When is that US is not the same that United States? When defined by Skype (and a few others).
I'm tired of being excluded from significant discount offers from several vendors that exclude US Territories, but sometimes include Canada (is Canada more United States than the US Territories?). :angry:
I tried to use the new Skype offer of free calls to United States. First I learned that it didn't include calls TO Puerto Rico (which I dont care much). But then I noticed that I would not let me make calls to anywhere in the United States if I was calling FROM Puerto Rico. Then I found this in their Help section:
Territories are explicitly excluded, but it does not say anything about the Disctrict of Columbia (which is not a state). Yes, I know.
According to the US Law the definition of 'United States' includes Puerto Rico; also the definition of 'State' includes Puerto Rico (and the District of Columbia):
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/usc...01----000-.html
Other vendors that discriminate against us are Dell (force me to buy obsolete and expensive equipment from Dell Latin American), Amazon (can only buy books/media because they argue that manufacturers do not allow exporting* electronics, but Tiger.com and Newegg.com export* the same items without problem), and Buy.com (no apparent reason other than ignorance). Among others.
I assume that they simply dont know that US Federal law applies here - may be they believe that doing business here is like selling to Venezuela or Cuba.
Also, they ignore that the top 5 selling Sams Clubs in the world are in Puerto Rico. The top sellings JCPenney and Sears stores are in Puerto Rico. And when Kmart closed more than 300 stores in US, only one of them was in Puerto Rico (all the other 27 were too profitable - I'm not allowed to disclose numbers, but they were sky high here in comparison to the US stores). I wonder about CompUSA, but the stores are always crowded. Consumerism here is extremely high - a fertile market for any retailer.
I know that 99.9% or more of the members here are not affected, but I just needed to spit it out. :angry:
Thanks to AutomationOutlet and SmartHome that not only let me take advantage of the best offers, but also let me choose USPS Priority Mail as a shipment option.
UPS and FedEx ask ridiculous prices for AK, HI and PR (like international shipping).

Edited inmediately after posting to add note below:
*Note: Should have said 'shipping' instead of exporting. Shipping withing the US limits is not considered exporting.
I'm tired of being excluded from significant discount offers from several vendors that exclude US Territories, but sometimes include Canada (is Canada more United States than the US Territories?). :angry:
I tried to use the new Skype offer of free calls to United States. First I learned that it didn't include calls TO Puerto Rico (which I dont care much). But then I noticed that I would not let me make calls to anywhere in the United States if I was calling FROM Puerto Rico. Then I found this in their Help section:
The free SkypeOut calling promotion is applicable in all 50 U.S. States and Canada. U.S. Territories (such as American Samoa, Guam, Saipan, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands) are not included in this offer.
Territories are explicitly excluded, but it does not say anything about the Disctrict of Columbia (which is not a state). Yes, I know.

According to the US Law the definition of 'United States' includes Puerto Rico; also the definition of 'State' includes Puerto Rico (and the District of Columbia):
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/usc...01----000-.html
Other vendors that discriminate against us are Dell (force me to buy obsolete and expensive equipment from Dell Latin American), Amazon (can only buy books/media because they argue that manufacturers do not allow exporting* electronics, but Tiger.com and Newegg.com export* the same items without problem), and Buy.com (no apparent reason other than ignorance). Among others.
I assume that they simply dont know that US Federal law applies here - may be they believe that doing business here is like selling to Venezuela or Cuba.
Also, they ignore that the top 5 selling Sams Clubs in the world are in Puerto Rico. The top sellings JCPenney and Sears stores are in Puerto Rico. And when Kmart closed more than 300 stores in US, only one of them was in Puerto Rico (all the other 27 were too profitable - I'm not allowed to disclose numbers, but they were sky high here in comparison to the US stores). I wonder about CompUSA, but the stores are always crowded. Consumerism here is extremely high - a fertile market for any retailer.
I know that 99.9% or more of the members here are not affected, but I just needed to spit it out. :angry:
Thanks to AutomationOutlet and SmartHome that not only let me take advantage of the best offers, but also let me choose USPS Priority Mail as a shipment option.


Edited inmediately after posting to add note below:
*Note: Should have said 'shipping' instead of exporting. Shipping withing the US limits is not considered exporting.