Amazon Prime.

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Alan Phipps
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Post by Alan Phipps » Mon, 2. Apr 18, 15:21

Because I am rarely in a rush for stuff from Amazon, I usually use their free 3-5 working day delivery option.

Recently, this delivery option has been cleverly all but hidden by a more obvious 'free delivery' option that then signs you up for Prime. I once clicked on that one in error (ie you don't have to be drunk) but fortunately I was able to cancel the paid-for service straight away.

I still had to take the free month though and I expect that is a one-time offer per customer and so I will have to be more careful in future.
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Post by mrbadger » Mon, 2. Apr 18, 20:09

Amazonprime is getting a bit rubbish of late. Next day now often seems to mean any time in the next three days far too often. At the moment I have yet another item that has totally failed to arrive, although that wasn't Prime.

I get non Prime things faster than Prime things far too often right now. It's not great.

They seem to be allowing companies into the Prime program that handle their own delivery and don't manage the next day thing. It's getting quite irritating.

About the only way to be sure is to check that the item is sold by Amazon themselves, but they don't sell everything I want, and sometimes they do still handle delivery for things they don't sell themselves. I'm not sure how that works.

I have started to go elsewhere increasingly for some things as Amazons service has declined in quality. Usually for things that are costly. I won't trust Amazon for expensive purchases any more.

And I always try to make sure my purchase won't be from China. Not because of any anti China thing, but because of the huge delivery delay. That is infuriating. And only worth it if the item in question is genuinely not available from anywhere else, which it usually is.
Last edited by mrbadger on Mon, 2. Apr 18, 20:24, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by burger1 » Mon, 2. Apr 18, 20:13

How easy is it to region switch with amazon? I think the US library is much larger.

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Post by mrbadger » Mon, 2. Apr 18, 20:17

burger1 wrote:How easy is it to region switch with amazon? I think the US library is much larger.
you need a US address. There are ways to do it, websites that will let you rent an address, but it's fiddly.
And you then need to use a VPN (which you should be using anyway)

I considered it, then gave up.
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Post by greypanther » Mon, 2. Apr 18, 20:22

mrbadger wrote:Amazonprime is getting a bit rubbish of late Next day now often seems to mean any time in the next three days far too often. At the moment I have yet another item that has totally failed to arrive, although that wasn't Prime.

I get non Prime things faster than Prime things far too often right now. It's not great.

They seem to be allowing companies into the Prime program that handle their own delivery and don't manage the next day thing. It's getting quite irritating.

About the only way to be sure is to check that the item is sold by Amazon themselves, but they don't sell everything I want, and sometimes they do still handle delivery for things they don't sell themselves. I'm not sure how that works.

I have started to go elsewhere increasingly for some things as Amazons service has declined in quality. Usually for things that are costly. I won't trust Amazon for expensive purchases any more.

And I always try to make sure my purchase won't be from China. Not because of any anti China thing, but because of the huge delivery delay.
Yeh that is what is making me hesitate still. My experience of paying for next day delivery is very hit and miss, with it often taking upto three days, which makes me lack confidence in the fact that they can achieve it with Prime.
burger1 wrote:How easy is it to region switch with amazon? I think the US library is much larger.
In my experience not at all well, there is the option to go global and get things from the US, but it is only a very limited stock. The terms and conditions are different too. Most of the US companies I have tried to buy from, flatly refuse to deliver outside of the USA. The main problem appears to be customs and excise. :roll:
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Post by red assassin » Tue, 3. Apr 18, 00:17

For what it's worth, the one time I had a Prime next-day package not show up on schedule they gave me a £5 credit. I've not had any reliability problems with it otherwise.
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Post by Chips » Tue, 3. Apr 18, 00:57

Only ever had one item not appear next day... and that was a long time ago. Even got stuff delivered Easter Sunday (yesterday). I know, I'm cruel. What can I say. Just note the timer - it'll tell you whether it's next day or not before buying.

But had many an item delivered on a bank holiday, or an ordinary Sunday.

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Post by Stars_InTheirEyes » Fri, 6. Apr 18, 01:46

I get a significant discount (-50%= £39/year) being a student and Twitch Prime is valuable to me.

If you don't watch anybody on Twitch, it won't matter to you. For me, I get 1 free subscription to support any streamer I want. A normal subscription is worth $5 ~£3.56. 12 of those per year nearly makes everything else of Prime(; video, delivery, etc) cost nothing as I would be spending that on subscribing anyway.

For students, its a very good deal (if you watch Twitch regularly).


Worth noting Twitch Prime gives out free games/in-game loot from time to time.
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Post by mrbadger » Fri, 6. Apr 18, 09:16

red assassin wrote:For what it's worth, the one time I had a Prime next-day package not show up on schedule they gave me a £5 credit. I've not had any reliability problems with it otherwise.
You should phone and express your disappointment. That way you usually get a month tacked on free.

Year before last I ended up with an extra six months free in total. All legitimate, just because I called to complain about delayed items.
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Post by Bishop149 » Fri, 6. Apr 18, 12:00

Obviously such things are a matter of personal taste but for me the answer was no.

Amazon have some good series, Vikings, Man in the High Castle, American Gods etc but their movie selection is pretty woeful.
If you make much use of the delivery service I'd say the TV service is a nice extra, I wouldn't say it's worth the £7-8 a month on it's own.
Personally I use Amazon lockers for deliveries, they're great. All the benefits of Prime, you don't have to be in to receive the package and it costs about a quid. Given than I don't generally order more that 5-7 things a month its the best option for me.

I will add one further thing that pissed me right off about Prime.
I'd basically decided it wasn't worth it and noticed that the debit card I used to pay for it was about to expire, lazily I thought "Oh well, I just won't change it and that'll be the end of my Prime subscription".
Nope, Amazon just transferred the payment to another card they had on record, without even asking or even informing me they had done so.
Now this might not seem like a big deal but the second card was a CREDIT card, so they basically took out credit in my name without my permission. Which struck me as a pretty disgusting thing to do, I'm sure it was probably all in the fine print somewhere but still.
If I wasn't going to cancel the subscription anyway that action made it certain. I sent them a complaint making this clear.

Edit: Oh ans yes on reading the above the delivery promises are a lie, in my experience they missed their "guaranteed" delivery date about 40% of the time.
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Post by Praefectus classis » Fri, 6. Apr 18, 13:29

I'm on Prime and I've had yet another item I've ordered direct from Amazon take longer than a day to deliver. I recently changed to a business account and that comes with free next day delivery with items over £30 anyway so I will drop Prime when it next comes up for renewal unless the service improves. I only occasionally use the service for watching things like The Grand Tour.
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Post by mrbadger » Fri, 6. Apr 18, 22:28

I actually found a show I'd like to watch on Prime (Monk), and it turned out to be another one I'd have to pay for.


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Post by Chips » Sat, 7. Apr 18, 13:24

Praefectus classis wrote:I'm on Prime and I've had yet another item I've ordered direct from Amazon take longer than a day to deliver. I recently changed to a business account and that comes with free next day delivery with items over £30 anyway so I will drop Prime when it next comes up for renewal unless the service improves. I only occasionally use the service for watching things like The Grand Tour.
Having Prime doesn't mean everything can be delivered next day, it tells you on the checkout screens when it'll get delivered. If it has always said the following day as the due date, then i'd complain ;) There will be *something* offered.
I actually found a show I'd like to watch on Prime (Monk), and it turned out to be another one I'd have to pay for.
That's easy to solve, Monk is not on Prime video. It's on Amazon Video, a streaming service. It is not on Prime Video, which is the free service for Amazon Prime subscribers. One is the subset of the other, they're not equal.

It's pretty clear in the distinction...

So you've found a show you'd like to watch on the Amazon Video platform, but it is not included in the Prime Video subscription. Suggest you get Netflix and stop complaining about Amazon as methinks you're after the wrong service.

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Post by Praefectus classis » Sat, 7. Apr 18, 14:10

Chips wrote:
Praefectus classis wrote:I'm on Prime and I've had yet another item I've ordered direct from Amazon take longer than a day to deliver. I recently changed to a business account and that comes with free next day delivery with items over £30 anyway so I will drop Prime when it next comes up for renewal unless the service improves. I only occasionally use the service for watching things like The Grand Tour.
Having Prime doesn't mean everything can be delivered next day, it tells you on the checkout screens when it'll get delivered. If it has always said the following day as the due date, then i'd complain ;) There will be *something* offered.
The last item I ordered was supposed to be the next day so I complained yesterday and got another 30 days added on to Prime.
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Post by mrbadger » Sat, 7. Apr 18, 23:52

Chips wrote:So you've found a show you'd like to watch on the Amazon Video platform, but it is not included in the Prime Video subscription. Suggest you get Netflix and stop complaining about Amazon as methinks you're after the wrong service.
I had Netflix, that wasn't worth it, and the cost per episode on Amazon video makes buying Monk on dvd and ripping it the cheaper option.

These streaming platforms still need to improve a lot.
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Post by burger1 » Sat, 21. Apr 18, 03:56

I am currently using the free 30 day Amazon Prime trial.

- Canada Prime tv/movies are sparse and terrible. Definitely not worth it for tv/movies.

-region switching to US (have to use the US website to go in or it doesn't work) means a much larger library. Psych, Monk, Grimm, Doctor Who new and old + specials, Eureka, Battle Star Galactica, Lexx, Andromeda, Defiance, The Expanse, Relic Hunter, Star Treks, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, Frasier, etc...

US Prime website

https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Video/b/r ... 2858778011

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