AMAZON has resolved a technical issue which left Islanders unable to order items, the Jersey Consumer Council has said.
The organisation previously issued advice that those experiencing problems when ordering from the online retailer should list their country as the UK, after it received reports that Amazon was unable to deliver to Jersey, and that items set up as repeat orders through ‘Subscribe and Save’ were no longer available.
Now, they say that customers in Jersey are able to place orders as normal, and that the problem has been fixed.
Issues with Amazon have been reported since GST changes were brought into effect in July, making all products ordered from large online retailers subject to the 5% tax.
The Consumer Council previously said: ‘We have also had lots of messages from Islanders who are experiencing an issue with Amazon where they are now being charged GST in addition to VAT. But again, this doesn’t seem to be affecting all Amazon shoppers in the Island. We will continue to investigate these online shopping issues for our Jersey consumers.’
Social media users responded to the JCC’s post with their own experiences, with one commenting: ‘Amazon changed their programming. They don’t just rely on your given address, they also use IP code identification. Mine does not work at all, I can’t even order a Firestick, something that Amazon makes and sells. It says only available to UK addresses. Same for every product.’
Another wrote: ‘It’s an IT glitch apparently and Amazon are looking into it. Best fix is seemingly to add your address again based on postcode look-up and accept the way Amazon formats it with UK selected as country. VAT will still be removed and GST added based on the postcode.’
Deputy Sam Mézec, who has previously criticised the government’s decision to introduce GST to all online orders from large retailers, wrote: ‘Seems a really strange and annoying inconvenience that lots of people are suddenly facing.’
A spokesperson from the Jersey Consumer Council said: ‘We’re delighted to hear that the delivery issue that was affecting Amazon customers in Jersey has been resolved. We understand that it was simply a technical issue that caused it, which Amazon say has now been fixed.’
