Cannot remove ads from ad supported Kindle Paperwhite 2024

[gertblij]

I just bought a new, ad supported Kindle Paperwhite 2024 and want to remove the ads.
This is what I tried:

1. Log into amazon.com and go to My Account
2. Go to Devices
3. Click on device
4. Click on device again in the drop down
5. A new window opens titled “Special Offers”
6. Click on “Remove Offers”
7. A new window opens titled “Remove special offers” with the text “Are you sure you want to remove the special offers? You will not be charged for this action.”
8. Click on “End Offers”

And that should be it, but nothing happens ☹

After that I have tried restarting the Kindle, wait for hours, deregister and reregister the Kindle, but nothing works.

Any suggestions very welcome.

[pdurrant]

Contact customer support, either by online chat or by phone.

[gertblij]

I did, three times, but they keep sending me around in square circles :-(

[Quoth]

AFAIK, you do have to pay. They will let you ADD special offers to a Kindle without charge. I never heard of free removal on a new Kindle.

Check your script blocking. Don't use Edge or Safari. Use laptop/desktop, not Android or iOS.
Chromium, Chrome and Firefox should work, if nothing is blocked.

[gertblij]

Thanks,
I don't mind paying at all. But where do I go to do that?

[gertblij]

Downloaded Chrome and same results :-(

The final window clearly says "Are you sure you want to remove the special offers? You will not be charged for this action."

How else do I interpret this?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by gertblij

Downloaded Chrome and same results :-(

The final window clearly says "Are you sure you want to remove the special offers? You will not be charged for this action."

How else do I interpret this?

Since it's coming from Amazon, just accept it.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by gertblij

Downloaded Chrome and same results :-(

The final window clearly says "Are you sure you want to remove the special offers? You will not be charged for this action."

How else do I interpret this?

And it doesn't remove the adverts?

Won't be the first or last time the Amazon web programmers have broken Kindle stuff. A few weeks ago the "buy for someone else" wouldn't redeem for the recipient. A few days later it was fixed.

[gertblij]

No, it does not remove the adverts

[issybird]

Just throwing this out there; a WAG on my part.

Could the issue be the OP’s location in South Africa? I know some countries don’t (or at least didn’t) sell ad-supported Kindles at all. But if there’s no local supply of international/South Africa-specific Kindles and they’re imported from elsewhere, they might come from the manufacturer with ads. And then perhaps there’s no faculty to remove ads from a Kindle in SA because they’re not supposed to have ads in the first place….

Hence, the “you will not be charged” that ends up doing nothing. That is, a device that fell between the cracks.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by gertblij

I did, three times, but they keep sending me around in square circles :-(

Then you'll need to be persistent. When adverts get removed, it happens preety near instantly, so I'd stay on the chat until that happens, possibly escalating to a supervisor.

Issybird makes a good point about your location. That might have a bearing on things, I don't know.

[gertblij]

From Amazon support:
n order to remove special offers, the Preferred Marketplace (PFM) and Country of Residence (COR) must match a supported region where the device was purchased (US, UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, JP, CN)

[pdurrant]

That's awful.

Do you have a friend in one of those countries who could temporarily register it to their Amazon account to get the ads removed?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

That's awful.

Do you have a friend in one of those countries who could temporarily register it to their Amazon account to get the ads removed?

See also Amazon "gift cards". You have to buy them on Marketplace where they will be redeemed, not the buyers or recipient's "home" Marketplace.

Buying a Kindle ebook to "gift"? Can only be bought on your "home" Marketplace, or Marketplace that your Kindle uses, also can only be redeemed by someone using a Kindle or Kindle App (registered to their account) on the same Marketplace (not reading on any device as Amazon claims) and may have additional restrictions, such as if you are Ireland (which generally uses Kindle UK, though there is an Amazon IE now) only someone with address in Ireland (the country, not the Island) with Kindle registered to UK Marketplace can redeem it. This may even be illegal.

Research well before buying a Kindle. I've bought many, some for other family members. I still have 2x PW3, K3 and DXG. I will not buy a Kindle again.

An un-redeemed Kindle eBook can be returned for refund if the recipient can't redeem it. A "gift token" can't be transferred or refunded and only works on the Marketplace where it was bought.

Also the deceptive marketing of Audible, Kindle Unlimited and Prime, with "Dark UI" checkouts in countries where regulator doesn't object (like big button to "Complete with Prime" and tiny text to finalise checkout without signup to Prime.

Don't report losing a Kindle? If you find it again it can't ever be re-registered by you. Only report if 100% sure it was stolen or lost away from home.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Don't report losing a Kindle? If you find it again it can't ever be re-registered by you. Only report if 100% sure it was stolen or lost away from home.

One acquaintance of mine lost their Oasis when their luggage went missing on a flight from Vancouver to Winnipeg. The suggestion they got from a Amazon customer service agent was to deregister the Oasis from their account and only report it as lost when they were absolutely certain their luggage would not be located. Evidently several people had reported their Kindles as lost in a similar situation and then when their luggage was located, as you mentioned, they were SOL in getting their Kindle de-blacklisted.

BTW, if you are a Canadian customer, Audible still does not support Kindle ereaders. Evidently, they are still studying any possible issues. Nor does Amazon Canada have the Colorsoft for sale.

To quote a response about 4 months ago from Audible:

At this time, Kindle is not compatible with our Audible.ca software. We are always looking to expand our compatible devices catalog but since an extensive technical testing is required to perfect the final platform it may take a bit longer then expected to release a supported platform.