Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service that is offered to customers of the well known retail site Amazon.com. The creation of Amazon Prime was announced by Amazon in 2005, and it was launched in the UK in 2007.
You may have been drawn in by Amazon’s great deals with their prime membership including free next day delivery on all orders and also, at no extra cost, Amazon Video – a range of films, movies and TV series at your fingertips. In more recent times, Amazon has offered an exclusive range of food and beverages that can be delivered straight to your door that is available to Prime members only. There is also the opportunity to discover some killer bargains during Amazon Prime Day. However, all of that being said, you might find that you are simply not using Amazon Prime enough to get your money’s worth and it is time to cancel. You might have even signed up for a free trial and decided it’s not for you and want to cancel before the payment has been taken. Whatever the reason, cancelling Amazon Prime is pretty straightforward when you know how.
Why Might I want to Cancel Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime works by offering the customer a free trial which costs nothing for a certain period of time. Amazon Prime costs £79 as a one of yearly payment or alternatively you will pay £7.99 per month. However, you are still required to enter your payment details when you sign up and it can be a clever way by Amazon to take your yearly payment because quite often people will forget to actively log on and unsubscribe. If you are still in your free trial period and do not want to pay for Amazon Prime then you can follow this quick guide before it is too late. Other reasons that you might want to cancel Amazon Prime could be that your yearly payment is coming to an end and you do not wish to renew your subscription or that you are paying monthly and find that you just don’t use the service as much as you thought you would. If you are a regular Amazon user and regularly purchase items from the site then Amazon Prime can be well worth your money because it saves you delivery charges on a lot of essentials and also guarantees next day delivery on a lot of sought after items. However, if you are only ordering products on occasion and don’t find that you are getting your money’s worth, it might be time to cancel your subscription and just pay the delivery charges outright instead.
About your Subscription
Once you have bought an Amazon Prime subscription, whether that be for the entire year or are just paying monthly, you will be able to log into your account on the Amazon Prime website at any time and view the details of your subscription.
Here, you can click on one of the six options in the picture above. If you have ordered anything from Amazon Prime, you will be able to view it in the ‘your orders’ section. You can also track items or return any unwanted products. If you are a creature of habit and tend to buy the same things over and over then you can also quickly and easily re-order anything you might need using this option. The login and security section will allow you to change things such as your username and password as well as update any personal information. The ‘Prime’ category will let you view the benefits of the service you are paying for and it will also allow you to update any payment settings (such as switching to a monthly payment plan or paying off the full year). You can also click the ‘Payment options’ button a little further down which will allow you to edit or add any payment methods that you use when ordering Amazon products (your details are saved securely to make checking out on an order quick and convenient). Also available on the login page is an online help centre, the option to use Amazon Pay and the opportunity to subscribe to emails from Amazon in order to make even more savings.
Cancelling your Subscription
If you are aware of all of the above and still want to go ahead and cancel then you will need to select the ‘account’ option in the top right-hand corner and select the drop down menu. You will be shown the following options:
This shows a range of ways and options to manage and edit your account. To cancel, we want to click the ‘You Prime Membership’ link as this will enable us to view the details and terms and conditions of our membership. When the link is clicked, it will bring up a summary of your membership, including your preferred payment method. If you are on a monthly plan, you will be told when the next Amazon Prime payment will leave your account. On the left-hand side of the page (in small print) you will see an option to view your payment history and below this, the option to cancel your membership altogether.
You will need to follow this link to begin the cancellation process. Of course, Amazon Prime will attempt to stop you from cancelling by listing the benefits that are available to you with your membership. Once you have selected to cancel, you will be shown this screen:
The account will list all the benefits that are available to Amazon Prime customers (just in case you had forgotten). You may or may not change your mind by clicking ‘learn more’ as you may discover benefits to your account that you didn’t know you had. Alternatively, if you are still undecided but don’t know if you will be able to afford the payment next month, you can set a reminder by clicking ‘remind me later’. If you select this option, Amazon will remind you three days before your membership automatically renews and the payment is taken from your account. If you get the reminder and decide that you want to go ahead and cancel then you can follow the steps in this guide. To outright cancel your membership, select the ‘I DO Not Want My Benefits’ option. If you want to have a re-read of the terms and conditions, there will be a link on this page. It might be useful to review the rules and regulations of Amazon Prime and what charges you may face if you do go ahead and cancel.
Amazon Prime Refunds
If you have been an Amazon Prime member and have paid a yearly membership, but haven’t actually used any of the benefits you were entitled to with this payment (one-day delivery, Amazon Video, Prime Music and the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library) then you will be entitled to a full refund of the fee you paid in the beginning. If you have only partially used the service then you may also be entitled to part of a refund – depending on your usage. If you have been using your Amazon Prime but simply want to cancel it, then you will not receive a refund on your yearly payment. This is why, if you have been using the service and have paid for the year, it is best to set the reminder and then make sure your membership is cancelled right before the payment is renewed – so you don’t lose out. If you are on a monthly payment plan, the payment is taken automatically out of your account on a certain date each month (usually the day you signed up) and so if you cancel just before the renewal is due, you will not have to pay for next month’s membership.
Cancelling a Free Trial
Cancelling a free trial with Amazon is a little different to if you are a paid member. A lot of people choose to cancel a free trial because they decide that they don’t want to pay for Amazon Prime, after trying it out (many also decide it is worth the money). For those that aren’t aware, Amazon offers a free 30-day Prime trial to every one of their customers. To get it, simply select ‘try prime’ on the homepage.
At the bottom of the list is the ‘get started’ option. The sign-up process is pretty straight forward, it will ask for your personal details (including delivery address) and it will then ask for your payment details. Prime is free for the first 30-days but after that, your subscription will be automatically renewed and payment will be taken out of the bank account that you provided when you signed up. The best way to get around this, is to set a reminder when you sign up. Just like a paid subscription, Amazon Prime will remind you three days before your account is due to be converted to a paid account, and if you don’t want to keep your membership, you can cancel it free of charge. Cancelling a free trial is a little different to cancelling a paid membership and instead of selecting to ‘end membership’ you will simply go to your account, view your membership and click ‘do not continue’ – your free trial will end and you will be under no obligation to sign up or pay for anything – even if you have taken full advantage of the services and benefits. If you can’t remember when you signed up or are unsure when your account will be converted to a paid membership then you can find out the exact date on the left-hand side of the page, when you opt to view your membership details. Signing up for a free trial is definitely worth it, if you stay on top of dates and are fully aware of when payments will be taken. However, if a payment is taken simply because you did forget to cancel your free trial, then don’t panic. If you ensure that you haven’t used any of the services since the payment was taken then you may be able to receive a full or partial refund.
A Little About Prime Video
Prime Video is a great addition to Amazon Prime and probably why so many people keep their memberships. Acting similar to Netflix, it has a number of films and TV programmes that are either free with your Prime membership or available to purchase at a discounted price. To access Prime Video, simply head to https://www.amazon.com/Prime-Video and sign into your account. Once you have signed in, you will be able to see your viewing options and look at all of the entertainment that is available to you. You can also view everything on the Prime Video website if you are just having a free trial. Your Amazon Prime Video account will look something like this:
You can clearly see the option to start a free trial above and by following the instructions you can be set up in no time at all. Prime Video is arranged into categories such as ‘Amazon Originals and Exclusives’, ‘Top TV Shows’ and ‘Popular Movies’. You can also search by genre if you are wanting to watch something in particular. For new releases, there is a rent or buy category which will allow you to either rent or buy movies that are fresh from the cinema. Prime members will get some great deals on these, with new movies being available for rent from as little as £1.99. If you buy a movie, it will be available to download to your computer and if you rent one, it will be available to you for a certain amount of time. You can rent more than one movie at a time. As well as movies, complete box sets are also available to buy, including entire kids TV series which can be great to have on your computer, mobile or iPad when you are on the go and without wifi. Recent movie releases are around £10 to buy and download. There really is endless choice available with Prime Video and it is definitely a great feature of Amazon Prime.
