I recently had to order some gefilte fish. As a Jew, if I go too long without gefilte fish, I’ll shrivel up and die – and I had to buy it from Amazon, because it was CHEAPER.

Actually, there was something else I had to buy from there, due to a lack of alternatives. At that point, Amazon had tricked me into clicking on the “try Amazon Prime” button. They make it very easy. So easy, that there’s little doubt that millions of people have accidentally clicked on it, thus starting their “free 30 day trial.”

Do you think Amazon sends an email, toward the end of that trial period, warning you that you’re about to be charged? Dream on.

My trial membership was due to expire tomorrow. I visited their website in order to cancel it. I never wanted it in the first place, though I did get my gefilte fish delivered for free.

I’ll admit that I’m not the most computer savvy person on the planet, but I’m not dumb either. Amazon makes it exceedingly difficult to find the “cancel my Amazon Prime membership” button. It took me a long time to find it, and it was NOT located in any obvious places; you really must dig for it.

But that wasn’t the end of it. After clicking the cancel button, I was warned, given second chances, and enticed to keep it, no less than 4 times.

“Are you sure you want to cancel your Prime membership?”

“If you cancel your membership, you’ll miss out on these great deals!”

“Are you nuts? Only an insane person would actually cancel his Prime membership!”

“If you cancel, we’ll send burly men to your home to break your legs.”

I cancelled anyway – and I made sure to keep a screenshot of the confirmation just in case. They did send me a confirmation email.

What truly makes me mad is not what they put me through; I can deal with it. What makes me mad is the knowledge that millions of elderly people, who lack the mobility to shop for things at brick-and-mortar stores, depend on Amazon for basic necessities. People like my mother, who gets her medications via Amazon.

Maybe it makes sense for many of these elderly people to have Amazon Prime. I’m sure if you do the math, they’re saving money on shipping costs. If so, then let Amazon sell this option with honesty and integrity.

Unfortunately, the way Amazon has it set up looks a lot like a scam, and they’re preying upon society’s most vulnerable. If it was so difficult for me to figure out how to cancel my Prime membership, and to actually remember to do it before the 30-day trial membership ended, how difficult must it be for people who are 80 years old, and suffering from dementia?

Amazon, you make me sick.