Getting Rid of Amazon Prime...

darthed1981

Anyone else getting a little narked at Amazon?

With price rises, the ads added to prime video, and price increases snuck into online shopping, price increases snuck into same-day shipping...

Not to mention odd service issues.  I pre-ordered the new Liam and Jonny album on vinyl, not delivered until Tuesday - and, the price it was ON Friday not applied... now they do sometimes do this with a refund later - but if you don't get release day delivery and the best price - why pre-order at all?

Genuinely thinking of weaning myself off Amazon Prime come my next renewal - anyone else in the same boat?

munckee

We’re hooked in, we use prime music for the cars and via Alexa’s which are in every room.  There’s just enough good stuff on the tv channel and the free delivery just about pays for it over a year. 

The ads are infuriating though.  

MrTee

We dropped Amazon prime. Only real thing we used consistently was the free next day delivery. Turns out much of the stuff we now order from Amazon turns up the next day anyways, even if it's estimated at a few days, (and that's free delivery)

WezV

I've kept prime because of the delivery

Netflix and Disney have both been downgraded to standard plans from premium due to the price increases

I have cancelled my Ring doorbell subscription as they put that up a stupid amount... but now it's lost most of its functionality

Grunfeld

Yep.

For a couple of months I've been seeing how much I need it cos it's due on 17 Apr.

So far I've discovered the world doesn't end if I don't get something the next day.

All I've bought from Amazon since re-considering Prime has been Kindle books*.

On the flip side I've bought directly from other online suppliers -- which is everyone these days.  

More registrations, but none of this is difficult with a decent password manager.

So Jeff will have to do without my £95.

Amazon isn't "essential" for me I've re-discovered.  

Prime at about £70 seemed worth it but at £100 with a worse service, nope.

*And the first thing I do with a Kindle book is strip the DRM.  A fair bit of effort an faff initially but really easy to keep on top of now.

boogieman

Prime tv has just about enough things to keep it interesting for us, but we mainly use it for the next day or same day delivery option. They’re also sometimes the cheapest option anyway, like for the dog food our furry one prefers. The music side is annoying as I had loads of playlists saved but now you only get “here’s a  selection of things vaguely similar, with the odd track of what you actually wanted thrown in” unless you pay for the upgrade, which I refuse to do. Overall for us, it’s worth keeping it. 

Musical_Mystery_Tour

I have Prime, it's okay for the free delivery if you get a fair bit of stuff regularly ,but for movies it sucks balls compared to Netflix

EricTheWeary

Almost never watch anything on Prime. MrsTheWeary does her sewing stuff and often wants specialist bits and bobs so the free delivery probably just about pays for itself if I add in the few birthday presents that I send out using Amazon. But yes the next day aspect not really important (and of course doesn't apply to everything anyway). Hmm. 

darthed1981

Grunfeld said:

Prime at about £70 seemed worth it but at £100 with a worse service, nope.

Yes - this is what is occurring to me as well.

My renewal is in May - but have to admit if they can't deliver my records on time... maybe I should just go to the shops while they still exist?

Iamnobody

I get it free with my Vitality life insurance. I’d have to think again if I was paying for it directly at £100.

That’s said, I guess if they keep putting the prices up I might lose it as one of my rewards for staying alive! 

We do use it a lot for the next day delivery but barley watch the TV - any TV for that matter. 

EDIT: Just checked and it’s been withdrawn from Vitality. Thanks to this post I checked. 

robgilmo

I use Prime for the delivery, I live in the sticks so its handy, I have music but really only use it in the car, the odd time at home, Prime video is pants but only because there are better streaming platforms for video, Plex or Stremio, if I could stream from home PC to car with voice activation prime music would be gone.

goldtop

Yup. Dropped Prime. (And mostly dropped Amazon unless it's absolutely necessary.)

I've got a sneaking suspicion that paying to create multinational behemoths which are run for the benefit of a tiny number of mega-rich is A Bad Thing.

Wazmeister

Best service ever. 

Used Amazon for years, superb in everyday. 

Returns are simple, any problems sorted using 'chat'.

The benchmark for all customer service, imho.

boogieman

Wazmeister said:

Best service ever. 

Used Amazon for years, superb in everyday. 

Returns are simple, any problems sorted using 'chat'.

The benchmark for all customer service, imho.

Can’t fault the returns service. Put in a claim on the app, drop it off at the post office 2 minutes away, where they even supply the return packing, and I’ve got a refund by the time I’m back home. Several times Amazon just said keep the item and they’ve still refunded straight away. 

The films are mostly shite, agreed, but the tv side does have a few series that we watch, like Rings of Power and Wheel of Time. 

rze99

I hate Amazon the company and avoid them. My wife loves them and uses them. No doubt the service is incredible and they've got us out of a hole a couple of times with next day delivery. 

BTW.  Never assume they are good value though. We've shopped for the best price always and have found that sometimes you can get the same thing cheaper elsewhere, but it ain't gonna arrive next day if that's what you need.

JezWynd

Having killed off many of the little guys with their ruthless undercutting, they're now usually more expensive than buying from what remains of the high street. I quit using Prime about a year ago and use Amazon far less than in the past - mostly for domestic consumables that are awkward to transport or hard to find locally.

Philly_Q

No, I've become increasingly anti-Amazon and buy things elsewhere when I can, but I'm keeping Prime for now.  I still feel like I get value for money, just about.

I don't think their service is as good as it was, delivery's still very fast but the website's a mess and it no longer seems to be the one place I can find a particular CD or Blu-ray - often they're sold out at Amazon but still available elsewhere.  They've become so dominant that I don't think they need to try so hard any more.

I haven't encountered the ads yet on Prime Video - maybe I did on one programme, but not any films I've watched recently.  Maybe they hit me with the increased charge without telling me, I wouldn't put that past them.

BluesLover

Cancelled it today. Next day service often doesn't deliver, ads are annoying, and they're often not the cheapest.

Kurtis

Don't think I've used it since the last thread so getting cancelled me thinks. 

Danny1969

My customers pay for mine, In fact I probably make £200 or so out of it a year. 

SSD trade price  -  xx plus delivery 
Amazon price is 2 quid more than trade but free delivery so generally about £4 cheaper every order

I can rarely find something to watch on it though, cept the big ones like Fargo. They seem to have a lot of low budget shit films and a lot of older films I've already seen.  

Snags

Wazmeister said:

Best service ever. 

Used Amazon for years, superb in everyday. 

Returns are simple, any problems sorted using 'chat'.

The benchmark for all customer service, imho.

You don't need Prime for that, though