITCHES" in the "SYSTEM". But by holding these monies, and collecting interest on the funds for four, five, ten or twelve days to thousands of customers, they could be raking in millions on our hard-earned dollars.
I hope the DOJ or someone in the government steps in and stops this practice. They still have my $103.36 and now I am wondering if I will ever see it. What a scheme they have going on!
What am I going to do? See an attorney at $400.00 an hour to get back $103.36...No! Smart people;those Amazon executives. I believe this will be the new "ENRON". They can take the bonuses off the sweat of our brows!
I hope to someday get my refund, but in the meantime, I hope somebody in Washington is paying attention or cares.
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Amazon Prime
My biggest problem though is that there is no warning that it is coming through. I have one debit account that I use for internet transactions and a few local low dollar purchases. The account has no bounce protection so if a charge like Amazon Prime comes in and the well is dry I never know about it. However, if I transfer money into that account to cover an upcoming purchase or an electric bill payment or such and then the Prime charge comes through there is insufficient money left to cover the payment I was intending to make. So far they haven't turned off the electricity but it could happen.
This time I caught it but when I first saw the Amazon charge I was trying to figure out what I had purchased. I finally noticed the "prime" noted on the charge but I was still confused because it was $99 not the $79 I expected.
Why can't they give us warning that it is coming out and how much. At the increased fee I may not figure it's worth it anymore.
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must watch this video exposes amazon ty
dale
corbett
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must watch this video exposes amazon ty
dale
corbett
https://youtu.be/LAk3U2PlMCo
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I found a gem
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Mad at Amazon Prime
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amazon,etc etc
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$99 Amazon Charge
The only way to avoid it . . . after you make your purchase and it's shipped, delete your credit card. If there's no open credit card, they have nothing to charge.
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Dosen't matter.
If you make your intention crystal clear, half the customers will raise hell about you talking down to them. If you talk to them like adults, half will have a temper tantrum.
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Amazon is at it again!
IE: Amazon is now selectively auto clicking the "Recurring" purchases radio button, while completing a business purchase. This is not an accident, as the Amazon agent I talked with suggestion that this was simply an error, and that this button should not be pre-checked for its business customers.
So then the detail of what's going. I presume, and I suspect, that at this point because this has happened to me multiple times in the past 12 months, that It's best customers are being hassled with this "Auto Clicked" recurring purchases on such items that Amazon has predetermend that a customer may need several of these items per month on going from the time that you click the purchase button.
Bottom line: unless the business customer is extremely diligent, when they make a simple purchase that Amazon has allready "signed up the buyers" with an automatic month to month ongoing purchases of an item without being aware that's what they've done. Because Amazon has choosen that for you by simply placing the "dot" in the circle for auto orders in the future.
Therefore: Let it be known (because I've already advised them that this tactic is not acceptable by me and my business). Nobody, or business has the legal right to auto purchase for you or your company, without your companies consent.
Now as a buyer on Amazon I must pay close attention to this when we make purchases, in essence the business customer must now be on the lookout for auto checking by Amazon, on the Radio Buttom, Auto Purchase, and I must now uncheck this button, or otherwise monthly purchases will be in in effect from that purchasing event, until the time that call off the dogs at Amazon.
As an example: (Not Sure it will happen to you, because your not me or my account as signed in) Look at a six pack of 123 Energizer batteries, # ASIN B0036QL1JY... that's Amazons Assigned Number. and for me the Auto purchase button is prechecked for me and my company for future automatic monthly purchases.
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