I cancelled Amazon Prime after having it for 13 years

[Jar Jar Stinks]

I looked at my shopping patterns and there were only a few months where I bought items that wouldn't have qualified for free shipping.

There might be good stuff to watch on Amazon Prime, but the navigation of their videos sucks. It's like work trying to find something good to watch.

I'll probably buy Prime for a month around the holidays, but I'm going to see if I can live without it.

That $120 per year membership fee is a big hit that I don't feel like paying this year. Watch out Costco... you might be next.

[JurassicBD]

Haven't technically cancelled yet, but I we disabled the auto-renew several months back. $120 is just ridiculous for their SHARPLY declining service quality and the fact that the deals just aren't there like they used to be. I still think changing from a low cost leader to a place for people who are willing to pay 25-50% more just for convenience, will eventually backfire. And considering their second HQ is starting to look like just another expensive publicity stunt, combined with the decline in service and higher prices, you gotta wonder...

Not even sure if we'll subscribe for a month during the Holidays either, since amazon isn't really pushing Black Friday anymore. They're trying to make "Prime Day" the new BF, at least that's when they had their best deals last year, not that it was better than what most others did for actual BF. We currently average about 3 orders per week from amazon. Most of our new release movies come from Target or BB, and DD has been getting most of our catalog orders, but amazon is still good for occasional BD buys and stuff that's gotten impossible to find locally, at least with 2 day (realistically 3-4 day) shipping. If we've got to wait a week or more, we'll probably order someplace online that's cheaper. So, our amazon purchases are set to decline to 3 per month at most, once our membership ends. We've even debated telling them to close our account, just to make a statement. But, as big as they are, it wouldn't have any affect, unless people started closing their accounts by the thousands. We've been prime members since the first year they started the program, whenever that was and had an account with them since the late 90's, though we never used it much until just before they implemented prime.

[Leslie Dame]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

I looked at my shopping patterns and there were only a few months where I bought items that wouldn't have qualified for free shipping.

There might be good stuff to watch on Amazon Prime, but the navigation of their videos sucks. It's like work trying to find something good to watch.

I'll probably buy Prime for a month around the holidays, but I'm going to see if I can live without it.

That $120 per year membership fee is a big hit that I don't feel like paying this year. Watch out Costco... you might be next.

I quit Amazon in 2013 and to be honest, I never looked back. I found other buying options more to my liking. It is possible to live without Amazon, at least for me.

[shinobipopcorn]

I think I quit in 2010. I live in the middle of PA, and everything comes from either PGH, Philly, or MD, which is 1-2 day shipping anyway.

[TB12isGOAT]

Anybody know how long an account is eligible to receive the 'Prime Student' discount for? Can't imagine it's forever.

[super56k]

I also let my Prime membership end last December. Current rate of $120 is too much since I really only used it for shipping, and I don't order from Amazon as frequently as I did in the past, be it grocery items, books, electronics, or movies.

I'll only order from Amazon directly now if they have a great price or sale going because they honestly take a full week sometimes just to ship an order. Even when I had Prime I got it extended with a courtesy month three different times in a single year after complaining to support because they couldn't get orders shipped out on time. Like JurassicBD said, I too noted that the Prime experience was declining while the cost of having it kept going up. Their packaging is usually awful for me too. Too often items ship in an oversized box with not even a single air pack inside.

This is how most of my movie buying is done now:

- Many boutique labels have their own direct sales. I spend a lot of money this way.

- I import more than ever now. Amazon UK (though even with them not so much recently because prices have crept up), Rarewaves eBay store, Base, Zavvi, direct from UK labels.

- Deepdiscount, as well as the Blowitouttahere eBay store have been great recently.

- Many of the "good" prices Amazon has are usually price matches from Bestbuy, Walmart, and Target. So I buy from them instead. Bestbuy is a good one since they have reward points. Also additional motivation with Amazon's penchant for randomly making items Prime exclusive so I can't buy it from them anyway.

- And maybe best for last, HamiltonBook !! has been a fantastic source for sales. Very savvy of HB (GoldenWheels) to take the initiative and engage with us directly to help drum up interest and give heads up on sales. I find myself really looking forward to those new arrivals and price cuts. Great deals on books too.

[Kellz]

Originally Posted by TB12isGOAT

Anybody know how long an account is eligible to receive the 'Prime Student' discount for? Can't imagine it's forever.

i think mine was 4 yrs

[JurassicBD]

Originally Posted by super56k

I also let my Prime membership end last December. Current rate of $120 is too much since I really only used it for shipping, and I don't order from Amazon as frequently as I did in the past, be it grocery items, books, electronics, or movies.

I'll only order from Amazon directly now if they have a great price or sale going because they honestly take a full week sometimes just to ship an order. Even when I had Prime I got it extended with a courtesy month three different times in a single year after complaining to support because they couldn't get orders shipped out on time. Like JurassicBD said, I too noted that the Prime experience was declining while the cost of having it kept going up. Their packaging is usually awful for me too. Too often items ship in an oversized box with not even a single air pack inside.

This is how most of my movie buying is done now:

- Many boutique labels have their own direct sales. I spend a lot of money this way.

- I import more than ever now. Amazon UK (though even with them not so much recently because prices have crept up), Rarewaves eBay store, Base, Zavvi, direct from UK labels.

- Deepdiscount, as well as the Blowitouttahere eBay store have been great recently.

- Many of the "good" prices Amazon has are usually price matches from Bestbuy, Walmart, and Target. So I buy from them instead. Bestbuy is a good one since they have reward points. Also additional motivation with Amazon's penchant for randomly making items Prime exclusive so I can't buy it from them anyway.

- And maybe best for last, HamiltonBook !! has been a fantastic source for sales. Very savvy of HB (GoldenWheels) to take the initiative and engage with us directly to help drum up interest and give heads up on sales. I find myself really looking forward to those new arrivals and price cuts. Great deals on books too.

I've had at least 6 late deliveries in the past 3 months. I only complained about one though, and only because I was already chatting with a CSR about a replacement (arrived a week late and badly damaged - crazy how they'll ship out a $25 gift card, next day, in a box big enough for 1000 gcs, but then ship a $80 BD or DVD box set in a padded mailer.) The CSR said he didn't have the option to extend my prime by a month any longer. Gave me $5 credit instead.

Extensions were little more than a PR joke anyway, as they'd only extend it once per month (seemed like every time I got a late delivery it would come in twos or threes), and you had to actually complain to get the extension, even though their system is clearly advanced enough to do so automatically, if they were sincere about such compensation. I just got a delayed delivery notice from them again today. Hope this one actually shows up, unlike my last one. I'm starting to think amazon has a lot of internal theft, as we've had several packages that were lost in the mail this past year. Their "shipping partners" tracking never even showed that it was received on their end each time.

Thanks for the tip on Hamilton Book.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

I looked at my shopping patterns and there were only a few months where I bought items that wouldn't have qualified for free shipping.

There might be good stuff to watch on Amazon Prime, but the navigation of their videos sucks. It's like work trying to find something good to watch.

I'll probably buy Prime for a month around the holidays, but I'm going to see if I can live without it.

That $120 per year membership fee is a big hit that I don't feel like paying this year. Watch out Costco... you might be next.

It's funny you bring up Costco. Guess which company Amazon started poaching executives from about a decade ago? You guessed it, Costco.

The Costco-turned-Amazon executives brought over that business model when running Amazon.

It puts a whole new perspective on Amazon's business decisions the past decade.

[JurassicBD]

So, they're basically going after wealthy consumers who want to pretend they're frugal and down to earth, without actually shopping around to see how badly they're being conned? That's how it is with Sam's Club anyway. If Costco is run anything like sam's club that explains a lot indeed.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by JurassicBD

If Costco is run anything like sam's club that explains a lot indeed.

They're not, but neither is Sam;s

Costco is aimed at middle to upper middle income families in middle to large cities plus their business plans. They provide good to excellent quality products at a good price though I don't think anyone claims their goal is to be the rock bottom price on the majority of their items. They are neither Whole Foods, Nieman Marcus nor Dollar Tree/Family Dollar.
They back it up with probably the best customer return policy in the business, they pay their employees a decent wage including benefits.

As a rule they have a much lower than average employee turnover and extremely loyal customers for a reason. I live 45 miles from the nearest Costco and still maintain a membership though I likely barely break even most years. Honestly I probably get most of my savings at their gas pumps where prices are often 10-30 cents less per gallon than my local gas stations. It's mostly helpful when I'm travelling, but if I'm planning a shopping trip to the local Metro I will often not fill my tank and plan my route to make it my last stop on the way back.

[TB12isGOAT]

Originally Posted by Kellz

i think mine was 4 yrs

No kidding. That means another 3 1/2 years if I get the same duration. Only reason to keep it is coz of the price.

[Kellz]

Originally Posted by TB12isGOAT

No kidding. That means another 3 1/2 years if I get the same duration. Only reason to keep it is coz of the price.

right. i loved my student discount. now i'm not so sure that i can justify keeping the prime. i have at least 2-3 more months to decide though.

but in reference to above, every time i've ever complained of late shipping, never have i ever been offered a month extention

[Leonidas King]

Personally I love Prime. I'm on their monthly plan and I feel like it's a stellar deal getting 2 in 1: the 2 day free shipping + movie access just like having Netflix. And, I come to notice Prime offering better movie selections and indie flicks that Netflix does not offer.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by Kellz

but in reference to above, every time i've ever complained of late shipping, never have i ever been offered a month extention

And unfortunately, Amazon discontinued the month extensions a while back.

[JurassicBD]

Prime used to be worthwhile. But these past few years amazon has turned it into little more than an extortion fee for consumers who can afford for their refrigerator to automatically re-order basic staples for them at 2-10x the going rate or the price of their original subscription, and for those of us who are painfully aware that amazon has so effectively castrated the retail landscape that they've become about the only place you can find many items in stock anymore.

Maybe it's easier to justify for renters who value amazon's streaming service, considering what streaming cost by itself - if only they'd offer a shipping only service too! But, there is no such thing as free prime shipping! except for people who don't actually pay for the membership. Prime is also no longer 2-days for many items and even those that are, are more realistically 2-day transit 1-2 day for handling. Though their handling seems to have improved lately, possibly another indication of declining sells. Regardless, we're not only paying for shipping in advance, they already have shipping built into their prices for MANY items sold and shipped by amazon - all the blatant price scalping by third party sellers excluded. But, if you don't shop around you wouldn't know that that 5.99 item on amazon routinely sells at Walmart for 1.99 or maybe amazon will lower it to 3.99 as an add-on item. Or that Members Mark bucket of chlorine can be had for 1/3 the price at Sam's Club, more than justifying their absurd membership fee, if you don't mind buying low quality chlorine at roughly the same price per pound as a better balanced brand. Or how that Chinese made, faux-brand smartwatch you've never heard of before that looks like a steal during their $17.99 lightning deal, despite the faux warranty, sells for only 7.99 at banggood or gearbest, which is even more indicative of it's quality or lack thereof.

I'm not proposing there aren't deals to be had on amazon anymore, but they've become the exception as much as, if not more than the norm. And at least half of their "deals", amazon is just pricematching their competitors, some of which have genuine free shipping.

[kenbenobi]

I have no intention of renewing. My current membership will last me through Prime Day this year, but I'd done after that, unless they offer a cheaper renewal promotion. Otherwise, I'll just get a month around the holidays, like the OP said...

[Jr7936]

it also appears that amazon chat, under contact us is now run by bots
They give you a selection of three options to click and you select one. No longer can you type a message or tell a person about the problem

[InuYashaCrusade]

Originally Posted by Jr7936

it also appears that amazon chat, under contact us is now run by bots
They give you a selection of three options to click and you select one. No longer can you type a message or tell a person about the problem

How does your problem get resolved through live chat now?

[Jr7936]

i am not sure
they now have someone who answers chat called messaging assistant
and all the choices they allow you to click seem very generic. for example for an issue with a third party seller the choices were
email seller, seller won't get back to me, i'm all set

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

How does your problem get resolved through live chat now?