Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
I have sent an email to Customer Services:
Spoiler:
Dear Amazon,
Back in 2012, there was an fuss about a Norwegian woman who claimed that she
had lost all access to her Kindle ebooks when you closed her account. Reports on
the case were all over the internet and even the traditional press, e.g. The
Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...eletes-account
I had thought that this was just a mistake, and that if you did choose to
close a customer's account for any reason, access to purchased digital content
would be retained, even if the ability to make new purchases was removed.
Indeed, an official Amazon post seemed to confirm this:
http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle/r...x2L4A0AVZM5WVQ
"Account status should not affect any customer's ability to access their
library.
If any customer has trouble accessing their content, he or she should contact
customer service for help."
However, I recently became aware of an Amazon customer with a significant
Kindle library, who was warned about the number of (physical purchase) returns
they had had on their account, and was worried about their access to their
Kindle library if Amazon chose to close their account. They tried to contact
customer services about this possibility and were told that they would lose
access.
"Once an account is closed, the Kindle library and all the e-books will not
be accessible."
While I hope that Amazon would never choose to close my account with them, I
would very much appreciate official and definitive clarification on this matter,
as it will affect my purchasing decisions on digital content.
regards,
Paul Durrant
|
I got a reply:
Spoiler:
Thanks for using Amazon.co.uk. My name is Hussain from Amazon Kindle Support team. I'll do my best to answer your query.
Firstly, I'd like to assure you that we value all our customers and appreciate your association with us.
At this time, I'd like to confirm that if your account is closed for any reason, it is true that you will lose access to your purchased Digital content.
However, please stay assured, that unless the request doesn't come from your end, Your account is secure and active.
With regards to the instances you have mentioned, about the closure of accounts, it depends on various factors as there is a separate department that deals with these decisions.
I see that you have been associated with Amazon.co.uk since long and has been a regular buyer of the products and services from Amazon.co.uk. We definitely would like to continue the same relationship with you.
Meanwhile, I'll also take your email as a feedback and forward it to our concerned team so that the option of making the availability of the Digital content even after closure of the account regardless of any reason.
Finally, if you have any other concerns or issues, please feel free to forward further comments and suggestions about our website to us. Each suggestion will be read and taken into consideration by our business team.
I hope this information helps.
I feel this is a first level support person who has just looked up closing an account from a user request point of view, and hasn't addressed my point about the 2012 announcement.
I have asked for an explicit statement on whether that policy is no longer in effect, and hopefully that'll get it bounced higher.
[EDIT: To answer AnemicOak's question, this was through a contact form at Amazon.co.uk, specifying Kindle as the reason for contact from a drop-down. I couldn't find a separate link for Kindle-specific support.]