Furious Amazon Prime members complain app is ‘out of control’ after controversial update and say it’s ‘now worthless’
AMAZON members have grown frustrated with a major change to Prime video that they claim has made the streaming experience terrible.
Several viewers have taken to social media to share their annoyance with the streaming platform after a major and controversial change was made by Amazon.
Earlier this year, the company decided to start showing advertisements on Prime Video content.
If users want to watch movies and TV shows without ads, they now have to pay an extra $2.99 per month.
Now, the cost of Prime Video racks up to nearly $36 more per year.
A typical Amazon Prime membership only costs around $14.99 a month.
The controversial change has left many Amazon fans furious.
Several have taken to Reddit to express their frustrations, calling the company “out of control” over the increased advertisements.
“Last night I was forced to watch 9 ads in a row. Repeatedly,” one viewer posted on a Reddit thread dedicated to Amazon Prime.
“My bf and I discovered if you pause a show, an ad will pop up and bounce around the screen. Then when I resumed, it played 3-4 ads. I paused right after them to speak to my bf and when I resumed, it gave me 3-4 more ads!!
“Anytime you rewind, pause, or fast forward, 3-4 more ads. They want you to pay more for the luxury of not having ads, but that seems like cheap behavior to me.
The Amazon member wrote that they hoped the company would “dial it back” with the amount of ads shown.
“It’s just out of control.”
Several others have agreed, saying the cost of the membership is not worth the annoyance.
“I near enough don’t buy from amazon but do use prime video, if there’s ads why should I need an account?” one Amazon member said.
“I do feel the same way about netflix as well. But it doesn’t make sense to me, just comes across as double dipping. Am I mad thinking this?”
Amazon Prime perks you might have missed
Check these out...
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First up is Prime Try Before You Buy, which is a Prime exclusive.
This lets you try new styles and sizes of clothes before buying them.
You can return them within seven days at no cost – and you’ll only have to pay for the products that you keep.
It’s a thriftier way to try on clothes, as it means you’re not fronting up money every time.
Second is Amazon Photos, which is extremely handy if you’re a serial snapper.
This gives you access to unlimited full-res photo storage, plus 5GB of video storage.
Third is Prime Reading, which serves up “a rotating collection of over 3,000 digital books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and more”.
Fourth is another perk for book-lovers: Amazon First Reads.
This gives you early access to a brand new book for free every single month.
Fifth is a brilliant perk called Prime Gaming.
This gets you free games and in-game content every single month, as well as a free Twitch channel subscription to use each month.
You’ll also be able to play a rotating selection of free games on Amazon’s cloud gaming service Luna.
Sixth on the list is Membership Sharing.
This lets you share your existing Prime membership with your family – specifically between two adults, four teens, and four children under 13.
Seventh on the list is Amazon Music.
This gets you ad-free listening to over 100 million songs, along with thousands of playlists and popular podcasts.
And finally, don’t forget to unlock Grubhub+.
If you’re a Prime member in the US, you can get a one-year Grubhub+ trial, which normally costs $9.99 a month.
This gets you unlimited $0 delivery fees on any order over $12.
- Get a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime here
Others said they had previously opted into the streaming service because there were no ads.
“I’m outraged,” one user wrote.
“Ad-free videos was half the reason I chose to renew prime membership. The did bait and switch.”
OTHER CHANGES
In addition to introducing more ads, Amazon has also recently removed other features from the basic Prime Video subscription that are now only accessible with the ad-free membership.
Specifically, viewers can no longer enjoy Dolby Vision HDR with the basic membership or Dolby Atmos surround sound without the extra costs.
Amazon has defended the changes, with VP Jay Marine saying they are looking to put more money into the content for members.
“We start with the customer and work backwards,” Marine said.
“And by making this change, we’ll be able to continue to invest in more great content – like hit movies and TV shows and more live sports – and that investment will continue to grow over time to deliver an even better service for Prime members.”