Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Pullman, WA
Posts: 130

Handspring, for whatever reason, will not ship to APO or FPO addresses? Why not? Who knows? Several of us have contacted them, but they seem to remain clueless and have even gotten a little rude, without being helpful at all. Everyone else seems to ship to APO addresses (they are state side addresses as for as the USPS is concerned), why not Handspring. They could have a huge market with the military community. Consider parts of a letter my friend wrote to them and see what you think:


..."I'm in the United States Air Force, and they have decided that the best location for me to pay the price for your freedom is Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. This means that I have an APO address. As I'm sure you know, you do not deal with APO addresses. This caused a hassle in obtaining a Visor in the first place, as I had to win a bid on E-bay to get one over here, since you do not deal with APO addresses....I hope you will find it within your powers to accommodate those of us who have dedicated our lives to providing you the luxury of freedom, and simply ship to APO addresses. I know of five other Handspring customers, just in my sphere of influence, that are also residing at APO addresses. I'm convinced that you could have a larger market to freedom fighters overseas if you would simply service APO addresses. There are hundreds of overseas bases
whose residents reside at APO addresses....I am not angry, only displeased that the company behind such an excellent product doesn't take into consideration the people that provide the basic rights that allow that company to exist, operate, and even make a profit...."


Hopefully, by making this situation aware to more than one or two clueless customer services reps, the situation can change, because even those of us who own Visors here can't get any service.

__________________
IYYAYAS

AMMO - Providing the enemy the opportunity to die for his country.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Amazon

As far as I know Amazon does not ship to APO addresses either. I am sure that Handspring would ship to APO/FPO addresses if there ware no hindrance in them doing so. After all, why would they skip the business?

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

I really have no idea if this is it but as you said, your current residence is in Japan. Handspring does not ship overseas and I believe its not just because of cost. Many products are not sold overseas for various reasons and Handspring is trying to cover themselves by doing so.

Do any of the following online retailers ship to APO/FPO addresses?
-Staples
-CDW
-Amazon.com
-Wal-Mart
-Comp USA
-TigerDirect.com

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Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

I think they don't ship there as they are already "selling" units in Japan.. I am sure that has something to do with it.. Now if you only wanted a "localized" Visor, you would be all set..

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"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Pullman, WA
Posts: 130

Re: Amazon

quote:

---

Originally posted by yardie
As far as I know Amazon does not ship to APO addresses either. I am sure that Handspring would ship to APO/FPO addresses if there ware no hindrance in them doing so. After all, why would they skip the business?

---

__________________
IYYAYAS

AMMO - Providing the enemy the opportunity to die for his country.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Why not buy from Amazon then?

Handspring does not ship Visors to APO addresses for the same reason that Amazon does not ship Visors to APO addresses. I am not 100% sure, but I think government regulations (Export Administration)? forbids them from shipping electronics overseas. You have a US address, but the fact of the matter is that you are in Japan.

Another dilemma..how would you get your Visor serviced if it goes bad?

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 6

Not only is their possible export issues. but APO/FPO Addresses cannot be accessed by shipping companies such as Fed-Ex, UPS, Airborne, etc. only good old fashioned and unreliable, untraceible, and downright scarey United States Postal Service. Also I do belive their is issues with return to sender if an order is refused or cannot be deliverd with the USPS (might be one of the reasons Amazon does not do so)

I am certain about the Fed-Ex UPS thing as my family runs a Shipping outlet and we are not able to accept apo/fpo addresses in the same way you cannot accept a PO box for a ups shippment.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Not so sunny, San Diego, CA
Posts: 51

Possible workaround

I ran a home-based gaming shop in Misawa, Japan for about 2 years. During that time, I ran into the fun of manufacturers not shipping to APO/FPO addresses. They wanted to ship UPS, which of course can't go to military mailboxes..

HOWEVER...

UPS CAN send to your RESIDENCE address (i.e. at Misawa, the local UPS contractor, Black Cat, could deliver directly to my home, saving me from lugging about 150 lbs of gaming equipment from the PO and up the stairs )

It's not exactly the cheapest way to go (compared to APO/FPO being domestic shipping rates), but it should be a viable workaround. Check with your housing office to see what your 'real' mailing address would be in this case.
Good Luck!