Nokia Replies

After browsing through the online sales page for the 770 last Friday and confirming that Portugal isn't listed, I tried the usual route and e-mailed customer support:

Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 11:03 PM
To: online-sales(at)nokia.com
Subject: 770 in Portugal?

Hello,

I would like to purchase a 770 Internet Tablet, but Portugal (which
is part of the EU and subject to the same VAT and tax rules) isn't
listed in the relevant page:

http://direct.nokia.com/Countries.aspx?u=/Product.aspx?model=770/

Is it possible to buy the device via your online store at all and
have it shipped to Portugal?

Or, failing that, is it possible to purchase this directly via the
Nokia offices here?

Best Regards,

Rui Carmo
http://the.taoofmac.com

...and got a reply today (I've mangled the reply text from the signature onwards to preserve the representative's anonymity):

On Nov 7, 2005, at 12:22 PM, Nokia wrote:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for contacting Nokia Online Sales Support Center.

We are sorry but 770 Internet tablet is not available for Portugal.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please reply to this
message.

(signature removed)

I've just sent them a reply thanking them and trying to get a reply for the "whys" of the thing (i.e., why is this the case and is there any other way to buy one here, since I did not get a reply to that originally).

But the bottom line is that I want one, and barring some sort of incomprehensible commercial strategy, there is no conceivable reason (technical, regulatory, support or otherwise) why they shouldn't be able to ship to Portugal.

So I can either:

1. Wait until they come to their senses and update their online store (not going to happen anytime soon, I think)
2. Get someone like pfig (who makes a point of mentioning at every conceivable opportunity his current residence in the UK and how utterly civilized it all is) to buy me one and ship it over, or...
3. Deal with this in the usual way and make it a matter of principle to get one the right way, i.e., through an official, appointed Nokia sales channel.

The irony? Well, the UK is not part of the Euro zone, for starters. Portugal is, though. Plus there is zero difference in shipping to, say, Spain and here.

What irks me the most, though is that is starting to feel a lot like my QuickTime Pro adventure a month ago.

I can understand non-European companies having trouble with the notion of selling products in Portugal, but Nokia, who sell something line one out of every three handsets over here? Come on...

Ah well. If anyone reading this would be so kind as to bring this trifling little matter to Nokia's attention, I would be most grateful.