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Forums › eBook readers, portable media players › Kindle christmas shipping


263 posts

Ultimate Geek
Topic # 94432 10-Dec-2011 21:31 Send private message

I am looking at ordering a standard kindle for shipping to New Zealand (Through the Geekzone affiliate link of course!) I realise that international mail may be slower at this time of the year but these prices and Eta's seem strange to me. 

I have 2 choices when it comes to the checkout of shipping:
 

1. Expedited international (Averages 1-2 Business days) With a delivery estimate of: Dec. 16, 2011 - Dec. 28, 2011 at a cost of $11.98 USD

or

2. Priority International Courier (averages 2-4 days) with a estimated delivery of : Dec. 14, 2011 - Dec. 16, 2011 at a cost of $20.98 USD

Is expedited slower because of Christmas? Why is priority not slower as well if that is the case? It seems as though amazon have discounted the shipping price because they can not guarantee it will arrive before Christmas, but it still seems strange that they're prepared to stand by priority courier but not the expedited one. 

Also does anybody know which company do Amazon use for each service? 

Just curious really

Thanks for any help!

Alex  

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263 posts

Ultimate Geek
  Reply # 556510 10-Dec-2011 23:00 Send private message

Amazon live chat is like banging your head against a brick wall. After 1 and a half hours (1 hour of which was me being 'transferred' she told me the shipping delays and prices had nothing to do with Christmas, which I found hard to believe. Although she also told me the Kindle touch wifi would not work outside of the US (Shipped through a freight forwarder), so I wasn't inclined to believe much of what she said since the kindle touch does in face work outside USA.

In the end I found this link myself on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_left_cn?ie=UTF8&nodeId=4114681

Which says the Christmas deadline for expedited shipping to Australia , Asia and the Pacific islands is the 9th of December. Priority shipping deadline is the 15th of December, looks like I will be ordering via Priority as it seems as though it has a better chance of getting here in time!

Now to decide which model :D

1529 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber
  Reply # 556519 10-Dec-2011 23:57 Send private message

Priority International courier is usually via DHL International Priority, and it is usually pretty speedy as well. Anywhere between 2-4 days usually. With Christmas coming up it is inevitable that International freight will experience some backlog and slowdown, but you are pretty safe if you order with Priority freight.

From my experience, I have never even been able to select anything other than Priority courier when it comes to Amazon Kindle related products. Maybe they have eased up on that stipulation in recent times.

BDFL
43785 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
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Geekzone
Subscriber
  Reply # 556544 11-Dec-2011 09:04 Send private message

I only had to contact Amazon Chat twice and the problem (wasn't a question, it was actual order changes) was solved in a matter of minutes (under ten in both cases).

As for "will not work outside the US" my guess is they are not talking about technical things (all Kindle devices work outside the US) but access to actual content. If you buy a Kindle that is available to US only, then you have to be aware that some content is locked to regions. This means some new books may not be available if you are using a NZ credit card, even if your Kindle works just fine here. This is essentially the same as other eReaders though, nothing new.

The way around this is using a US credit card (or some variation), and a VPN. If always log into your account from a non-US IP they will lock it, regardless of credit card used.

As for shipping times, last year's Kindle launch was so successful that Kindle devices ordered in December after the cutoff were only shipped six weeks later, in January. I've warned people of this here a few weeks ago.





Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure, my tweets, Web Performance Optimization) 

Geekzone Price comparison | Amazon Kindle order page | How to get the best out of Geekzone | New Zealand IT Jobs | Geekzone News | Jinglebugs 



263 posts

Ultimate Geek
  Reply # 556711 11-Dec-2011 20:59 Send private message

freitasm: I only had to contact Amazon Chat twice and the problem (wasn't a question, it was actual order changes) was solved in a matter of minutes (under ten in both cases).

As for "will not work outside the US" my guess is they are not talking about technical things (all Kindle devices work outside the US) but access to actual content.

/snip


Thanks for your replies Mauricio and DontPanic, i've decided to go with a Kindle Touch shipped via Comgateway in the USA, hopefully I will receive it before Christmas but if not that's life! 

Full explanation of my shipping arrangement is here: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=38&topicid=93841&page_no=2 , decided not to post the same story twice!

Tried live chat again today and the lady explained that yes the kindle touch would work in NZ, I think it depends which chat agent you get and what their understanding of a device 'working' is, I believe you explanation above is probably right Mauricio!

Thanks for your help, can't wait to receive it now!

Alex.  

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