In his 2013 letter to shareholders, CEO Jeff Bezos noted, “We build automated systems that look for occasions when we’ve provided a customer experience that isn’t up to our standards, and those systems then proactively refund customers.” So if you are due a refund because your Amazon video doesn’t stream well, or there was a price drop on your pre-ordered product, Amazon doesn’t say “you must request such credit by phone or in writing.” Their computer already knows the refund is due, and rather than waiting for you to call or write, they proactively make the refund and notify you.