Am I out of luck?

[la79al]

My Amazon Prime just pulled the $84 or whatever out of my bank account without an email or anything. It's not an account I really use much so there wasn't $84 in it. So now I have a ~$40 NSF fee from the bank. I talked to 2 people at the bank and both said that I couldn't get it reversed since it wasn't a bank error. Anything else I can do or I'm out of luck?

 

[luvmy3]

I think you'd be out of luck, sorry. Its the bank who charges the fee not Amazon. Have you not used your Amazon acct, when my prime is expiring it notifies me right there on Amazon.

 

[LJSquishy]

If the bank said they won't reverse it, you are out of luck. On a rare occasion they will waive a NSF fee but not usually. Just a lesson learned. You may want to link your Amazon account to a card you use more frequently for 'next time'. Also, a lot of times you can link your checking & savings account together so if there are NSF in your checking, it will pull from your savings so you don't get hit with the fee.

 

[RitaE]

You can have Amazon cancel the Prime Membership

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201118030

Do one of the following:
To cancel a paid Amazon Prime membership, click End membership.
Note: Paid members who haven't placed an Amazon Prime eligible order are eligible for a full refund.

To cancel your Amazon Prime free trial, click Do not continue .
Note: If you don't cancel your Amazon Prime free trial, you will be automatically upgraded to a paid membership plan at the end of the trial period.

That won't take care of your NSF fee though. It is unlikely the bank will reverse that since the charge was legitimate.

 

[MickeyFan1981]

You have to cancel Prime before the date of charging...or you agree to pay each month for
prime.

 

[tasha99]

You have to cancel Prime before the date of charging...or you agree to pay each month for
prime.

I helped a patient of mine cancel his account after it charged. He got a full refund.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Amazon also renewed my Prime membership with no warning. Luckily it was charged to my credit card so there was no problem with it being pulled directly from my bank account. All it said on the credit card bill was "Amazon" so I had to call and ask what the charge was for. I wish they would send an email to let you know your account is expiring and will be automatically renewed unless you cancel it.

Regarding the bank charge, it's up to your bank if they'll reverse it or not. I would recommend only using a credit card for recurring charges to avoid this in the future. It's such a bummer when it happens!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . now I have a ~$40 NSF fee from the bank . . .

1) You will not get the $40 NSF fee back.
. . . it was a legal transaction by Amazon
. . . it was a legal transaction by the bank
2) Of course, why would you have people pull money from a bank account?
3) This is a good reason not to use debit cards (just one of many reasons).

 

[hsmamato2]

I have my amazon prime account set to "DO NOT AUTO RENEW" for this reason....I don't want a surprise when the year is up,and I forget it exists.....(for future reference,OP) and yes, you are probably ool on this one, since it was 'authorized' in your account.....just consider it a life lesson

 

[bumbershoot]

Also, a lot of times you can link your checking & savings account together so if there are NSF in your checking, it will pull from your savings so you don't get hit with the fee.

Every bank or CU I've ever used does this, and every bank or CU I've ever used charges you anyway. Same fee as if you didn't have the money. I've never quite understood what the point was, since they still charged you. I finally took that off of my Chase account in hopes that they'll just DENY the charge if I don't have the money, which is what they say they should do. I'm also making sure it doesn't happen.


Alas, with Prime your initial agreement allows them to autorenew. Permission was given when you signed up for it.

 

[pryncess527]

I'd cancel Prime for the refund, as suggested by PPs and then once the refund is applied call the bank and see if they'll reverse the NSF fee. Often, getting the NSF fee removed is just a matter of getting the right person, and once they see that the charge that made you go NSF is reversed, they may be more willing to help.

 

[angierae]

Every bank or CU I've ever used does this, and every bank or CU I've ever used charges you anyway. Same fee as if you didn't have the money. I've never quite understood what the point was, since they still charged you. I finally took that off of my Chase account in hopes that they'll just DENY the charge if I don't have the money, which is what they say they should do. I'm also making sure it doesn't happen.


Alas, with Prime your initial agreement allows them to autorenew. Permission was given when you signed up for it.

With my bank, it's like a $7 charge for the transfer vs a $35 charge for an NSF. I'd much rather pay the $7.