Buying from Amazon in Europe
Discussion
A couple of years ago, I bought a Robot Mower from Amazon Germany.
It was a special deal for Prime Members - and I discovered that Prime membership is country specific. So I had to setup an Amazon Germany Prime account (which was a fair bit cheaper than the UK anyway).
Bought the mower, and it was delivered with no issues much the same as buying from the UK (although obviously not quite as fast).
Six months later, it went wrong and I sent it back to Bosch UK for repair under warranty. They had it for a couple of months, giving me different stories about how they were going to fix it and how long it was going to take.
Eventually, I got tired of being messed about so I contacted Amazon Germany via the order details - I explained that it was currently with Bosch, but I was unhappy with their behaviour and since Amazon was the retailer I wanted to return it to them for a refund. They replied quickly and told me that they could not act as an intermediary between me and Bosch (I hadn't asked them to) but that I should ask Bosch to return it to me, and then contact them again - and that I could then return it to Amazon Germany for a refund (and they would pay the return costs).
As it happened, when I told Bosch this - they said that they would refund me themselves. I pointed out that I hadn't bought direct from Bosch, and hadn't even bought in the UK - but that didn't bother them and sure enough they refunded me the full purchase price.
So - I guess it may vary, but for me it was all fairly painless even though the product broke. Service was still up to Amazon's usual standards and I would do it again if I needed something and could make a big saving.
It was a special deal for Prime Members - and I discovered that Prime membership is country specific. So I had to setup an Amazon Germany Prime account (which was a fair bit cheaper than the UK anyway).
Bought the mower, and it was delivered with no issues much the same as buying from the UK (although obviously not quite as fast).
Six months later, it went wrong and I sent it back to Bosch UK for repair under warranty. They had it for a couple of months, giving me different stories about how they were going to fix it and how long it was going to take.
Eventually, I got tired of being messed about so I contacted Amazon Germany via the order details - I explained that it was currently with Bosch, but I was unhappy with their behaviour and since Amazon was the retailer I wanted to return it to them for a refund. They replied quickly and told me that they could not act as an intermediary between me and Bosch (I hadn't asked them to) but that I should ask Bosch to return it to me, and then contact them again - and that I could then return it to Amazon Germany for a refund (and they would pay the return costs).
As it happened, when I told Bosch this - they said that they would refund me themselves. I pointed out that I hadn't bought direct from Bosch, and hadn't even bought in the UK - but that didn't bother them and sure enough they refunded me the full purchase price.
So - I guess it may vary, but for me it was all fairly painless even though the product broke. Service was still up to Amazon's usual standards and I would do it again if I needed something and could make a big saving.
captain_cynic said:
HOGEPH said:
Any hidden costs or pitfalls from buying electronic items from, for example, Amazon Germany and shipping to the UK?
Don't you have to pay VAT on any import? Rich_AR said:
I bought some snow chains from Amazon.de just before Xmas. About £95 cheaper than Amazon UK and they were even shipped from their Doncaster warehouse. German VAT paid. (no UK VAT applied, since within EU)
That's odd, as UK VAT was due (unless Amazon.de's total sales in the UK are less than £70,000 per year, which I suppose might be the case).Edited by Rich_AR on Friday 18th May 16:10
https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/vat-customs/...
schmunk said:
Rich_AR said:
I bought some snow chains from Amazon.de just before Xmas. About £95 cheaper than Amazon UK and they were even shipped from their Doncaster warehouse. German VAT paid. (no UK VAT applied, since within EU)
That's odd, as UK VAT was due (unless Amazon.de's total sales in the UK are less than £70,000 per year, which I suppose might be the case).Edited by Rich_AR on Friday 18th May 16:10
https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/vat-customs/...
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