With very little fanfare, and even less regard for its customers, Amazon has taken away yet another free perk of being an Amazon Prime customer, and is now charging $1.99 to use the Amazon Key In-Garage delivery service. This makes the 4th thing just this year which Amazon has removed, or up-charged; in addition to now newly charging for the Amazon Key service, Amazon took away Amazon Smile, changed the free delivery threshold for Amazon Fresh from $35 to $150, and announced that Amazon Prime video customers would have to pay an extra $3 per month if they didn’t want ads inserted into their previously free-with-Prime videos.
In fact, just this morning (October 4th, 2023) the Amazon page about Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery read, as it always has before, “Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery allows delivery of Amazon packages and groceries inside your garage. It’s free for Amazon Prime members.”
But sometime between this morning and this afternoon they updated the page to read “Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery allows delivery of Amazon packages and groceries inside your garage. It’s exclusive for Amazon Prime members.” That one-word change, from “free” to “exclusive” tells the story.
Amazon shoppers using the Amazon app were notified with an in-app notification:
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Important Update from Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery
In-Garage Delivery now costs $1.99 per order. However, that fee will be waived whenever you use Amazon Day with Key Delivery.
With free Amazon Day with Key Delivery, your in-garage deliveries are combined and delivered inside your garage on the same day every week, on the day of your choice. We call it “your Amazon Day.”
It gives you total control over what day your packages arrive, reduces the number of drivers opening your garage for deliveries, and helps reduce the number of boxes used per order.
You can also change your delivery preferences between in-garage or doorstep delivery whenever you like, either at checkout or in the Amazon app under Amazon Key settings.
A spokesperson for Amazon, in an email to The Verge, justified the new charge thusly: “We will change the free default option for Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery to Amazon Day with Key Delivery. Customers will have more flexibility and control over their Amazon deliveries using Amazon Day with Key Delivery, including the ability to choose their delivery day and combine in-garage deliveries so they’ll arrive on the same day.”
What they mean by changing the free option to Amazon Day with Key Delivery is that if you choose both Key In-Garage Delivery and to have that Key In-Garage Delivery done on a pre-selected Amazon Delivery Day, then the Key In-Garage Delivery will still be free. Explains the newly updated page, “After shopping on Amazon.com, select an In-Garage Delivery option at checkout. Key Delivery is $1.99 per order. This fee is waived when you use FREE Amazon Day with Key Delivery. To enjoy In-Garage Delivery for free, you can set Amazon Day with Key as your default delivery option. Set your delivery preference in Amazon Key settings or select it at checkout.”
What are your thoughts about this change? What about the constellation of death by papercut cost changes that Amazon is making? Let us know!
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