Amazon's own scam?

[french frank]

I ordered a new box of face masks a few days ago and found the Amazon website confusing - I couldn't see how NOT to order with Prime. Having thought I had done so, I clicked the back arrow and where it appeared to have added Prime, I unchecked it and put it back to 'Ordinary delivery' - or something like that.

The box arrived, post haste - on Sunday, with Prime labels all over it. And this morning I had a call (UNAVAILABLE calls are usually OK) from Amazon thanking me for renewing my Prime subscription and that I would be charged £7.99 per month (I thought it was saying £79.00 but probably had that wrong) and to press 1 if I wanted to cancel. All too much of a coincidence to be a scam call so I pressed 1 and was then talking to an (Indian?) gentleman who was hard to understand. I think I was clear that I wanted to cancel, but I think he was saying I had to cancel it straight away online. I go to my account > Manage account, and the only Prime account I had (yes, this has happened before ) expired last year. No new account to cancel.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated. I divulged no information over the phone, not even my name!

[Ein Heldenleben]

I ordered a new box of face masks a few days ago and found the Amazon website confusing - I couldn't see how NOT to order with Prime. Having thought I had done so, I clicked the back arrow and where it appeared to have added Prime, I unchecked it and put it back to 'Ordinary delivery' - or something like that.

The box arrived, post haste - on Sunday, with Prime labels all over it. And this morning I had a call (UNAVAILABLE calls are usually OK) from Amazon thanking me for renewing my Prime subscription and that I would be charged £7.99 per month (I thought it was saying £79.00 but probably had that wrong) and to press 1 if I wanted to cancel. All too much of a coincidence to be a scam call so I pressed 1 and was then talking to an (Indian?) gentleman who was hard to understand. I think I was clear that I wanted to cancel, but I think he was saying I had to cancel it straight away online. I go to my account > Manage account, and the only Prime account I had (yes, this has happened before ) expired last year. No new account to cancel.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated. I divulged no information over the phone, not even my name!

The only remark I have is that it is incredibly easy to activate prime without realising it if you have credit card details prestored. The other remark I have is that in 10 years plus of membership I have never been rung by Amazon. They just don’t do that - costs Jeff too much...

[Pulcinella]

I ordered a new box of face masks a few days ago and found the Amazon website confusing - I couldn't see how NOT to order with Prime. Having thought I had done so, I clicked the back arrow and where it appeared to have added Prime, I unchecked it and put it back to 'Ordinary delivery' - or something like that.

The box arrived, post haste - on Sunday, with Prime labels all over it. And this morning I had a call (UNAVAILABLE calls are usually OK) from Amazon thanking me for renewing my Prime subscription and that I would be charged £7.99 per month (I thought it was saying £79.00 but probably had that wrong) and to press 1 if I wanted to cancel. All too much of a coincidence to be a scam call so I pressed 1 and was then talking to an (Indian?) gentleman who was hard to understand. I think I was clear that I wanted to cancel, but I think he was saying I had to cancel it straight away online. I go to my account > Manage account, and the only Prime account I had (yes, this has happened before ) expired last year. No new account to cancel.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated. I divulged no information over the phone, not even my name!

Yes, that can be difficult and sneaky.
Often it's an attempt to get you to save the postage costs, but if you refuse to go the Prime route you can still often get free delivery on a package; it just takes a bit longer.

[Bryn]

I ordered a new box of face masks a few days ago and found the Amazon website confusing - I couldn't see how NOT to order with Prime. Having thought I had done so, I clicked the back arrow and where it appeared to have added Prime, I unchecked it and put it back to 'Ordinary delivery' - or something like that.

The box arrived, post haste - on Sunday, with Prime labels all over it. And this morning I had a call (UNAVAILABLE calls are usually OK) from Amazon thanking me for renewing my Prime subscription and that I would be charged £7.99 per month (I thought it was saying £79.00 but probably had that wrong) and to press 1 if I wanted to cancel. All too much of a coincidence to be a scam call so I pressed 1 and was then talking to an (Indian?) gentleman who was hard to understand. I think I was clear that I wanted to cancel, but I think he was saying I had to cancel it straight away online. I go to my account > Manage account, and the only Prime account I had (yes, this has happened before ) expired last year. No new account to cancel.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated. I divulged no information over the phone, not even my name!

On a brighter note, I recently ordered a box of 15 KN95 face masks from Amazon. They arrived 2 days later but there were 20 of them in the box, rather than 15.

[eighthobstruction]

o.....I think I just posted a personalised Amazon page ff....i have deleted it here...

What was saying was Amazon chat bots are quite good, once you get passed the FAQ, a human will come on line...accessed via Customer Service in Amazon Toolbar

[french frank]

The only remark I have is that it is incredibly easy to activate prime without realising it if you have credit card details prestored. The other remark I have is that in 10 years plus of membership I have never been rung by Amazon. They just don’t do that - costs Jeff too much...

Okay, I googled how to get customer services and got them to ring me by saying I'd been sent the wrong stuff They confirmed -I don't have a Prime account, that all their parcels have Prime stickers and that they could cite all my orders and payments. So it was the initial call that was a scam - but what did they get from it? I didn't even tell them my name? May ring my credit card peeps because - if you remember, I had a problem before with a near duplicate charge taken from two separate credit cards - one a genuine Amazon payment, one fraudulent. I changed my credit card then.

[gradus]

I ordered a new box of face masks a few days ago and found the Amazon website confusing - I couldn't see how NOT to order with Prime. Having thought I had done so, I clicked the back arrow and where it appeared to have added Prime, I unchecked it and put it back to 'Ordinary delivery' - or something like that.

The box arrived, post haste - on Sunday, with Prime labels all over it. And this morning I had a call (UNAVAILABLE calls are usually OK) from Amazon thanking me for renewing my Prime subscription and that I would be charged £7.99 per month (I thought it was saying £79.00 but probably had that wrong) and to press 1 if I wanted to cancel. All too much of a coincidence to be a scam call so I pressed 1 and was then talking to an (Indian?) gentleman who was hard to understand. I think I was clear that I wanted to cancel, but I think he was saying I had to cancel it straight away online. I go to my account > Manage account, and the only Prime account I had (yes, this has happened before ) expired last year. No new account to cancel.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated. I divulged no information over the phone, not even my name!

I get called by 'Amazon' almost daily and 'The Internet Department of BT' daily. Call-blocking doesn't appear to work so I just put the phone down. The BT scam uses a male voice that would be at home in a 1960's Hammer House of Horrors film.

[Bryn]

On a brighter note, I recently ordered a box of 15 KN95 face masks from Amazon. They arrived 2 days later but there were 20 of them in the box, rather than 15.

Regarding such masks, please note: https://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulleti...nated-kn95.htm

[french frank]

I get called by 'Amazon' almost daily and 'The Internet Department of BT' daily. Call-blocking doesn't appear to work so I just put the phone down. The BT scam uses a male voice that would be at home in a 1960's Hammer House of Horrors film.

The BT calls usually come from a scammed number which I (don't) recognise so don't pick up. I think I've had important not-to-be-missed calls that were UNAVAILABLE which was why I picked this one up. And it was my confusion over the Prime ordering (and never having used it, I just thought I would be charged for whichever item it was - I didn't know you had to pay monthly sums). I don't order that often from Amazon!!!

[Richard Barrett]

Regarding such masks, please note: https://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulleti...nated-kn95.htm

Who cares about CE marking? Take back control!!!

[Ein Heldenleben]

The BT calls usually come from a scammed number which I (don't) recognise so don't pick up. I think I've had important not-to-be-missed calls that were UNAVAILABLE which was why I picked this one up. And it was my confusion over the Prime ordering (and never having used it, I just thought I would be charged for whichever item it was - I didn't know you had to pay monthly sums). I don't order that often from Amazon!!!

Had a mate who kept getting called by someone claiming to be from HMRC - he always put the phone down. At one point the lady said this really is the HMRC and started threatening legal action over an VAT claim. Turned out it was the HMRC ...

[Petrushka]

I ordered a box of 10 FFP2 face masks last week without Prime and clicked on the free delivery option. They came the following day which was what was promised with Prime! Avoiding Prime is simple enough if you don't rush the process. There is usually an option in very small lettering saying something like 'No I do not want Prime, thank you'.

It's a bit sneaky rather than a scam but I'd re-iterate the warning to take the process more slowly.

I've been using Amazon since 2007 and they have never contacted me by phone though I should add that I don't answer the phone if I don't recognise the number so there is the possibility that one of the many unanswered calls might have been from them.

[french frank]

I ordered a box of 10 FFP2 face masks last week without Prime and clicked on the free delivery option. They came the following day which was what was promised with Prime! Avoiding Prime is simple enough if you don't rush the process. There is usually an option in very small lettering saying something like 'No I do not want Prime, thank you'.

Exactly my experience, Petrushka. It was the subsequent, and quite coincidental, phone call that shook me.

End of story is that I got through to a very helpful person at Post Office Money/Capital One who said she had noted it all down, knew that any Prime subscription would be marked as 'Prime' not 'Amazon', that they would consider it an unusual transaction and contact me. Capital One, when I checked, seemed to have an appalling record for their credit card, but, grudgingly - and failing a disaster still to befall - I'd have to admit that both Amazon and Capital One seemed completely on the ball over this. Health scare, I hope, over.

And just to add: the reason I've just paid £24.49 for a €6.80 book was to avoid using Amazon. Sometimes the money seems less important than the principle.

[Cockney Sparrow]

o.....I think I just posted a personalised Amazon page ff....i have deleted it here...
What was saying was Amazon chat bots are quite good, once you get passed the FAQ, a human will come on line...accessed via Customer Service in Amazon Toolbar

Another vote for the human who kicks in after the Bot can't help - they extended collection from a locker when I didn't want to go out because of the snow. I asked them 24 hours before the limit to collect, but I didn't hold out much hope they would be able to help me.......but they did.

Had a mate who kept getting called by someone claiming to be from HMRC - he always put the phone down. At one point the lady said this really is the HMRC and started threatening legal action over an VAT claim. Turned out it was the HMRC ...

In my career as a civil servant, I had a protracted dispute with the management about their requirement of putting my first and second name on letters and emails...... for reasons of personal safety.

If I had half a doubt it might really be HMRC calling me, I would expect to engage in a protracted process of them giving me enough details to confirm it was a genuine call. At work, we never disclosed information to someone over the phone unless they were a colleague, or we had their full name, role, telephone number, location of office - and called them back after separately establishing the switchboard number and using that. Providing of course they were entitled to know. (Maybe not switchboards these days, but you never know....).

HMRC have closed all their local offices and have generic 0300 etc numbers so they should expect calling people out of the blue to result in difficulty.

[french frank]

What was saying was Amazon chat bots are quite good, once you get passed the FAQ, a human will come on line...accessed via Customer Service in Amazon Toolbar

I did see that, but spotted the call back button which has worked before so used that. Saying I'd received the wrong stuff was the nearest option I could see, but obviously did the trick. Got a competent human being straight away.

My own credentials as a competent, functioning human being evinced by an earlier entry in my Lockdown Journal (now on 314th day):

"Tuesday 28th July 128th day

The Lloyds man also gave me an 0800 number to ring Amazon and cancel my Amazon Prime 30-day free trial (payment automatic after 30 days) which I had inadvertently signed up for when trying to find out about my credit card details."