I had a reply from trading standards saying that the practice WAS misleading and they will investigate. Meanwhile I have removed my card details from my Amazon account (that's how they get you!).

The screen appears after you try to buy something. I want avoid being stung with Amazon Prime. The first time it happened I was told by customer services that their records had shown I hadn't even clicked on anything, and that they didn't actually know how they managed to sign me up! There is no hope.

Thats what happened to me.

I certainly thought I'd been conned when I saw the money gone from my account. On that occasion the operator said that since I hadn't even selected or clicked the "Amazon Prime" membership option in the first place due to "some technical error" (noting that I hadn't actually used any of it's services) so they would cancel it. I found it interesting therefore to see that the method of paying for goods is laid out in such a manner that they are steering you to choose the £79 subscription rather than pay a straight £3.00 or whatever for postage, knowing full well that some are likely to select it by accident and of those, some are likely to not even notice the funds have been withdrawn, either because they are too rich and don't care or they are just blind to it?

Maybe it is "Misleading" then.....

Whilst idly scanning through my bank statement I flagged a £79 direct debit from Amazon. I knew I hadn't purchased anything of that value from them so, thinking that my account may have been breached I called Amazon. It transpired that I had apparently signed-up for "Amazon Prime" membership (some kind of trade-off to get free delivery if you happen to place lots of orders, and you get to watch Amazon movies), in any case I certainly didn't authorize it. After a call to their customer service centre they eventually cancelled my "membership" (only after hearing from them what incredible offers I was losing-out on!). I later realised how this [problem] works (see attached screen shot). When you place an order for something they automatically store your card details and they don't give you the total cost of the purchase until you select one of 2 options: 1) "Sign up and pay" with the familiar slightly over-sized yellow PAY NOW click box, or 2) "No thanks I don't want unlimited one-day delivery" in the teeniest most unreadable light blue font, almost obscured by the white background. Select 1) and you have inadvertently signed up for Amazon Prime and authorized them to use your card details! BEWARE! Always delete your card details after a purchase (unless you want to use Amazon Prime in which case you probably buy loads of stuff from them anyway). Carlos - The Consumer Avenger

In 2004, In order to clear credit card debts my wife saw ad ad from Direct Line (Royal Bank of Scotland) asking if she wanted to “clear her debts for good” plus “have some cash spare”. This was too tempting for her to resist and within an hour they had managed to arrange for an unsecured loan of £16,500 without checking whether she could afford to pay it back, only a credit check was required - which of course was accepted. Now that – through debt management company “Spectrum Financial Solutions” (who curiously, also had also claimed to “clear her debts for good”) had forwarded us a court order claiming repayment of £19,500 immediately and in the interim had applied to secure this on the equity of my house (which also happens to have the wife’s name as co-owner). So we sent a written request for a copy of the loan agreement via recorded delivery. My wife phoned the RBS to ask whether they had received our request for the loan agreement and she was told (whilst they still did not admit or deny receiving it) “ it is now in the hands of our solicitors, Spratt Endicott”, RBS did not make it clear whether they actually had a copy of it and sent it to their solicitors, or they were passing the buck onto them, or it could have even be bundled with the case notes – either way they are being shady about it, especially as we are still making repayments for this loan. Are we the only ones in this situation? Thought for the day: If it was open to a shareholder vote, we would win!