Closure of Account - Access to digital content

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

The regular .com site doesn't mention Kindle books. It does say you will no longer be able to log onto sites using your Amazon login, including audible.com.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...?nodeId=565164

Again, this link is clearly about accounts closed at the customer's request. That's not the topic of this thread.

[pdurrant]

I appreciate that people enjoy talking about things, but I would appreciate it if we could keep this thread focussed on posts containing information from a named or linked source, rather than speculation as to what Amazon might or might not allow.

[Barbara1955]

Sounds like Amazon using the ebooks to make them look good when they Close Accounts. In Reality the customer is SOL Like saying Customers Can Return items But the Reality is Customers have a Lifetime Limited Amount of returns! And they wont even say what the Limit is!

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I appreciate that people enjoy talking about things, but I would appreciate it if we could keep this thread focussed on posts containing information from a named or linked source, rather that speculation as to what Amazon might or might not allow.

But Closed is Closed no matter who does the closing or why. Until we can learn different. Seems this is the case. Hopefully some one finds out for sure. BUT you think a person with no ereader account going to be on MR to tell us? And in an Amazon Thread at that? Maybe to get these answers & more this thread needs to be moved to General Information?

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Again, this link is clearly about accounts closed at the customer's request. That's not the topic of this thread.

Yes I understand that, but it's the only info Amazon gives about closed accounts. Unless they have special coding to handle two different kinds of closed accounts, this info is what happens when an account is closed.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

Yes I understand that, but it's the only info Amazon gives about closed accounts. Unless they have special coding to handle two different kinds of closed accounts, this info is what happens when an account is closed.

Why wouldn't they have "special coding" to handle this? It would be extremely simple to code for that specific scenario - accessing of existing content allowed, but purchasing new content not allowed.

Shari

[eschwartz]

@Purple Lady,

Amazon might code them differently.
They might not.

We don't know.


Therefore, that link is speculation.

[Wearever]

pdurrant , Thanks for starting this thread , I for one am very interested in finding out what closed account really means. I hope they will get back to you with a clear answer, as they should.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by shalym

Why wouldn't they have "special coding" to handle this? It would be extremely simple to code for that specific scenario - accessing of existing content allowed, but purchasing new content not allowed.

Shari

Originally Posted by eschwartz

@Purple Lady,

Amazon might code them differently.
They might not.

We don't know.


Therefore, that link is speculation.

It's only fairly recent that they supposedly changed their policy to allow you access to your digital content and if it's like any other systems that I've worked on it's not extremely simple. There will be a number of areas that need code changes and not all will have been corrected. There are movies, music, ebooks, audio books, and probably others I haven't thought of. If Amazon closed your account, they don't care about you so won't work as hard to be sure you can have all your content.

There's also the Amazon app store. How can I use my paid for apps on a new device without signing in? Or on my existing device that had to be factory reset?

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

It's only fairly recent that they supposedly changed their policy to allow you access to your digital content and if it's like any other systems that I've worked on it's not extremely simple. There will be a number of areas that need code changes and not all will have been corrected. There are movies, music, ebooks, audio books, and probably others I haven't thought of. If Amazon closed your account, they don't care about you so won't work as hard to be sure you can have all your content.

There's also the Amazon app store. How can I use my paid for apps on a new device without signing in? Or on my existing device that had to be factory reset?

Why not Just code payment options for the account to lock into a permanent "denied" field?
That could block even normally free purchases.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Why not Just code payment options for the account to lock into a permanent "denied" field?
That could block even normally free purchases.

I was talking about accessing already purchased content. Denying paying for content is certainly easy.

[AnemicOak]

Paul, did you send your email to regular CS, Kindle CS, Kindle Feedback, Jeff??? I wonder if the answers might differ depending on where the question is asked. (not that it should, but I wonder if it would)

[Barbara1955]

Phones have Keyboard like app. Does this mean cant use the Amazon Phone? UGH

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Atunah

I And I also pay for the cloud drive that now went up in price for the unlimited. Without the amazon account, one cannot sign in there either and will potentially lose documents and files. Or would they still let one download those. I guess that doesn't need a device. But what if they won't even let someone sign into the account anymore at all.

Yikes.

My Cloud Drive is with Dropbox. I'd never trust that with Amazon. I have ebooks and Audibles only.

I've only ever bought TV shows/films from iTunes and I have those on DVD as well. When we buy music it's always the CD, hubby likes iTunes and MP3 but he would never buy only digital music, just like I won't buy only digital TV/films, we like the hard copy too.

We need laws to protect digital content but we won't see that in my lifetime I very much doubt.

[pdurrant]

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.]