Amazon: a prime example of how not to retain loyal customers

So this morning I get an email from Amazon which promises to inform me of some important information about my Amazon Prime membership. This is the subscription service which, in return for an annual charge of £49 here in the UK, provides free next day delivery on any item which is flagged as eligible for Prime members. That may sound like a lot, but actually if you do the math properly it's a pretty good money-saving deal for anyone who falls into the 'regular shopper' category and likes the tracked next day delivery option which usually costs an arm and a leg. So what was the important information that Amazon had to tell me? Look, I'm not completely stupid and know that generally speaking such an email is going to announce a price rise wrapped up the promise of some new additions to the service that somehow serve to cushion the blow. The question was, as ever, how much? I was expecting maybe 10% or so to take it up to £49.99 which, just maybe, I would have swallowed and continued to subscribe. I certainly wasn't expecting a 60% rise in Amazon Prime membership costs. Let me just run that past you again in case you missed it: AMAZON PRIME MEMBERSHIP COSTS TO RISE BY 60% WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT.