Amazon now implementing membership fees for Prime Fresh customers in Seattle, New York City and Philadelphia
After an extended period of offering free-trials to customers using the Prime Fresh grocery delivery service in the US cities of Seattle, New York City and Philadelphia, Amazon is now starting to charge the annual $299 membership fee. According to US sources, Amazon has already been charging fee in other cities including Los Angeles, but it kept extending the free trial period – nominally for 30 days – for many months in New York and Philadelphia.
According to a report published by Seattle-based tech news service Geekwire, Amazon Fresh customers in Seattle, New York City and Philadelphia received a message from Amazon when they logged into their accounts last weekend which said: “AmazonFresh is now available exclusively to Prime Fresh members.”
The message then linked to a page which said that Prime Fresh offers “free AmazonFresh delivery on grocery orders over $50, plus all the benefits of Prime. Prime Fresh membership is available as an upgrade of Amazon Prime, which includes all the benefits of Prime plus access to AmazonFresh.”
The Amazon web message added: “Prime Fresh is required to shop AmazonFresh. After your (30-day) free trial, you will be charged $299 for the next year and annually after that. Existing Prime customers who upgrade to Prime Fresh will be refunded for their Prime membership on a prorated basis.”
