Amazon won't sell the Kindle in Israel anymore

Dave Berk · 08-24-2010, 01:58 PM

I tried today to buy the Kindle DXG international version. Got the message - "Sorry, we don't sell the Kindle in your country".

What is weird is that I know for a fact that they did. I recall reading a guy here fron Israel (can't remember his username) saying that he bought one and that the Kindle store was working on the 3G but not the internet. Also I know a guy who bought one as well.

So, what changed?

I sent an email to Amazon Support asking them exactly that.

This is email exchange that followed. Not the most useful I've had. Though I can't blame the guys working at Amazon Support. By their names I'd say they're Indian, probably using canned answers with no contact with those who make the decisions.

################################################## ########################

Hello,

I’m sorry, currently, Kindles and Kindle content are unavailable in Israel.

Customers in Israel can read over 410,000 Kindle books on your PC with our free application for your Windows PC - no Kindle required.

We value our international customers and hope to make Kindle and related content available in more locations in the future.

Thanks for your interest in Amazon Kindle.

Best regards,

Bhaskar.T
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
http://www.amazon.com/your-account

---- Original message: ----

---------------
08/23/10 22:57:08
Your Name

ave
Comments:Hi

Why did you stop selling the Kindle DX graphite in Israel?

I know you did sell it before, because my friend bought one. After comparing it with the Sony prs900 I decide to buy one as well - only to find out that for some reason you had decided to stop selling it here. That's not nice

.

Thanks
Dave
---------------

And the second one:

################################################## ########################

Hello,

Currently, Kindle Dx is unavailable in Israel.

I am sorry currently we do not have any information about its availability in Israel.

We value our international customers and hope to make Kindle and related content available in more locations in the future.

Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us.

Thanks for your interest in Amazon Kindle.

Best regards,

Madhu
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
http://www.amazon.com/your-account

---- Original message: ----

CUSTOMER: Dave Berk
COMM ID:raqeaqyxXXXXXXXX
EMAIL:
COMMENTS: I did not find the canned answer useful at all, sorry.

I know you currently don't sell the Kindle DX in Israel. What I want to know is what changed. Just a few weeks ago you did sell them. What happened?

I know you (the guy in CS answering this email) probably doesn't have the answer to this at hand. But please try to find out.

Also, more importantly, when do you think you'll resume selling the Kindle DX to Israel?

Thanks
Dave

################################################## ########################

Anyone know of any other cases where Amazon started selling the Kindle in another country only to suddenly stop?

rcuadro · 08-24-2010, 06:31 PM

Strange... at worse case you can work something out with someone here to ship you a Kindle

nachtxeule · 08-24-2010, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcuadro

Strange... at worse case you can work something out with someone here to ship you a Kindle

easily done, but how will he purchase his books?

kindlekitten · 08-24-2010, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtxeule

easily done, but how will he purchase his books?

put them on the computer then on the Kindle. he is just missing out on the whisper net capability.

I think we have seen this before when different regions have made new agreements regarding the carrier for the "whispernet"

notatoad · 08-24-2010, 08:06 PM

iirc, israel has some funky wifi restrictions. i remember reading something about iphones getting confiscated at the border for this reason.

i suppose that doesn't apply to the DX, but it could be just easier to pull out of the entire country rather than restrict the models.

rcuadro · 08-24-2010, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nachtxeule

easily done, but how will he purchase his books?

Looks like he has access to Amazon and can read book on the Kindle for PC so he could just download the books to his computer then upload via USB. There is wipernet access access in israel so it will just take getting him a kindle there.

(EDIT: Yes, I did spell Israel right

)

Dave Berk · 08-25-2010, 03:39 AM

Finally get an answer from somebody on the other side of the pond (I think):

################################################## ###############

Hello from Kindle Support,

I've read our previous e-mails with you, and I'm sorry your concerns weren't addressed in previous correspondence. I believe that the Kindle DX Graphite version should be able to be shipped to Israel, as our other Kindles can ship there.

I am going to have to get more people involved in this to see why this is not an option available right now. Because I have to get more people involved in this, I would like a little time to research this and be able to come back with an answer or a resolution.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention so that I can have this fixed or know an exact reason behind this. You should receive another response from me within 2-3 business days.

Thank you for giving me the time to research this issue.

Did I solve your problem?

...

Best regards,

Chris C.
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
################################################## ###############

As to the buying of ebooks. It is a bit sad. Yes, I can buy from the Kindle store using the Kindle4PC, but many titles are geo-restricted for the whole middle east. I can't understand why, since there is no local English language publisher that would own the rights.

neilmarr · 08-25-2010, 06:42 AM

Hya, Dave. Hope you soon solve your Kindle problem. Didn't I read in the press a wee while ago, though, that Kindles were being confiscated from airline passengers arriving in Israel because of some perceived security risk? Maybe this silliness has something to do with it. Cheers. Neil

JanG · 08-28-2010, 09:10 AM

It was the iPad that was being confiscated. And that silliness stopped after a couple of weeks.

I heard that the Kindle 3 was going to be launched here (Israel) at the end of August. I guess I heard wrong. Amazon must've changed their shipping policy at some point, because in the past they've always said that they can't ship electronic goods (including cds, dvds, and vhs tapes) to Israel.

I have a Gen3 which I'm very happy with, but I'd really like to see a Kindle and give it a test drive.

--JanG.

gollu · 08-28-2010, 10:23 AM

@Dave Berk
As far as I remember, Kindle was never available for sell to Israel. There was a thread by a user some months ago who declared Amazon have "anti-muslim" bias as the Kindle was not for sale in a few Muslim countries. Other people answered him (ironically) that on the same grounds, Amazon is anti-Semitic as well as they don't sell the Kindle in Israel. So I am really sure Israel was not in the available countries list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilmarr

Hya, Dave. Hope you soon solve your Kindle problem. Didn't I read in the press a wee while ago, though, that Kindles were being confiscated from airline passengers arriving in Israel because of some perceived security risk? Maybe this silliness has something to do with it. Cheers. Neil

Neil, you have everything wrong in the above post. It was the Ipad, it was not confiscated but put on hold in the customs for checking its Wifi compatibility with European regulations (as people were importing an American market device).

kneazle · 08-28-2010, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gollu

@Dave Berk
As far as I remember, Kindle was never available for sell to Israel. There was a thread by a user some months ago who declared Amazon have "anti-muslim" bias as the Kindle was not for sale in a few Muslim countries. Other people answered him (ironically) that on the same grounds, Amazon is anti-Semitic as well as they don't sell the Kindle in Israel. So I am really sure Israel was not in the available countries list.

They started to ship kindle to Israel with the Kindle 3 Wi-Fi, I bought one and it now in the process of shipping.

dsip · 08-28-2010, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gollu

@Dave Berk
As far as I remember, Kindle was never available for sell to Israel. There was a thread by a user some months ago who declared Amazon have "anti-muslim" bias as the Kindle was not for sale in a few Muslim countries. Other people answered him (ironically) that on the same grounds, Amazon is anti-Semitic as well as they don't sell the Kindle in Israel. So I am really sure Israel was not in the available countries list.

Arabs are Semites?

carld · 08-28-2010, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsip

Arabs are Semites?

Yep, Semitic covers both Jews and Arabs amongst others, as Wikipedia says:

Quote:

The term Semite means a member of any of various ancient and modern Semitic-speaking peoples originating in southwestern Asia, including Akkadians, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arabs, and Ethiopian Semites.

Dave Berk · 08-29-2010, 04:56 AM

Sadly you're all right. This is the answer I finally got:

Hello from Kindle Support,

Thank you for giving me the time to see why the Graphite Kindle DX will not ship to Israel. After speaking with members of our leadership team, they have told me that the Kindle Graphite DX is not supposed to ship to Israel. They also mentioned that the WiFi devices have been the only ones that have been able to ship there. I'm not sure why you were able to see that the Graphite DX was able to ship to Israel. Because of rules and Government restrictions, we are only able to ship the Kindle WiFi device to Israel.

I am sorry that I do not have better news for you.

Best regards,

Chris C.
Amazon.com

I spoke again with my friend - apparently I was mistaken. A friend of his bought it for him in the states and sent it to him. The weird thing is I remember when I tried buying Kindle DXG before and it was available. I only backed out in the last step because I convinced myself to wait and see what Sony has to offer. Also there is this thread here which shows that other people as well bought the Kindle DXG in Israel.

Oh well. I will now go and read bad reviews of the Kindle to persuade myself that I don't really want it

.

rcuadro · 08-29-2010, 09:21 AM

We can work something out to get you a kindle shipped your way I am sure. Send me a PM if you want to work something out.

08-24-2010, 01:58 PM	#1
Dave Berk Fanatic Posts: 574 Karma: 138556 Join Date: May 2006 Device: PRS505	Amazon won't sell the Kindle in Israel anymore I tried today to buy the Kindle DXG international version. Got the message - "Sorry, we don't sell the Kindle in your country". What is weird is that I know for a fact that they did. I recall reading a guy here fron Israel (can't remember his username) saying that he bought one and that the Kindle store was working on the 3G but not the internet. Also I know a guy who bought one as well. So, what changed? I sent an email to Amazon Support asking them exactly that. This is email exchange that followed. Not the most useful I've had. Though I can't blame the guys working at Amazon Support. By their names I'd say they're Indian, probably using canned answers with no contact with those who make the decisions. ################################################## ######################## Hello, I’m sorry, currently, Kindles and Kindle content are unavailable in Israel. Customers in Israel can read over 410,000 Kindle books on your PC with our free application for your Windows PC - no Kindle required. We value our international customers and hope to make Kindle and related content available in more locations in the future. Thanks for your interest in Amazon Kindle. Best regards, Bhaskar.T Amazon.com Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company. http://www.amazon.com/your-account ---- Original message: ---- --------------- 08/23/10 22:57:08 Your Nameave Comments:Hi Why did you stop selling the Kindle DX graphite in Israel? I know you did sell it before, because my friend bought one. After comparing it with the Sony prs900 I decide to buy one as well - only to find out that for some reason you had decided to stop selling it here. That's not nice . Thanks Dave --------------- And the second one: ################################################## ######################## Hello, Currently, Kindle Dx is unavailable in Israel. I am sorry currently we do not have any information about its availability in Israel. We value our international customers and hope to make Kindle and related content available in more locations in the future. Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us. Thanks for your interest in Amazon Kindle. Best regards, Madhu Amazon.com Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company. http://www.amazon.com/your-account ---- Original message: ---- CUSTOMER: Dave Berk COMM ID:raqeaqyxXXXXXXXX EMAIL: COMMENTS: I did not find the canned answer useful at all, sorry. I know you currently don't sell the Kindle DX in Israel. What I want to know is what changed. Just a few weeks ago you did sell them. What happened? I know you (the guy in CS answering this email) probably doesn't have the answer to this at hand. But please try to find out. Also, more importantly, when do you think you'll resume selling the Kindle DX to Israel? Thanks Dave ################################################## ######################## Anyone know of any other cases where Amazon started selling the Kindle in another country only to suddenly stop?

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08-24-2010, 06:31 PM	#2
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	Strange... at worse case you can work something out with someone here to ship you a Kindle

08-24-2010, 08:06 PM	#5
notatoad Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: Graphite Kindle 3G	iirc, israel has some funky wifi restrictions. i remember reading something about iphones getting confiscated at the border for this reason. i suppose that doesn't apply to the DX, but it could be just easier to pull out of the entire country rather than restrict the models.

08-25-2010, 03:39 AM	#7
Dave Berk Fanatic Posts: 574 Karma: 138556 Join Date: May 2006 Device: PRS505	Finally get an answer from somebody on the other side of the pond (I think): ################################################## ############### Hello from Kindle Support, I've read our previous e-mails with you, and I'm sorry your concerns weren't addressed in previous correspondence. I believe that the Kindle DX Graphite version should be able to be shipped to Israel, as our other Kindles can ship there. I am going to have to get more people involved in this to see why this is not an option available right now. Because I have to get more people involved in this, I would like a little time to research this and be able to come back with an answer or a resolution. Thank you for bringing this to my attention so that I can have this fixed or know an exact reason behind this. You should receive another response from me within 2-3 business days. Thank you for giving me the time to research this issue. Did I solve your problem? ... Best regards, Chris C. Amazon.com Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company. ################################################## ############### As to the buying of ebooks. It is a bit sad. Yes, I can buy from the Kindle store using the Kindle4PC, but many titles are geo-restricted for the whole middle east. I can't understand why, since there is no local English language publisher that would own the rights.

08-25-2010, 06:42 AM	#8
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Hya, Dave. Hope you soon solve your Kindle problem. Didn't I read in the press a wee while ago, though, that Kindles were being confiscated from airline passengers arriving in Israel because of some perceived security risk? Maybe this silliness has something to do with it. Cheers. Neil

08-28-2010, 09:10 AM	#9
JanG Groupie Posts: 156 Karma: 6266 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Laptop; Kobo Clara	It was the iPad that was being confiscated. And that silliness stopped after a couple of weeks. I heard that the Kindle 3 was going to be launched here (Israel) at the end of August. I guess I heard wrong. Amazon must've changed their shipping policy at some point, because in the past they've always said that they can't ship electronic goods (including cds, dvds, and vhs tapes) to Israel. I have a Gen3 which I'm very happy with, but I'd really like to see a Kindle and give it a test drive. --JanG.

08-29-2010, 04:56 AM	#14
Dave Berk Fanatic Posts: 574 Karma: 138556 Join Date: May 2006 Device: PRS505	Sadly you're all right. This is the answer I finally got: Hello from Kindle Support, Thank you for giving me the time to see why the Graphite Kindle DX will not ship to Israel. After speaking with members of our leadership team, they have told me that the Kindle Graphite DX is not supposed to ship to Israel. They also mentioned that the WiFi devices have been the only ones that have been able to ship there. I'm not sure why you were able to see that the Graphite DX was able to ship to Israel. Because of rules and Government restrictions, we are only able to ship the Kindle WiFi device to Israel. I am sorry that I do not have better news for you. Best regards, Chris C. Amazon.com I spoke again with my friend - apparently I was mistaken. A friend of his bought it for him in the states and sent it to him. The weird thing is I remember when I tried buying Kindle DXG before and it was available. I only backed out in the last step because I convinced myself to wait and see what Sony has to offer. Also there is this thread here which shows that other people as well bought the Kindle DXG in Israel. Oh well. I will now go and read bad reviews of the Kindle to persuade myself that I don't really want it .

08-29-2010, 09:21 AM	#15
rcuadro Wizard Posts: 1,686 Karma: 874275 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Device: Kindle DX	We can work something out to get you a kindle shipped your way I am sure. Send me a PM if you want to work something out.

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