geographic restrictions at Fictionwise - Page 15

HansTWN · 08-23-2009, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

Then I misunderstood. Well illegal+lying can eaily be worse than illegal which was my point.

When you are lying about your location you are not committing a crime because you are not doing it on a passport or visa application or a similar document. The location is only important to the ebook publisher/distributor. By lying you are providing an easy alibi for Fictionwise. Actually you are helping everybody -- Fictionwise and the distributor get their money and they can pretend they have done everything they could. I think they might have created this loophole on purpose, it would be extremely easy to fix it.

The same thing doesn't work on iTunes, at the Sony store, etc. It is quite possible that Fictionwise might get into trouble for being negligent. But the worst that could happen is that the publisher/distributor cancels their contract.

barkinglemur · 09-11-2009, 06:54 AM

Here's something that worries me. I followed a lot of the advice here to buy some books from Fictionwise, but what I got doesn't seem to have happened to anyone else. I ordered about $35 of ebooks - using my UK address, with country set to US. Everything went peachy keen until I checked my online mastercard account a few minutes later and found I'd been billed for ... £35 pounds UK! That's over sixty dollars US.

I have no idea how that came about, especially since I've not had any problems doing this before. And no, I haven't written to Fictionwise yet to ask them what's going on, in case they have an issue with me using a UK credit card to buy geographically restricted stuff from their store and tell me to sod off.

What's worse is I used a 25% off discount they sent me in return for doing an online survey, and that didn't process either. They charged me the full whack.

GeoffC · 09-13-2009, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barkinglemur

Here's something that worries me. I followed a lot of the advice here to buy some books from Fictionwise, but what I got doesn't seem to have happened to anyone else. I ordered about $35 of ebooks - using my UK address, with country set to US. Everything went peachy keen until I checked my online mastercard account a few minutes later and found I'd been billed for ... £35 pounds UK! That's over sixty dollars US.

I have no idea how that came about, especially since I've not had any problems doing this before. And no, I haven't written to Fictionwise yet to ask them what's going on, in case they have an issue with me using a UK credit card to buy geographically restricted stuff from their store and tell me to sod off.

What's worse is I used a 25% off discount they sent me in return for doing an online survey, and that didn't process either. They charged me the full whack.

worrying .. ..

Margrete · 09-13-2009, 01:06 PM

Has fictionwise started tightening their relaxed procedures for geographical restrictions? The last few times I've tried to buy something from them in september with my creditcard and land set to US I get this message:

Quote:

One or more required fields contained missing or invalid values [INDICATED IN RED]. Please go back and make sure you fill in the required fields.

The only thing in red is my address and the only invalid thing there is the country. When I changed it to Norway and bought some ebooks without geografic restrictions then it went through without problems. Anyone else had the same problems?

My fictionwise buywise club doesn't expire untill 2012, bought a 5 year membership 2 years ago and now it seems it's going to be a waste of money if I can't buy the books I want

geertm · 09-13-2009, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Margrete

Has fictionwise started tightening their relaxed procedures for geographical restrictions? The last few times I've tried to buy something from them in september with my creditcard and land set to US I get this message: The only thing in red is my address and the only invalid thing there is the country. When I changed it to Norway and bought some ebooks without geografic restrictions then it went through without problems. Anyone else had the same problems?

They now check if the address is a valid USA address (when using USA as your country). Just use a valid USA address (look one up on Google), instead of your Norwegian address, and you can still use your creditcard to pay for the books (they still do not check your address at the creditcard company).
This works fine with my Dutch Visa card.

Gibbo · 09-13-2009, 03:43 PM

The way I do it has been mentioned here many times and it's as follows: Add money to your Micropay account then change your country to US and purchase the books, I've just done it with no problems

columbus · 09-13-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barkinglemur

Here's something that worries me. I followed a lot of the advice here to buy some books from Fictionwise, but what I got doesn't seem to have happened to anyone else. I ordered about $35 of ebooks - using my UK address, with country set to US. Everything went peachy keen until I checked my online mastercard account a few minutes later and found I'd been billed for ... £35 pounds UK! That's over sixty dollars US.

I have no idea how that came about, especially since I've not had any problems doing this before. And no, I haven't written to Fictionwise yet to ask them what's going on, in case they have an issue with me using a UK credit card to buy geographically restricted stuff from their store and tell me to sod off.

What's worse is I used a 25% off discount they sent me in return for doing an online survey, and that didn't process either. They charged me the full whack.

Presumably when you checked your card a few minutes later it was showing as a 'pending' transaction. What is the sum when it becomes an actual charge to your card? If it is mis charged you can certainly take it up with your CC provider.

zerospinboson · 09-13-2009, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gibbo

The way I do it has been mentioned here many times and it's as follows: Add money to your Micropay account then change your country to US and purchase the books, I've just done it with no problems

Seen these?

Gibbo · 09-13-2009, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zerospinboson

Seen these?

I don't mind as long as I can get the ebook.

fugazied · 09-13-2009, 07:23 PM

It's annoying as hell, but until the publishing mess is sorted there isn't much we can do. It's strange how music companies and tv/film companies got it together so quickly (go to itunes and you can buy almost anything from any country).

However publishers still have country by country licensing restrictions, many different publishers working in conjunction, it's all an archaic mess and doesn't fit well with the global nature of the internet.

barkinglemur · 09-14-2009, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by columbus

Presumably when you checked your card a few minutes later it was showing as a 'pending' transaction. What is the sum when it becomes an actual charge to your card? If it is mis charged you can certainly take it up with your CC provider.

Duh. I never noticed that before. Yeah, it's still a pending transaction; possibly I was too busy in remedial toenail-picking class and head-scratching lecture at idiot school to notice the 'pending' on the screen. I actually wrote to them after all, but by the looks of it I might even drop them an apology ...

HansTWN · 09-14-2009, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fugazied

It's annoying as hell, but until the publishing mess is sorted there isn't much we can do. It's strange how music companies and tv/film companies got it together so quickly (go to itunes and you can buy almost anything from any country).

However publishers still have country by country licensing restrictions, many different publishers working in conjunction, it's all an archaic mess and doesn't fit well with the global nature of the internet.

itunes is worse, you cannot buy anything from any store if you do not have a local credit card and mailing address. And the US store is much cheaper, it also has by far the widest selection.

Margrete · 09-14-2009, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geertm

They now check if the address is a valid USA address (when using USA as your country). Just use a valid USA address (look one up on Google), instead of your Norwegian address, and you can still use your creditcard to pay for the books (they still do not check your address at the creditcard company).
This works fine with my Dutch Visa card.

thanks I'll try, but somehow I don't think it'll work for me. Before the geographic restrictions came if I had the wrong address then I got a message that the payment wouldn't go through.

Margrete · 09-14-2009, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gibbo

I don't mind as long as I can get the ebook.

I do lol, with so many ebooks (and other books) that I buy during a year if I can save some money with the rebates then I want to do it. I don't know how many 1000 of dollars I spend on books during a year and I don't think I want to find out either

I only use the micropay method when I don't have any other option like last night and I want the book now

barkinglemur · 09-14-2009, 11:40 AM

May I just say those very, very nice people at Fictionwise got in touch after my mail, and apparently my order went through twice, so they've refunded a big chunk of money back to me and sorted everything out. So all is well.

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09-11-2009, 06:54 AM	#212
barkinglemur Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: sony reader	Here's something that worries me. I followed a lot of the advice here to buy some books from Fictionwise, but what I got doesn't seem to have happened to anyone else. I ordered about $35 of ebooks - using my UK address, with country set to US. Everything went peachy keen until I checked my online mastercard account a few minutes later and found I'd been billed for ... £35 pounds UK! That's over sixty dollars US. I have no idea how that came about, especially since I've not had any problems doing this before. And no, I haven't written to Fictionwise yet to ask them what's going on, in case they have an issue with me using a UK credit card to buy geographically restricted stuff from their store and tell me to sod off. What's worse is I used a 25% off discount they sent me in return for doing an online survey, and that didn't process either. They charged me the full whack.

09-13-2009, 03:43 PM	#216
Gibbo Guru Posts: 776 Karma: 2475053 Join Date: May 2007 Device: Galaxy Tab A (2019) - iPhone 11 - KA1 - Onyx Boox Nova Pro	The way I do it has been mentioned here many times and it's as follows: Add money to your Micropay account then change your country to US and purchase the books, I've just done it with no problems

09-13-2009, 07:23 PM	#220
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	It's annoying as hell, but until the publishing mess is sorted there isn't much we can do. It's strange how music companies and tv/film companies got it together so quickly (go to itunes and you can buy almost anything from any country). However publishers still have country by country licensing restrictions, many different publishers working in conjunction, it's all an archaic mess and doesn't fit well with the global nature of the internet.

09-14-2009, 11:40 AM	#225
barkinglemur Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: sony reader	May I just say those very, very nice people at Fictionwise got in touch after my mail, and apparently my order went through twice, so they've refunded a big chunk of money back to me and sorted everything out. So all is well.

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