How I Got Rid of Kindle Special Offers For Free

1 minute read

tl;dr: Ask nicely (via web chat).

  1. Go into Amazon web chat. Don’t call them, don’t send a request via email. Use web chat. Talk to a human as close to “face-to-face” as you can.
  2. Say “May I get Special Offers removed from my Kindle, pretty please?”.
  3. More than likely, they’ll do it.
  4. Shower them with appreciation.

Here’s how my conversation went:

My initial question: “Can I (pretty) please have Special Offers turned off?”

<Amazon Rep> Hello, my name is Amazon Rep. I'm here to help you today.
<Amazon Rep> I see that you have purchased the Kindle with Special Offers. In
this case, to cancel the Special Offers on your Kindle, you will be charged
$20 to your account.
<Me> I am low on cash and I buy a lot of Kindle books. Is there any way I could
get that fee waived?
<Amazon Rep> I see that you're a Prime customer. In this case, as an exception,
I can waive the fee for you.
<Me> Thank you!
<Amazon Rep> I have disabled Special Offers for your Kindle.
<Me> Thank you, I really appreciate it.

About 2 minutes later, I got a popup telling me that Special Offers have been disabled on my Kindle. Instead of ads, I now see beautiful book covers on my sleep screen and I no longer have to slide to unlock through ads before getting back to my reading.

I saved $20, and Amazon earned more than $20 in continued customer loyalty.

Often, it pays to ask for what you want nicely.

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