Although it may seem otherwise, this article is not a criticism (or not at all), but to provide some information that some will probably not know until it is too late. Yesterday, November 7 we inform of good news: the pinetab It is already shipping and will reach European buyers on Wednesday. Today we have to give a bit more unpleasant news: if you want to receive it, you will have to pay something more ... a lot more.
We go in parts. PINE64 is not a huge company, it has limited production power (in fact they place relatively few orders for each run) and its online hardware store. They place their orders at a factory in Hong Kong and that is where the shipment leaves from, so they are not the fastest in the world. So far everything normal. What is no longer so normal is that, one day before receiving the product, you receive an SMS and an email notifying that there is import taxes, € 43.72 to be exact.
The PineTab will cost you € 44 more than you expected
Once you receive that SMS you think “Is this serious? Is it not phishing? » and is about to look for information. The first thing you see is that on Twitter there are people happy because they are already going to receive their PineTab in France or Germany, all knowing or already assuming that they have to pay those € 44 extra. So you go to the store, to the tablet information page, and you look if they had warned to see that not ... or not in small print, but hidden. PINE64 warns, in red, that the tablet cannot be shipped with other products because it has a lithium battery, that there may be dead pixels and that it is a device that may be somewhat green or immature, but we do not see anything from our friend the tariff.
So, we are ready to look for more information and click below, on "Shipping Policy", and it is here where they do warn, with a text in bold that reads: «The shipping cost does not include taxes or import duties. Customers will have to pay import duties and VAT if applicable. The packet will be discarded and it will not be refundable if clients refuse to pay taxes and import taxes«. Therefore, either those € 44 extra are paid or the tablet will disappear, with the more than € 120 that we pay for it plus shipping costs.
Looking at the first invoice and not seeing any VAT, and remembering what I have seen when making the payment because they have not yet sent me the information to the email that I have indicated, I understand that € 26 are VAT, one that we pay when the shipment is already here and not at the time of purchase, which does not seem correct to me either. The other € 18 is left at customs.
Who is to blame for this confusion?
From my point of view, who does not read all the information has some fault, in this case me, but I think it is up to the store to make / find out the sum of everything that will cost us and add it to the information before placing the order. This is what all the companies in the world do, or all the ones that I have encountered, add the VAT and everything that is requested in the destination country so that the client knows how much they are going to pay from the beginning. Receiving this information a day before, and finding out that if the package is not paid, it is lost, it is not the best of ways.
The tablet has a price of less than € 90 which happens to be about € 160 with shipping costs and taxes. It is still an attractive price, but it has already lost a bit of its charm. And, logically, this also extends, or should, to other devices, like the PinePhone, the PineBook or the PineTime. It is something to keep in mind and information that I have felt compelled to share. And if PINE64 were to read this article, I would ask, please, for future purchases of me or of any other user, to make this clearer, or to at least add the VAT of each country to the invoice.
But hey, my PineTab will arrive a day earlier than expected, so there are only a few hours left so that I can try Ubuntu Touch, Libertine (install apps from official repositories) and start learning how to use alternative operating systems.
You throw an unnecessary tantrum, asking a private company to indicate the tax expenses of each country at the time of purchase (of the dozens or more that the company offers shipping to) should not be their competition because, in the first place neither resides in that foreign state nor is it possible to be aware of the handling of all import tax rates (which are different from country to country). And if you are looking for a culprit, observe all those who support the obstacles to trade for the tax benefit of the State (which is nothing more than theft because it is not used to improve "public" goods and services) as well as for the "benefit" of the state. local production (arguing that foreign companies will end the "national" by "unfair competition", market flooding, among other bullshit [with forgiveness for the use of this word, but it is the most appropriate expression]).
Hello, I am the person who commented on the other entry and I did know that the shipping payment was outside taxes, even when you pay there is a shipping calculator and below there is a note that says about the tax exception. What takes me by surprise is that the tariff is so expensive. The worst of all is that I ordered a Pinephone and that will be very expensive. I have always thought that freedom has its cost but I did not think that much.
Personally, I think we are used to the fact that what they show us is always the final price ... Personally, I already got it because investigating how it could be a "bargain" in the sense that for me it has a "good price" ... I have found that depending on where you live and how much customs plugs you in, you can end up paying an additional sum ...
regards