B&N Experiencing technical problems, blah, blah, blah - Page 2

geertm · 04-08-2013, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hughdal

Probably no one following tis thread anymore but I did want to report I solved the problem. It wasn't the credit card or the software or a Barnes & Noble problem. What is was, I was trying to buy books while physically in the UK from the B&N US site. As the books weren't published yet in the UK, the software was tossing me out. It would of been helpful if the error message was more specific but there you have it. After all his frustration with B&N I took delivery on a Kindle Paperwhite yesterday.

The Glowlight was a fantastic e-reader let down by, I believe, a badly run parent company.

Hughdal

B&N is not an international company. The B&N US website has only the rights to sell ebooks in the US (or to people with an US credit card outside the US).
In the UK you have to buy your books from B&N's UK website.
You are trying to buy books from the wrong website!

It works the same with Kindle. In the UK you have to buy your books from Amazon UK. You are not allowed to buy books from Amazon US.
So the Kindle Paperwhite is also " let down by a badly run parent company".

Hughdal · 04-12-2013, 06:04 AM

Your absolutely right Geertm and it took me 4 weeks to figure it out. My complaint is that I contacted B&N help desk, B&N live chat and B&N tech support many times during my road to enlightment. Their response was always the same, "everythings fine with your account here so it must be your problem" and the infamous error meassage, "B&N experiencing technical difficulties please try again later" which I did time and time again. If the error message would of said, "your trying to purchase a title in a country which this book is not available I would of had my Ah! moment a long time agao. Thus my change to the Kindle Paper White which does have tell the purchaser why he can't download the book.

Hughdal

allovertheglobe · 04-13-2013, 06:34 PM

I recently read a thread with the exact same problem at Amazon: even though the guy was actually a US resident with a US credit card, because he was in the UK on vacation, the server refused to let him download the book since it was not officially available in the UK. Even after a prolonged discussion with Amazon support and him threatening to drop the service... So it's not just B&N.

I completely agree though that they should make it way more clear that that is the issue, rather than a useless generic error message. But also again, B&N is not the only company I have experienced this kind of issue either. Not that this should be an excuse.

As far as a practical solution goes, if on the administrative/account end of things you were OK, you should be able to use a US proxy to get around the BN/Amazon servers identifying your current location based on your IP address... It's a bit technical though.

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04-12-2013, 06:04 AM	#17
Hughdal Connoisseur Posts: 77 Karma: 3961 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: Ex Sony-Ex Nook-New PW User	Your absolutely right Geertm and it took me 4 weeks to figure it out. My complaint is that I contacted B&N help desk, B&N live chat and B&N tech support many times during my road to enlightment. Their response was always the same, "everythings fine with your account here so it must be your problem" and the infamous error meassage, "B&N experiencing technical difficulties please try again later" which I did time and time again. If the error message would of said, "your trying to purchase a title in a country which this book is not available I would of had my Ah! moment a long time agao. Thus my change to the Kindle Paper White which does have tell the purchaser why he can't download the book. Hughdal

04-13-2013, 06:34 PM	#18
allovertheglobe Grumpy Old Man Posts: 267 Karma: 30194 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: L.A., Euro ex-pat Device: Kobo, Nook Classic,Color,ST/Glow, iRex DR1000, Sony 505, REB1100&1200	I recently read a thread with the exact same problem at Amazon: even though the guy was actually a US resident with a US credit card, because he was in the UK on vacation, the server refused to let him download the book since it was not officially available in the UK. Even after a prolonged discussion with Amazon support and him threatening to drop the service... So it's not just B&N. I completely agree though that they should make it way more clear that that is the issue, rather than a useless generic error message. But also again, B&N is not the only company I have experienced this kind of issue either. Not that this should be an excuse. As far as a practical solution goes, if on the administrative/account end of things you were OK, you should be able to use a US proxy to get around the BN/Amazon servers identifying your current location based on your IP address... It's a bit technical though.

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