Amazon charges college student $3,800 for late rental textbook

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Tuesday, July 9, 2019
Amazon charges college student $3,800 for late rental textbook
Amazon charges college student $3,800 for late rental textbook. Rick Williams reports during Action News at 4 p.m. on July 9, 2019.

A local college student who set out to save money by renting a textbook online, wound up being charged nearly $4,000.

University of Delaware freshman, Amelia SanFilippo, got permission from her dad, Anthony, to use his debit card to rent a Cultural Anthropology book on Amazon.

It seemed to make sense, considering the cost of buying the book was between $100 and $150.

Anthony missed the June 24th deadline to get the book back to Amazon, and was charged $3,800.

He says after sending it back, it took several frustrating days for Amazon to refund his money.

The dad says he would have been fine paying the $107 for the cost of the book, and believes charging college students a $3,800 buyout price for late books feels like extortion.