Canceling your Amazon Prime membership is a total maze

July 2, 2023

By Kim Komando

If trying to cancel your Amazon Prime membership feels like taking the SATs, it’s not just you. According to new leaked internal documents, they set it up like that on purpose.

Because of the confusing maze of instructions, Amazon reduced cancellations by 14%. So, what did they do? And is Prime even really worth it? 

Operation … what now?

Amazon’s scheme to trick customers into staying Prime members included four pages of deals, offers, snooze alarms and several other distractions. Fun fact: Amazon codenamed its scammy scheme “Iliad Flow,” a nod to Homer’s legendary epic about the Trojan War. Sounds like the name of a hit new-age music album.

It gets worse. According to a new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit, Amazon hid its schemes from federal investigators. 

Regulators say Amazon execs delayed or straight-up rejected user experience changes that would have made the cancellation process simpler. You know, because it’s all about that bottom line.

This isn’t the first time Amazon came under fire for fooling its customers. It once put a pretty sketchy offer to join Prime on its website. The offer’s ‘No’ option was through a menu button that said, “No Thanks, I don’t want FREE Two-Day Shipping.” What happened to just plain … no?

Greetings, Prime citizen

Wondering if Prime’s $139 yearly (or $14.99 monthly) fee is worth it? Here are some of the top features keeping customers hooked:

• Free two-day delivery on over 10 million items.
• Free one-day or same-day shipping on some orders over $25.
• Exclusive access to Prime Day deals (it’s Amazon’s very own Black Friday).
• Two-hour grocery delivery from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh ($150 order minimum).
• Access to stream music, movies and TV shows through Prime Music and Prime Video.

Prime probably isn’t worth it if you’re not a regular Amazon shopper. If you only buy a couple of items a year, chances are the free shipping benefits won’t outweigh the cost of your membership. Without Prime, shipping fees typically cost between $4 and $10.

Some of the added benefits of Prime aren’t for everyone either. For example, if you’re happy with your existing TV and music streaming services, you might not use Amazon’s services.

Beating the final boss

So you’ve decided you want to ditch your Prime membership. Lucky for you, we jumped through the hoops, so you don’t have to. Here’s what you need to do:

Canceling Prime through the Amazon App:

• Open the Amazon app. Click on the three lines in the bottom right corner to bring up the shortcuts menu. 

• Click on the Prime button in the upper left corner and then hit the blue Prime icon.

• Click the Prime logo in the top left corner, then click Manage My Membership.

• From the dropdown menu options, click Manage Membership.

• Click End Membership (you’re not done yet).

• Scroll through the message that tells you how many days are left in your membership. Click Continue to cancel.

• On the next page, click the End on [DATE] yellow button to complete the process.

Canceling Prime from your computer:

• On the Amazon homepage, hover over the Account & Lists tab in the top right corner.

• Click on Prime Membership from the dropdown menu to go to your personal membership page. Then, select Manage Membership on the right.

• Select End Membership from the dropdown menu.

• On the next page, view how many days are left in your billing cycle. Then, click the yellow Continue to cancel button.

• On the next page, click the End on [DATE] yellow button to complete the process.

Speaking of Amazon, did you know you could buy others’ unclaimed packages? Get all of those details here.