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January 03, 2008
Why won't you ship this to me Amazon?
Arrrgggg! I hate it when Amazon.com won't ship something I want to buy to Canada!
For instance, today I get some email spam that Amazon has some cool emergency radios on sale...
As someone who has shown an interest in being prepared for emergencies, you might like to know that the popular American Red Cross radios from Etón are now available in stylish metallic red.
If you're away from civilization camping, or civilization is away from you during a blackout, your Etón emergency radio will keep you in touch with the world in more ways than one. They receive radio, broadcast television, and NOAA weather report reception and will also recharge your mobile phone. These extremely versatile radios can be powered by up to four different sources--AC adapter, three AA batteries, the internal rechargeable battery, or hand crank."
And don't forget, Etón contributes 65¢ or more for every Etón American Red Cross radio sold by Amazon.com to support the American Red Cross.
OK OK, you had me at "stylish metallic red"! I've been looking for one of these radios and I want it! So I go to order, but noooo, for some reason Amazon won't ship that to Canada, nor do they sell it in the Amazon Canada store. Which brings me back to that initial Arrrgggg!
Edit:
OK I've calmed down a little, and found the Canadian page for the manufacturer, and from there, discovered the places I can buy one in Canada. (It's not the Red Cross Edition, but it is red. :P )
Edit again: Wendy from the American Red Cross posted in the comments... "We are prohibited by our national charter to sell American Red Cross products in Canada out of respect to the Canadian Red Cross. Sorry! " Ah, so there you go. And here I thought it was an Amazon thingy.
Posted by Snaggy at January 3, 2008 10:58 AM
Comments
Can you buy from the Red Cross directly?
Posted by: bouaketh at January 3, 2008 11:04 AM
This is Wendy from the American Red Cross, here to save the day for Amazon. It's not their fault (well it's their fault that they enticed you with the shiny metallic red spam ad).
We are prohibited by our national charter to sell American Red Cross products in Canada out of respect to the Canadian Red Cross.
Sorry!
Posted by: Wendy at January 3, 2008 12:38 PM
I'll mention your post to our marketing folks. Perhaps we can consider offering a Canadian version.
Dan Bedell
Director, Public Affairs, Atlantic Zone
Canadian Red Cross
Posted by: Dan Bedell at January 3, 2008 06:47 PM
i know exactly how you feel. what's up with walmart not shipping to canada? i used extendasend.com services to ship something to me once. they do however, charge for the service, but hey it was well worth it.
Posted by: Jahlilia at January 12, 2008 08:24 PM
I"m in canada myself, I actually have that exact one - of course not the red cross edition, but its the same functions and same red (which I love by the way) we keep it at our camp. Its awesome and no need for batteries!
Posted by: Jackie at January 25, 2008 07:06 AM
This is not just limited to this item. Amazon.com is frankly terrible with offering different products to American shoppers and Canadian shoppers and also offering at vastly different prices for things available on both the .com and .ca versions of the site.
Most of the time they say that they can't offer it to Canadians due to warranty issues, but why wouldn't you give the customer the option of getting it sans warranty?
I think it is mostly because they are still in denial that the Canadian dollar is close to parity with the American dollar...
Posted by: FreeKill at June 2, 2008 06:31 PM