PSA: Amazon Subscribe & Save - check your order history closely, Amazon may be overcharging you for certain SD purchases. Edited to add: FIRST S&S purchase can get changed. First!!

Edited to add very important detail: This is about THE VERY FIRST S&S ORDER. It is understood that subsequent S&S order prices may change but most SD veterans believe their first order is guaranteed at the price you signed up for S&S with. This is not the case as per Amazon.


tl:dr version:
You see a widget for $9 on Amazon Nov 24th.
Place S&S order for $9 on Amazon Nov 24th.
Amazon cancels $9 S&S item BEFORE YOU EVER GET A SINGLE WIDGET on Dec 11th.
Amazon re-enters the widget for you a week or two later for $18.
You receive your VERY FIRST WIDGET for $18.
You NEVER GOT your widget for $9. SHADY.

Comments below: Future S&S shipments are never guaranteed!
Replies below: Yeah we KNOW, this is about the VERY FIRST ORDER which is supposed to be guaranteed!!
Just a PSA. Check your cancelled orders. This is fishy and usually only about a few bucks but wth are they thinking...

I learned something pretty irritating today and thought I'd share with the SD commnity.

Why you should care: Your VERY FIRST S&S 'deal' may be deleted without notice and reinstated at a higher price without notice. Edited to add: This is the VERY FIRST shipment that you expect to get at the low price you INITIALLY added the S&S item.

Why SD should care: Original orders made via SD click-thru are cancelled, and recreated via Amazon backend systems without referrer information.
Mod Note: Just to clarify - this is not a Slickdeals link-related issue. It can even possibly affect S&S orders placed simply visiting Amazon.com directly. We merely host/provide details about S&S deals on SD, but don't have any direct bearing over how Amazon processes customer orders. ~RevOne
OP Note: Thanks - SD has nothing to do with this, it's strictly an Amazon issue. It hurts the SD community/users and it hurts SD the site as legitimately earned commissions are getting wiped out by Amazon.

On 11/24 I ordered this S&S slickdeal on cat treats for $7.57+T:
https://slickdeals.net/f/12346951

Quote : Email confirmation: Total Before Tax: $7.57 Estimated Tax: $0.66 Gift Card: -$0.00 Order Total: $8.23

On 12/2 I ordered this S&S slickdeal on cat food for $10.97+T:
https://slickdeals.net/f/12390508

Quote : Email confirmation: Total Before Tax: $10.97 Estimated Tax: $0.96 Gift Card: -$0.00 Order Total: $11.93

These were the only 2 items that were set to be delivered via S&S on 12/18/18.

Quote : Hi Arcanlaw, Thank you for setting up a new auto-delivery with Subscribe & Save. SHIP TO 1234 MY ADDRESS SUBSCRIPTION Purina One Tender Selects Blend With Rea... AUTO-DELIVERED Every 6 months FIRST AUTO-DELIVERY BY Tuesday, December 18 SUBSCRIPTION Temptations Cat Treats, Savory Salmon Fl... AUTO-DELIVERED Every 6 months FIRST AUTO-DELIVERY BY Tuesday, December 18

Never thought anything of this order - obviously a low-priority "whenever I get them is fine" kind of thing, just ordered due to SD effect (I do have a cat mind you).

Edited to add: I never got the 12/18 shipment. Never noticed because it's Christmas season and I have a dozen other boxes arriving daily and didn't really remember about random cat food and cat treats, and frankly didn't care, figured they would show up eventually.

I got an email today about my January S&S with 5 items on the way and thought, "weird, I remember adding a couple more S&S items but 5 seems like a lot" so I check my Amazon account, order history, and see two items added to my order history on 12/25/18. I'm like, wth - Christmas day I was running between family homes opening gifts and drinking egg-nog, what's with these two orders? They were:

Quote : Purina One Tender Selects Blend With Rea $19.94+T - S&S Discount Temptations Cat Treats, Savory Salmon Fl $14.98+T - S&S Discount

Those two items were re-ordered at twice the price, without ever sending me a single email!! I searched my gmail for Purina and only see the original S&S order confirmation and same with Temptations.

I tried Amazon Chat to figure out what happened:

Quote : Me: Something is wrong with order 113-xxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxx - I never cancelled but it shows as cancelled, then someone added the item at twice the price on 12/25. This is fraudulent activity. You are now connected to Senthil from Amazon.com Senthil: Hello, my name is Senthil. I'm here to help you today. Hi John Me: Hi Senthil: I understand your concern, I'll surely help you. Me: I was reviewing my S&S items and I see something that is very strange. On 12/2/2018 I submitted an order for this item "Purina One Tender Selects" ... it is cat food. I see in my email: Total Before Tax: Estimated Tax: Gift Card: Order Total: $10.97 $0.96 -$0.00 $11.93 total after tax $11.93 Today I looked under "Orders" and I see an order placed on 12/25/18 for that item, total of $19.52 This is strange because 12/25 is Christmas day - I was at a family party all day, never spent a minute on Amazon Senthil: Let me connect you to a member of the team that will best be able to help you with this. It will only take a moment. A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment. You are now connected to Vishal from Amazon.com Vishal: Hello, my name is Vishal. Please give me a moment to review the previous correspondence. Me: Thanks Vishal: You are welcome. Please allow me a moment to connect you with right team. A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment. You are now connected to PAOLA KARINA from Amazon.com A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment. You are now connected to Raiyan from Amazon.com Raiyan: Hello, my name is Raiyan. Please give me a moment to review the previous correspondence. Me: ok... Raiyan: This issue requires additional troubleshooting which is easier and faster over the phone. If you'd like to give us a call, visit https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer...(See full link) and follow the prompts. We're available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Me: Can someone call me at 555-867-5309 Raiyan: Just a moment pleas To contact us by phone, visit https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer...(See full link) and follow the prompts. Choosing the Phone option when asked "How would you like to contact us?" (Here, I called)

I then spent 62 minutes getting transferred from one rep to another before finally escalating to someone that told me the following:

Amazon may, at their discretion, cancel a S&S order(s) if the price is lower than Amazon would like. They may do this at any time and without notification to the customer.

Amazon may then re-enter that S&S item(s) to a customer's account at the then-current price. They may do this at any time and without notification to the customer.

Please check your order history, especially S&S orders, and verify the price you are being charged is the price you agreed to pay. The price in your order history should be the same as the price you see in your initial email confirmation from Amazon.

Also keep an eye on your cancelled orders - even orders that are automatically cancelled without notifying you should show up there, so if you see something you didn't personally cancel, start investigating:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/your-ac...=cancelled

Edit: Adding this note from JVGeneration which shows that the cancellation tab may not help you either. Stay vigilant and keep your email confirmations!

Quote from JVGeneration : Amazon cancelled a S&S order and removed it from my cancelled orders page. They tried to ship it with my S&S at full price. The only proof I had for the lower price was an email confirmation - they had removed all traces of the original order from my account.

Final edit: received apology via email (attached) of the escalated CS rep that I spoke to.