Skip to main content

Amazon India Prime Offer - A scam or a bug?

TLDR; Amazon.in shows and sends me a Prime offer that I can't avail (it leads to an error message)

I have escalated this issue to Amazon India through various means, but the team wants screenshots (even after sharing them through Twitter) and so here's the post explaining that...

1. Amazon India sends me an email: Your Prime membership ends soon - Renew early to lock in old price of ₹999 1499 for another year of Prime.

The newsletter comes like this:

Prime promo email from Amazon India

Rajesh, Renew Prime early and save ₹500

Your Prime membership ends soon Renew today

Expiring soon

DON'T GO A DAY WITHOUT PRIME!

Your Prime membership ends soon - Renew early to lock in old price of ₹999 1499 for another year of Prime. Continue enjoying uninterrupted Prime benefits.

Renew today

Kindly ignore if you have already availed this offer.

Please note that product prices and availability are subject to change. Prices and availability were accurate at the time this newsletter was sent; however, they may differ from those you see when you visit Amazon.in.
Reference: 645589581

2. Amazon Prime Video shows a banner asking me to renew with an offer

3. Clicking the Amazon.in Prime offer, leads to an error page

You are no longer eligible for this offer.

This purchase is non-refundable. Offer limited to one per customer and account. Your Prime membership will not be auto renewed after next membership. Terms & conditions apply.

Contacting Amazon India Support

Here comes the weirdest support loop...

  1. I contacted the chat support and explained the issue
  2. Chat support connected me with a Prime team through the call
  3. A Prime team member says it is a Youth-only offer (which is wrong)
  4. I contact Amazon Twitter support with the necessary screenshots. Even after seeing those screenshots, they either reply with canned messages and then say it is a Youth-only offer (they also shared a link to the Youth-only offer page, which was not opening for me)
  5. Another canned reply came from the Amazon social media team.

What could be the reasons (Amazon India Scam or bug?)

  • It is definitely a programming issue in terms of UI/UX. The error page should have provided more details.
  • Probably auto-renewal might be already enabled and the price increase may not be affecting me. In that case, again the error message should have been clear.
  • Since, I didn't avail this offer already, there might be some programming errors.
  • The sales team, email marketing team, and development team may not be in sync. Or, the QA team might not have enough details to test the UX part.
  • While I don't think it is a scam, the support and responses received here are really pathetic
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Solved: "Ports" Tab Not Visible in VS Code (WSL2)

None of the solutions I found on Reddit or GitHub worked, and most of the related GitHub issues were locked. So I'm documenting this here for future reference. Problem When using WSL2 in Visual Studio Code, the Ports tab—needed to access your application in Windows browsers like Chrome or Edge—doesn't appear. Even the Ports-related options are missing from the Command Palette. Solution After a lot of trial and error, here's what worked: Run npx serve in the VS Code terminal. It will output a URL such as http://localhost:3000/ . Click the link (or use the Follow Link option). This will open the app in your default browser. You may notice that it opens on a different port (for example, http://localhost:64198 ). At this point, the Ports tab becomes available in VS Code. After this initial trigger, the Ports tab seems to remain available in future VS Code...
Post a Comment
Read more

Attraction, Status, and the Curious Pattern Behind Some Marriages

There has been a lot of discussion lately about celebrity divorces. As someone who closely observes human behavior, I have been thinking about a possible pattern behind some relationships. Before explaining my thought, I should mention something about my own background. From childhood, I was never particularly drawn to the idea of physical beauty. In fact, I even had a somewhat negative view of it. This may have come from the value systems around me while growing up. I also remember a religious gathering where someone said that a woman's beauty reflects her inner mind. Even at that time, I instinctively rejected that idea. Over the years, however, I have started noticing certain patterns in couples. When couples walk closely together, sit near each other, and interact affectionately in public, there often seems to be an interesting dynamic. In many such cases, the woman appears more attractive than the man. Sometimes she also seems more powerful in...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Overrated Tamil Culture

Since the COVID period, I developed an interest in exploring old books from the 1700s to the 1900s through Google Books. I first focused on the celebrated Protestant missionary Ringeltaube, but over time, my curiosity expanded toward understanding the demographics and social practices of that era. In Tamil Nadu, what is often celebrated as "Tamil Culture" revolves around the practice of monogamy, known locally as à®’à®°ுவனுக்கு à®’à®°ுத்தி — meaning one woman for one man. Some even compare this tradition with practices in other states, claiming Tamil culture is especially unique. This sense of pride is particularly strong around Madurai, where people often refer to themselves as “pure Tamil” when compared with neighboring regions like Kanyakumari, whose people they call Malayalis. What’s striking, though, is that this proud image doesn’t always align with historical accounts. A book published in 1885 (I’ve chosen not to mention its title or link to avoid stirring controversy) ma...
Post a Comment
Read more