Using the Nook Internationally

[DogStreetBookG…]

Okay,

I really need a definitive answer on this.  I work for a College B&N and one of our faculty members wants to purchase a Nook Tablet, but only if it can be fully operational overseas.  He travels a lot and wants to be able to purchase (from the Nook) and download while abroad, just as he would here in the states.

I informed him that, as far as I knew, this was not possible.  Everything I have read since the !st Ed. Nooks came out has indicated that you could only purchase and download content using the Nook while here in the United States, or parts of Canada, but that they were working on solutions that would allow customers to do so.  Most of the things I read indicated that this had to do with B&N not having a license to do business internationally.

So I called the Help Desk and was told that now Nook owners CAN use their Nooks to purchase and download content from B&N while abroad, as long as they have a U.S. credit card with a U.S billling address and a U.S. shipping address, etc.  He said this change had happened about two months ago. 

But in the most recent version of the User Guide for the Nook Color (the one that came along with the 1.4.1  update), it still says that the Nook cannot be used while travelling internationally to purchase and download content from B&N.

So, before I sell an expensive device to a faculty member of the College our store serves, I want to be absolutely  sure  that this change has taken place.  Would someone please cite me chapter and verse to prove definitively that this is now possible?  If this customer gets to Europe and finds out he can't use his Tablet, he will be p****ed (and I wouldn't blame him).  Furthermore, when he gets back, he will have one more bone to pick with B&N, which is something we struggle against every day.

Thanks for your attention to this.

[BN_AlexG]

Hi DogStreetBookGuy,

Good question, the answer being yes this customer can use a NOOK Tablet internationally.

However, there are 2 restrictions to that.The restrictions being:

BN.com customers who have a U.S.issued credit card as the default credit card in their BN.com account can order NOOK Newstand items and NOOK Books (but not NOOK Apps) anywhere in the world.

Hope this helps!

- Alex 

[DogStreetBookG…]

Thanks for the confirmation Alex!

I was also able to find a Store Alert on B&N Inside from back around 9/26/11 that addressed this change.  I am surprised that B&N hasn't made a bigger deal about this change.  I have actually lost sales to customers that wanted to purchase a Nook for family or friends going off to serve in the Gulf, or to folks who just like to travel.  This new information should give us something to sway folks away from the K devices and back towards ours.  Go, B&N!  Go, Nook!

[lilsmartie]

OK so can someone tell me why when I bought a book from my Nook Color last week using my US bank account, registered to my US address but physically located in the UK I got an email (after it had downloaded... and I haven't had wi-fi on since) stating "We want to let you know that if your order contained a Barnes & Noble NOOK Book or NOOK Apps, these items can only be purchased by customers physically located in the United States and Canada."?!

Customer service hasn't replied & the charge for the book is still 'processing' on my bank statement so I'm not sure if it did go through or not but odd to send the email if it was OK & did get approved!!

Thanks

Kate

[lilsmartie]

So no charge on my account and wifi back on & sync'd but the book still in my library!!

Now I'm really confused!

Kate

[geertm]

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lilsmartie wrote:

So no charge on my account and wifi back on & sync'd but the book still in my library!!

Now I'm really confused!

Kate

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If an order is cancelled this way, the book will stay in your library (with an error message).

If you login to your B&N account and go to your library, you should be able to  delete the book. If you are running firmware 1.4.1 you  can probably use the delete option to delete the book on the NC instead.

[lilsmartie]

No error message, I can still read the book as usual.

Kate

[global]

Just to clarify.  these facts. I live in Montana USA registered CC address is also in the US. I made purchases of nook color books and magazines while in the US and added to my library, I should have no trouble loading my items to Nook Color from any location in the world with WiFi access ?

[lilsmartie]

I've had no problems getting books etc onto my nook that were purchased whilst I was physically in the US just can't get any new purchases to 'pass verification' whilst I'm in the UK, this goes for magazines & books although free books are fine & always have been!

Kate

[lilsmartie]

Still no idea on what the issue is. No reply to my emails from 23rd Dec or 3rd Jan both of which I resent last week and no response on here.

Does anyone at B&N actually know what the issue is? I now know from my bank that any card purchase for the same value for the same retailer within 15 mins is auto declined as a duplicate but that only explains any 2nd/3rd attempts not the 1st on each occasion!

PLEASE give me some answers or it's being rooted and B&N won't see another penny from me!

Kate

[geertm]

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lilsmartie wrote:

Still no idea on what the issue is. No reply to my emails from 23rd Dec or 3rd Jan both of which I resent last week and no response on here.

Does anyone at B&N actually know what the issue is? I now know from my bank that any card purchase for the same value for the same retailer within 15 mins is auto declined as a duplicate but that only explains any 2nd/3rd attempts not the 1st on each occasion!

PLEASE give me some answers or it's being rooted and B&N won't see another penny from me!

Kate

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Is the credit card you are using issued by an US bank? Because that is one of the requirements for being able to buy ebooks outside the US, not just having an US billing address.

[lilsmartie]

Yep, it's the same Bank of America card registered to the same address and it works fine when physically in the US but not in the UK. B&N actually canceled some payments that were approved from the bank & from the email they sent they say it's due to being in the UK but from info above this shouldn't be an issue anymore!

Kate

[geertm]

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lilsmartie wrote:

Yep, it's the same Bank of America card registered to the same address and it works fine when physically in the US but not in the UK. B&N actually canceled some payments that were approved from the bank & from the email they sent they say it's due to being in the UK but from info above this shouldn't be an issue anymore!

Kate

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Are you using an US address for both the shipping and billing addres of your B&N account?

If you changed your shipping address to your UK address that could be the cause of your problem.

An US credit card lets you skip the IP-address check, but not the US address check.

[lilsmartie]

Yep all address settings are my US one, no settiings have been changed since I left the US and it worked fine at the airport!! The ONLY difference is where I physically am with the NC, no issues with my card as confirmed by the bank & I have used it since too without a problem! This is an issue B&N's end either the advice above is wrong or they have done something to my account but I don't know & they (both sales audit & customer service) haven't replied to my emails (only auto reply each time so they have got them!) asking what the problem is!

Kate

[bklvr896]

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lilsmartie wrote:

Yep all address settings are my US one, no settiings have been changed since I left the US and it worked fine at the airport!! The ONLY difference is where I physically am with the NC, no issues with my card as confirmed by the bank & I have used it since too without a problem! This is an issue B&N's end either the advice above is wrong or they have done something to my account but I don't know & they (both sales audit & customer service) haven't replied to my emails (only auto reply each time so they have got them!) asking what the problem is!

Kate

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After you get th first response to your email (not the auto-reply that says they got it, but the one with the canned response) reply to that email, with your question again.  That will generally get it to a person who hopefully will provivde a more useful response.  I run into this all the time with email support at various companies, the first one tends to be canned, replies to the email get more relevant information.

[geertm]

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lilsmartie wrote:

Yep all address settings are my US one, no settiings have been changed since I left the US and it worked fine at the airport!! The ONLY difference is where I physically am with the NC, no issues with my card as confirmed by the bank & I have used it since too without a problem! This is an issue B&N's end either the advice above is wrong or they have done something to my account but I don't know & they (both sales audit & customer service) haven't replied to my emails (only auto reply each time so they have got them!) asking what the problem is!

Kate

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It sounds like for some reason B&N's system does not recognize your credit card as being an US credit card. I have read some similar stories on the Amazon Kindle forum, where people living in the US with an US credit card are told by the Kinde system they are using a non-US credit card.

If you have another US credit card you could use, try that one instead. Otherwise you probably will have to wait for B&N to fix to problem on their side.

 I will also send you a Private Message (the small white envelope on top of the page).

[lilsmartie]

Thanks for the PM.

The card has been the same for 2yrs, not expired, not changed so don't see why it should start playing up now?!

Will let you know how I get on with the support if I ever get a reply!

Kate

[BN_AlexG]

Hi lilsmartie,

Please PM me with your order/account details and I'll look into this for you.

- Alex

[lilsmartie]

Thanks Alex, will update this when/if we ever get to the bottom of it!

Kate