Newmarket resident Lynda Linderman wants to remind residents to always check their credit card statements after she was surprised to see charges from Amazon for a subscription she said she did not sign up for.
She said she was charged $5.64 per month for Amazon Channels, a subscription filed under her card for CityTV.
“It turns out I had been charged for four months, November, December, January, and February and I called them in March,” said Linderman.
Linderman shared her experience in a community Facebook group. Her thread received more than 95 comments, with many people saying they had a similar experience.
"There was one person who said they were fighting with Amazon for $300, and there was another person who said, 'yup, I was fighting them for $11,' said Linderman. "That's what I found more astounding of how many people have this on their credit card charges."
She was surprised by the amount of people who had the same issues, which prompted her to seek to to raise awareness.
She went through her Amazon account to find past purchases. She only saw a subscription to Amazon Prime, which includes free shipping, Prime Video, and Amazon Music. She contacted customer support, which told her she had subscribed to CityTV, but Linderman told the live agent five times she did not subscribe.
Linderman was provided a refund. She told her sister about her ordeal, only to find out she, too, was charged for Amazon Channels.
Amazon investigated Linderman’s inquiry, stating there was no wrongdoing on their part, a spokesperson told NewmarketToday.
“Prime Video does not unknowingly sign up customers for add-on subscription channels,” said Catrina Jaricot, Prime Video spokesperson.
Linderman added it was a nuisance trying to sort out the problem.
“The process to get to a live person for this situation, out of 10, I would have given it a one,” said Linderman. “It was a real hard process to get to a live person.”
A person in the social media thread suggested using parental controls to prevent additional subscriptions, while others suggested always checking to ensure you are not automatically paying for subscriptions after free trials end.
Jaricot said Prime Video Channels such as CityTV+, STACKTV, Sportsnet and Paramount + are add-on paid subscriptions that are not included with a Prime Membership. She said content available via a subscription to a third-party Prime Video channel is clearly labelled, and customers are informed of the subscription at the time of sign-up.
“Additionally, after subscribing to the channel, customers receive a confirmation via email, which includes their subscription details and any costs associated,” said Jaricot.
The live agent suggested to Linderman she may have inadvertently signed up, but she said she did not.
“Many Prime Video Channel subscriptions come with a free trial,” said Jaricot. “Customers have the option to watch the content by signing up for an eligible free trial and are informed of the terms and details at the time of sign up. Once a customer consents to the terms of the agreement, they will receive a confirmation via email of their free trial and subscription details.”
