Amazon UK new pre-order pre-payment policy

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by imarcq, May 19, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I have posted this information in the Amazon UK deals thread. But as that is not for general discussion I think I'll copy my comments here and see if others have any opinions.
     
    richierichie, culabula and lightbulb like this.
  2. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I thought folks pre-ordering from Amazon UK might want to know that, despite what it says on the website, that they have a new policy to charge upfront just 5 days after any new pre-orders are made.

    So you might want to think twice about that next big boxset purchase! I was just charged £20.33 upfront on Friday for a July vinyl pre-order and I subsequently spoke to two senior managers demanding why, and then I had two further similar emails.

    This is policy is current NOT published online. It doesn't seem to apply to pre-existing or longstanding available pre-orders. Just brand new listed pre-orders for new releases.

    Here's the emails:
     
    lightbulb likes this.
  3. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
     
  4. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I replied:

    Hi again,

    Thanks for your detailed reply.

    However I can find no mention of this new policy anywhere on your website. It still says that payment for pre-orders is due on release/shipping day not in advance. Why the contradiction?

    Is this correct? Is this for everyone or randomly applied? Will you be updating your help page to reflect this? Some preorders were not charged for in advance. Why is this?

    I would appreciate a link to the specific terms and conditions on your site if possible. I have also not received the promised £20.33 refund for the cancellation.

    Thanks,
    Mark.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2019
  5. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
     
  6. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    If anyone else ordering a NEW pre-order gets charged in advance, or has written to Amazon UK themselves let's see what's happening. Over in SuperdeluxeEdition comments, some people are also being charged now too.

    Apparently it was introduced quietly last month. It doesn't seem to cover pre-existing music preorders, just brand new ones. So check your bank statement about 5 working days after first ordering.

    They took about a week to charge me upfront £20.33 for a July pre-order. I have only just been refunded to my bank account plus £5 goodwill payment for not telling me about the new policy.
     
    Reese and lightbulb like this.
  7. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland
    This is quite shocking, really. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot ?
     
    Dubmart and imarcq like this.
  8. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I guess it goes three ways.... people stop pre-ordering expensive stuff, wait until the last minute, then buy at the probably higher prices OR pre-order, pony up the money, but get a better price, and Amazon can earn interest on those advance payments. Either way Amazon get more money unless the third option of not buying at all happens?
     
    lightbulb likes this.
  9. Tartifless

    Tartifless Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    For information, this also seems combined with inability to purchase preorders from abroad.
    I live in France and can purchase something that is in stock but cannot preorder a record with an issue date in June.
     
    imarcq likes this.
  10. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    As I’ve reported elsewhere, Amazon are also informing me that they cannot send an LP to Belfast - which is clearly nonsense - so perhaps their systems are currently acting the maggot.
     
    imarcq likes this.
  11. aperfecttool

    aperfecttool Ænimic \m/

    Location:
    RDU, NC, USA
    I got charged the full amount for 3 pre-orders that will not ship until a month or two - two of them are from UK and one from France so I do not believe this is restricted to just the UK site. FWIW, I am a Prime member in the US only. I have also noticed that most of the Amazon international sites have now coupon boxes randomly on items so unless you cancel and re-order you will not get the lower price through the "pre-order price guarantee" anymore either.

    edit: also, one more caveat, if you pre-order and later cancel it, you may or may not get the same amount back due to the currency conversion fluctuations; it should be a minor value but just want folks to be aware.
     
    imarcq, lightbulb and eddiel like this.
  12. Tartifless

    Tartifless Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    I preorder a lot from Amazon fr, but as I put my AMEX I never check if the debit occured, I'll have to check.
     
    imarcq likes this.
  13. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Oh dear...it must be across all Amazon EU companies then? So far no change to USA pre-ordering yet I hope? They are probably testing the water in EU first? It's all looking like a big cash grab isn't it? :(
     
  14. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I think I might be inclined to use my credit card for higher value pre-ordering now as if it's a large amount I might accidentally overdraw my current account and fees for doing that can be expensive!
     
  15. Anthrax

    Anthrax Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    Interesting. And annoying.

    So you pre-order something. 5 days later, you get charged for it. I suppose you can still cancel before release date and get a refund?
     
  16. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Yes you can cancel and get a refund because I just did. If you order less than 5 days before release you won't get charged in advance, but it's really the same deal. Pretty rubbish.
     
  17. aperfecttool

    aperfecttool Ænimic \m/

    Location:
    RDU, NC, USA
    Yes unfortunately it looks like one, I have always heard/read that Amazon loses money on shipping so this might be one way to recoup or offset the expenses :(
    No, I have not yet been charged for the US pre-orders but I do not know if it is cause am a Prime member or not.
     
    imarcq likes this.
  18. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    The days when Amazon pre-orders were pretty much guaranteed to be cheap are long gone, not currently having Prime I tend to get 5 days before shipping to see what everyone else is charging and unless Amazon have had a cheap price during the pre-order period other sellers are usually cheaper and I just cancel before it ships, not bothering to pre-order at all with Amazon won't be a huge hardship, I've been trying to kick the Amazon habit and have cut right back on ordering from them, this change will pretty much cut my direct orders down to zero, other than the odd genuine bargain posted here. Honest Jon's, Sounds Of the Universe, Norman's, Juno, eBay sellers, Sound Of Vinyl and with some reservations Scott Nangle are just some of the UK sellers who usually beat the Amazon price on vinyl, we really don't need them anymore as they obviously don't think they need us.
     
  19. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I was thinking the same thing. In the past I've had this issue with USD/CAD transactions. The differences can be rather large if your order value is high enough.
     
    Jimmy Agates and imarcq like this.
  20. imarcq

    imarcq Men are from Mars, I'm from Bromley... Thread Starter

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I think you are right Mart. I've got some good prices at What Records too, although they can be a bit slow sometimes. And yes it might just cure the illness of impulse pre-ordering just because you can. I think that as long as you are across all the different sellers, watch and wait, you normally get a good deal. Or for Amazon just keep new releases on your wish list and wait it out. Price always falls in most cases. :)
     
    aperfecttool and Dubmart like this.
  21. aoxomoxoa

    aoxomoxoa I'm an ear sitting in the sky

    Location:
    USA
    I put in a pre-order for the Dylan box and I've not been charged for it.
    Maybe I was grandfathered in? but my question is I wonder if they'll ship it now because it says they don't ship it to the USA. Seems pretty strange to me
     
    imarcq and lightbulb like this.
  22. fabre

    fabre Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    I am trying to do the same with the exception of a few records now and then that are just too cheap when compared to other shops - some of these are pre-orders.
    Over the past few years I didn't place a lot of orders with amazon at all and since I started buying records I bought some that were considerably cheaper than anywhere else. I don't like this new policy at all and I am really disappointed that this is happening without any communication. Then again this is a prime example of today's zeitgeist.
     
    imarcq and lightbulb like this.
  23. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    This is just another example of Amazon’s enormous capability to monetize customer’s purchases to their advantage.
    As THE online retail behemoth, they have the wherewithall, and ability to do so.

    By not giving a general notification of this change, are they conducting business in a slightly deceptive manner?
    Perhaps.

    Will they lose some disgruntled customers as a result?
    Perhaps.

    Will this benefit their bottom line profit margin?
    Absolutely.

    Will Amazon devise other online adjustments that will create even more revenue for them and their shareholders...?
    Perhaps even at the risk, and expense of offending more longtime dedicated customers...?
    Do they really, honestly care...?
    :biglaugh:
     
    Last edited: May 20, 2019
    imarcq, richierichie and fabre like this.
  24. aperfecttool

    aperfecttool Ænimic \m/

    Location:
    RDU, NC, USA
    I believe it depends on the release date and when you placed the order; what I have seen is if the release date is beyond 5 days then your card will be charged for the full amount after the fifth day from when you placed the order. If you check your card now there should be a "pending" transaction for the entire amount already.
     
    imarcq likes this.
  25. aperfecttool

    aperfecttool Ænimic \m/

    Location:
    RDU, NC, USA
    haha yes, I am in the same boat and am quite sure my wife will be really happy to see less of these Amazon Prime boxes as well :unhunh: For folks in the US I usually recommend BullMoose for most media (and they have a great selection of "pre-owned" items as well) and PlaidRoomRecords (vinyl only for now but it's owner has said they will be stocking more of the CD box-sets as well moving forward). If you are into Jazz/Blues then Colemine records (same owners as PlaidRoom) are highly recommended.
     
    imarcq likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine