Amazon Prime Commercials Coming To Amazon Prime in 2024 (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

I contacted Amazon and they credited me the $2.99 for the first month.

Why did they do that?
Did you pay the $2.99?
What was it you told them when you contacted them?

 

[Todd Erwin]

Why did they do that?
Did you pay the $2.99?
What was it you told them when you contacted them?

So, as a test, I upgraded to Ad-Free and then tried to play Season 2, Episode 1 of Reacher and it miraculously began playing in both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos (it was playing in HDR10 and Dolby Digital+ 5.1 with Ad-Supported).

I called and asked point blank "Is Ad-Free needed to play Prime Original programming in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos?" It took a few agents to understand my question, but a supervisor came on the line and said that they were aware of the issue and the developer team was looking into it. I told them that I should not have to pay $2.99 just to get Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and he agreed, and processed a credit of $2.99 back to my account. I am leaving Ad-Free off for now so that I know when and if this ever gets fixed.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I still don’t understand how it is permitted for them to downgrade the quality of service that people have pre-paid for. If you go to the store and buy a dozen rolls of paper towels for $5, the store can change the price to $10 the next day, but they can’t come to your house and take back half of the ones you bought yesterday.

I get that this isn’t world hunger so at the end of the day this is a relatively minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of problems on planet earth, but it’s still shady business practice which goes against standard industry practice and I don’t understand why this isn’t a larger story.

Spread the Word...

 

[Malcolm R]

I still don’t understand how it is permitted for them to downgrade the quality of service that people have pre-paid for. If you go to the store and buy a dozen rolls of paper towels for $5, the store can change the price to $10 the next day, but they can’t come to your house and take back half of the ones you bought yesterday.

I get that this isn’t world hunger so at the end of the day this is a relatively minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of problems on planet earth, but it’s still shady business practice which goes against standard industry practice and I don’t understand why this isn’t a larger story.

Everyone's too busy exhausting their outrage about 4K discs mastered from 2K sources and the sound volume of the chorus in the background of the soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Just stick w/ Apple Music and forget about Amazon Music that's included w/ Prime -- simply not worth your bother at all, end of story, LOL. Also, pretty sure the additional paid version won't be worth bothering either.

_Man_

It really depends on what you are looking for in streaming music. For us, we use the service mainly as background music while doing other things (eating breakfast, folding laundry, etc). We also have Echo devices in various spots throughout our two residences. Amazon's included music service works for us. If I want to stream a particular album, I probably have it on my phone and play it that way via Bluetooth.

We just finished a free month of Amazon's premium music service (they gave it to us at random). The main difference is you can play specific artists exclusively. With the lower service, telling Alexa to "play Billy Joel" will get you the reply "playing Billy Joel and similar artists". This was a change to the basic music service about a year ago or so.

 

[Bryan^H]

Class action lawsuits have been started (and won) for much less than this!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Class action lawsuits have been started (and won) for much less than this!

Yippee. The lawfirm representing the case will rake in tens of millions of dollars, while I will get an award of $10 in digital credits at Amazon.

 

[dpippel]

Amazon's net profit last year was $30.4 BILLION, and they want to charge me an extra $3 a month to keep commercials out of my Prime video stream?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Amazon's net profit last year was $30.4 BILLION, and they want to charge me an extra $3 a month to keep commercials out of my Prime video stream?

Doug,

Couldn't agree with you more.

AMAZON PRIME used to be an attractive package. Then, they raised the annual price, took away benefits, and my packages weren't always delivered in the promised time frame. Heck, with a large distribution center less than 20 miles away, all my packages should be delivered the next day for the price they charge.

Meanwhile, as you point out, they make a killing profit every year while nickel-and-diming their subscribers.

The only reason I am still in PRIME is due to the fact I order everything from Amazon. I don't watch their video service so I don't feel as affected by the changes, though I certainly sympathize with the anger of introducing commercials and asking $3 a month to remove them.

 

[dpippel]

Doug,

Couldn't agree with you more.

AMAZON PRIME used to be an attractive package. Then, they raised the annual price, took away benefits, and my packages weren't always delivered in the promised time frame. Heck, with a large distribution center less than 20 miles away, all my packages should be delivered the next day for the price they charge.

Meanwhile, as you point out, they make a killing profit every year while nickel-and-diming their subscribers.

The only reason I am still in PRIME is due to the fact I order everything from Amazon. I don't watch their video service so I don't feel as affected by the changes, though I certainly sympathize with the anger of introducing commercials and asking $3 a month to remove them.

I'm like you, Ron. I subscribe to Prime mainly for the free shipping and other shopping perks, and don't watch a whole lot of video content on Amazon. I also don't utilize Amazon Music, since I'm quite happy paying for Apple Music with their practically 100% lossless library and seamless Apple ecosystem integration. However, I do watch the occasional Prime series and certainly don't want to be dodging advertisements every time I do.

I'm going to seriously rethink my participation in Prime when my renewal date rolls around. It really chaps my a$$ that even though Prime Video was a commercial-free service when I paid for it, Amazon is reneging on that contract with 4 months left on my subscription unless I pay extra. Oh, I'm sure there's something that protects them if they do something like this, buried deep down somewhere in the moist bowels of their EULA, but screw them. It may be time for me to just start shopping elsewhere.

 

[jayembee]

Amazon's net profit last year was $30.4 BILLION, and they want to charge me an extra $3 a month to keep commercials out of my Prime video stream?

Penis rockets aren't cheap...

 

[jayembee]

I originally typed "Penis rockets don't come cheap..." but decided that was perhaps a step too far.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I still don’t understand how it is permitted for them to downgrade the quality of service that people have pre-paid for.

What did the EULA say when you signed up?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Honestly couldn’t tell you. I’ve been a Prime member since before they even had a streaming service so it’s all rolled over from one year or another without me re-reading the terms each time. There could very well be something in the fine print that allows them in theory to do whatever the hell they want, the lawyers probably ensured that was the case.

Ultimately big companies only can get away with what their customers will allow and for better or worse, it would seem that too many people are indifferent to the whole thing to force them to behave better.

There was simply no reason to take such a blunt approach. All they had to do was do what every single other subscription provider that started as ad-free and went ad-supported after the fact did: let current subscriptions play out as they had began, and renew at the ad tier unless the customer opted to pay more. They’re banking on the idea that people either won’t notice or won’t care, and the revenue they’re getting from the ads is more valuable to them than getting additional subscription revenue. I get the business of it. Legally permissible does not always equal ethical.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I'm not disagreeing with you, but if the agreement we never read said they could change the service at anytime there's not much we can do.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Amazon Prime Video Ad Tier Sparks Class Action Lawsuit From Subscribers

The lawsuit takes aim at the ecommerce giant turning on ads for Prime Video users and charging them an additional fee for its ad-free tier.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There was simply no reason to take such a blunt approach. All they had to do was do what every single other subscription provider that started as ad-free and went ad-supported after the fact did: let current subscriptions play out as they had began, and renew at the ad tier unless the customer opted to pay more. They’re banking on the idea that people either won’t notice or won’t care, and the revenue they’re getting from the ads is more valuable to them than getting additional subscription revenue. I get the business of it. Legally permissible does not always equal ethical.

Exactly. I wouldn't have been thrilled if I had to pay an extra $48 to keep my annual subscription ad-free at my next renewal. But I wouldn't feel ripped off like I do now.

 

[Al.Anderson]

I originally got Prime for the 2-day shipping and the streaming. As others have said, the 2-day shipping has become a pipe-dream, and now the streaming is devalued. Unfortunately, I went to cancel Prime but realized that I have a lot wrapped up in Prime Visa. So I'm going to have to find a new card with decent benefits first.

 

[dpippel]

Exactly. I wouldn't have been thrilled if I had to pay an extra $48 to keep my annual subscription ad-free at my next renewal. But I wouldn't feel ripped off like I do now.

How did you get $48 extra? $2.99X12=$35.88. Still a slap in the face for current subscribers.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Apparently, the movement of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to the ad-free tier was intentional but no one bothered to tell anyone at Prime Video support.

Amazon Prime Video makes Dolby Vision, Atmos a paid upgrade | Digital Trends

Amazon Prime Video subscribers who remain on the service's ad-supported tier may find their streaming quality has been compromised.

www.digitaltrends.com