Custom duty discussion on blu-rays imported

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krishnenduk said:
Yes.. I got a mail from amazon uk for my Blu-rays purchase order stating that ''Your item(s) is (are) being sent by Deutsche Post DHL. This order does not have an associated tracking number.''
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As far as I have experienced, "Deutsche Post DHL without tracking" is kinda similar to 'Royal Mail without tracking". Could be even bad !!

Better, it should have been any method "with tracking".

Here in NCR, few of my recent orders via 'Royal Mail without tracking' option from Amazon UK were delivered within one week!! Yes, I mean it.

And I remember, one of my order 'Prison Break Box set' was sent by 'Deutsche Post DHL without tracking' and Amazon provided delivery estimate of 25th September when I ordered it on 1st September.

Like this:
Dispatch estimate: 2 Sep 2012
Delivery estimate: 25 Sep 2012
1 package via Deutsche Post DHL

And the same was delievered on exactly 25th September!

Just check what delievry estimate Amazon Uk has provided for your order via Deutsche post DHL.
 
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Delivery #1: Dispatched on 20 Nov 2012
1 package via Royal Mail

This is my 1st order from Amazon.co.uk .
Lets see, when it get delivered to my address, Bhubaneswar city.
 
Had ordered Ocean Wonderland 3D and Bourne Ultimate Collection about 9 days ago. Received it today, no customs charged. Total value including shipping was close to 22 GBP.
 
Received The Lords of the Rings: Fellowship of the ring today via Aramex, Amazon US. Much in advance of the expected delivery date of 5th Dec.
Contacted Amazon for a refund of the custom deposit as i didn't get a receipt or notification for custom charged.I have been asked to wait for 60 days to receive a refund. Quite a wait. Overall very happy with the service.
 
rajivnedungadi said:
Its a month since amazon UK has shipped my BDs to me and I am still waiting for it...
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If the Estimated Delivery date is passed, try to contact Amazon Uk through their Chat helpline.

Let me tell you what I have experienced and what I follow.

- If the order is delivered by the estimated delivery date:

Happy :)

- If the order is not delivered by estimated delivery date:

I contact Amazon UK through their Chat helpline and intimate that I haven't received the order.
Amazon guy requests us to wait for another 7 days in case of orders shipped through 'without tracking option'. So I agree and say..ok I'll wait for the next one week.
In addition, either the Amazon guy refunds the delivery charge of the shipment as a compensation to the trouble we have faced (item didn't arrive by estimated date). If Amazon guy doesn't offer the refund of delivery charge, I ask him/her deliberately to refund the charges, saying that in past Amazon Uk has refunded delivery charges in case the shipment doesn't arrive on date as promised.

- If the order is not even delivered after 7 days of estimated delivery date:

Now it depends on the mood. Except once, I have always asked for the replacement of the item. There is 99% chance of item being lost in transit, hence we can't expect the arrival in future.
Amazon sends the replacement without any extra charges. Fortunately all the replacements arrived within time.
Otherwise, we are free to ask for a full refund of the order amount.
 
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Received following from Amazon.co.uk in last couple of weeks and all arrived within estimated dates and did not have to pay any customs.

1) Fast & Furious 1-5 Box Set
2) Harry Potter Series
3) Spider-Man Trilogy+Ultimate Bourne Collection
4) Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy + Mission Impossible Quadrilogy
5) Batman Begins/Dark Knight Triple Play + Superman Complete Collection
6) Pirates of Caribbean 1-4 Box Set + Avatar with Limited Edition Lenticular Artwork
 
just4kix said:
To add to what saketb said, you have the other choices as well. You can simply buy a Region A or Region B player and not bother to make it region free. After all, I survived very well with a Region A player from 2009 to 2012. Later on you can buy another alternate region player. In the end you will have 3 players of each region. Best if you can bring this yourself or ask a friend to do it for you.

The only disadvantage is that you will have clutter or equipment.

I am hearing that Panasonic BDPs will be available from December. But you can buy from eBay as well. Here is one listing:

Panasonic Blu Ray DVD Player DMP-BD77 | eBay

The above is BD77 player which is non-3D model but costing less than 8k + shipping. It can be made region free.
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I was considering BDT220 but seeing it's availability issues and my absolutely no 3D requirement I also got interested in BD77 as I need a BDP with good sound capabilities and the ability to play .flac files through external HDD. Does BD77 look good on these fronts ?

The major difference which is concerning me is BDT220 has the new P4HD upscaling technology which as reviews suggest results in great upscaling of standard DVDs ( As I guess even you have mentioned in your review of the BDP ),will that be a big miss ? ( I don't need 3D at all ).

How can BD77 be made region free?

Thanks
 
sudeeps said:
I was considering BDT220 but seeing it's availability issues and my absolutely no 3D requirement I also got interested in BD77 as I need a BDP with good sound capabilities and the ability to play .flac files through external HDD. Does BD77 look good on these fronts ?

The major difference which is concerning me is BDT220 has the new P4HD upscaling technology which as reviews suggest results in great upscaling of standard DVDs ( As I guess even you have mentioned in your review of the BDP ),will that be a big miss ? ( I don't need 3D at all ).

How can BD77 be made region free?

Thanks
Click to expand...
All Panasonic BDPs can be made region free via firmware update. May I say that even if you do not need 3D, you opt for model 220 as it has better capabilities, built-in wireless, etc.
 
technobhatt said:
- If the order is not even delivered after 7 days of estimated delivery date:

Now it depends on the mood. Except once, I have always asked for the replacement of the item. There is 99% chance of item being lost in transit, hence we can't expect the arrival in future.
Amazon sends the replacement without any extra charges. Fortunately all the replacements arrived within time.
Otherwise, we are free to ask for a full refund of the order amount.
Click to expand...

Can you maybe edit the post? Asking because we Indians are very shameless people, and some of the people reading this post might go ahead and try to get a refund even after receiving the product which in turn can lead to Amazon either discontinuing the service or charging more.
 
thebanik said:
Can you maybe edit the post? Asking because we Indians are very shameless people, and some of the people reading this post might go ahead and try to get a refund even after receiving the product which in turn can lead to Amazon either discontinuing the service or charging more.
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You're right mate! There could be people out there following such shameful practices, but nobody can control the intentions of such people. How many times they can do that? once, twice... not always...!! And such people will definitely not be kind of regular buyers as far as I understand.

However I have just mentioned a general practice I follow, only if there are problems with the orders I place on Amazon UK.

There was an occasion, I got the refund from Amazon because order didn't arrive even after 10 days of estimated delivery date. So I took the refund because it was sold through a seller and not available anymore at that time.
But the shipment arrived after 3 days and then what... I intimated Amazon that order has shown up, but Amazon guy said you can keep it as a complement, we won't charge you again. Seriously, Amazon doesn't care about such petty issues !!
And don't worry, Amazon will not discontinue the service as long as there are many honest customers like us :-)
 
Received the following titles without any customs charged...

1) The De Niro Collection [Blu-ray] [1984][Region Free]
2) The Steven Seagal Collection [Blu-ray][Region Free]
3) The Coen Brothers Collection [Blu-ray][Region Free]
4) Doomsday Collection [Blu-ray] [1996]
 
Wow! Love the Coen Brothers collection (which I only have on DVD) but I planning on ordering the following and will let you know how it goes:
Killing season 1 and 2
Borgen season 1 and 2
The Bridge
...but indications are that there is a good chance I may get them without too much collateral damage...
 
technobhatt said:
You're right mate! There could be people out there following such shameful practices, but nobody can control the intentions of such people. How many times they can do that? once, twice... not always...!! And such people will definitely not be kind of regular buyers as far as I understand.

However I have just mentioned a general practice I follow, only if there are problems with the orders I place on Amazon UK.

There was an occasion, I got the refund from Amazon because order didn't arrive even after 10 days of estimated delivery date. So I took the refund because it was sold through a seller and not available anymore at that time.
But the shipment arrived after 3 days and then what... I intimated Amazon that order has shown up, but Amazon guy said you can keep it as a complement, we won't charge you again. Seriously, Amazon doesn't care about such petty issues !!
And don't worry, Amazon will not discontinue the service as long as there are many honest customers like us :-)
Click to expand...


amazon discontinues services to people who do that and there have been many instances. they permanently block you and wont be able to order from any amazon henceforth.
they do that if it happens frequently even if it is a genuine case.
i will post the link of a person who has been banned for the same reason though his cases of replacement was genuine.
 
Repeating this post on the few active "movie" threads:

Amazon.com has started quoting the checkout price in INR. Amazon.com is offering two menthods of placing the order:

- place order in USD
- place order in INR

If you place the order in INR. the amount charged to CC will be in INR. This means that one does not have to pay the 3.5% forex charges.

But I observed that Amazon is charging a way higher exchange rate. For example, for trial purpose, I created the order. The Amazon exchange rate was USD 1 = INR 57.98 whereas today's (yesterday's) exchange rate is USD 1 = INR 54.43. So even with the 3.5% surcharge this is INR 56.34.

Hence, it is best to continue ordering in USD. Or else take a judgmental call at the time of ordering.
 
Would appreciate some information from those getting Amazon US BD purchases via Bangalore as to whether duty is levied at entry?

Also, what carrier does Amazon US currently uses for BD shipments?
 
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