One wrong click and it gets expensive

As great and cheap as Amazon may be, there are also pitfalls when using the devices. Happened to me recently with the Fire TV Stick. If you don’t pay attention, you have to pay. Such stumbling blocks could easily be avoided. My topic today in the GIGA weekend column. Let’s talk about it.

I am one of the early customers of Amazon in Germany. My first orders go back to the nineties of the last century. So far I have been and am very satisfied, and I have also been a Prime user for many, many years. There’s still room for improvement. This becomes obvious to me in the moments when I would have expected a more comfortable solution to the problem.

Cost trap on the Amazon Fire TV Stick

Current problem: I have an “Amazon Music Unlimited” subscription that I don’t want. I already use “Amazon Music Prime” regularly as part of the Prime subscription. There are two million songs available for online and offline use at no extra charge. Runs on the Mac, the iPhone or even on my Fire TV Stick. Stupidly, Amazon tries to sell the surcharge “Amazon Music Unlimited” on every corner of the Amazon Music interface. So far I have still been able to successfully circumvent these advances.

Not so a few months ago and again a few days ago. I was just about to listen to a curated playlist on the Fire TV Stick and a short time later I had the subscription for “Amazon Music Unlimited” on my cheek. Although I couldn’t remember having actively chosen the subscription, I was quickly surprised with the “joyful” news of the subscription on the TV and then by e-mail. Possibly an error caused by a delayed input with the remote control? May be. Annoying in any case. It didn’t hurt that much the first time either. Because you only get the free trial subscription, which you can cancel without further ado.

Amazon Music briefly explained:

Now, however, when it comes to another misstep, Amazon holds on its hand. A total of 8.99 euros are due and immediately debited from the credit card. I can cancel again, but a monthly amount is due first. If I want to revoke the classic method, this can only be done in writing using a PDF form. I beg your pardon? Where’s the quick button for that? Where can I not only cancel an accidental subscription, but also cancel it free of charge? The order overview on Amazon doesn’t help. The “subscription order” is not listed there. So my only option was to contact customer service the traditional way. I don’t want it to be too complicated.

The actual problem

Amazon would probably even accommodate me, but it’s not worth the effort until then. It doesn’t matter, I just pay the 9 euros for this month and I’m annoyed. But my case illustrates the real problem. On the one hand, the much too narrow Interlocking of Prime content with additional premium features, which can be ordered on the Fire TV Stick without further control. On the other hand the Impossibility of being able to cancel such a subscription shortly after it has been taken out. One wrong click and you’re already in the cost trap. Who, like me, reacts quickly, at least only for a month. Amazon should still improve here urgently. You really don’t need such “tricks”, do you?