Web Browsing isn't working anymore! You gotta be kidding me.

[Deleted by the author on Sep 10, 2010 7:11:51 AM PDT]

A. Boehler: mal schauen, was andrys für uns hat - und wir halten uns gegenseitig auf dem laufenden, wenn sich bei einem von uns was tut, ja?

Jupp, ich bin ja wirklich mal gespannt was er uns zu sagen hat. :)
---
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the news she's got. :)

A. Boehler: ich auch! - wenn ich am wochenende zeit habe, werde ich noch mal versuchen, mich vom support anrufen zu lassen - ein blick auf die support-seiten vorhin hat mir gezeigt, dass die jetzt leicht anders aussieht, also offensichtlich umgearbeitet wird. vielleicht ist ja dann irgendwann wieder der "call me" button vorhanden, und ich kann ihn anklicken! :-) wie gesagt: letztes mal, wo ich da gemacht habe, hatte ich prompt kontakt und geduldiges troubleshooting. wird sich schon alles irgendwie aufdröseln lassen ...

Just received my Kindle 3 here in Germany. I also understood Amazon pages that I can surf the web through 3G. So now I called "search with google" and a text was displayed: not possible due to local restrictions.

This is not nice! I can only hope that this will change soon...

I then configured my WiFi connection and Kindle 3 on WiFi nicely browses the whole web.

Besides of this issue I am very pleased with my Kindle 3. The display is fantastic. All features work fast and stable so far.

Maybe you can exchange it for the WI-Fi only if it works and the 3G don't.

@C. Gatzweiler
Da bin ich mal gespannt, ich würde mich ja auch gerne mal mit denen unterhalten. Was man so liest ist der Telefonsupport jedenfalls deutlich erfolgreicher bei Problemlösungen als der Mailkontakt.

@A. Boehler:
Ja, stimmt. Beim Mailsupport kriegt man meist Textbausteine, die mehr oder minder zutreffen. Oft "minder". ;-) Beim Telefonsupport hast Du einen dran, der sich so lange in Dein Problem verbeißt, bis er's irgendwie gelöst hat. Der Telefonsupport ist unschlagbar - da könnte sich so manches Unternehmen einige Scheibchen von abschneiden ...
Von Andrys gibt's aber jetzt noch nix Neues, oder? Schade, ich bin neugierig, was er rausgefunden hat

@Andrys: ahem - didn't you say something about posting something later? Not that I think I'd have a right to push you - but curiosity already killed one cat ... ;-)

A. Boehler, I don't know what's going on and I feel for you that it's not working as was advertised. I do wish to say, I love your debate skills. You're funny. "See? I even framed the important part for you." That got a laugh out of me.

Hope you are able to get the issue resolved soon.

anything new, andrys?

C.,
Friday afternoon, I requested a couple of more pieces of info and Monday I got word they're being checked on.

Sorry I'm not saying more yet, but I need to be ultra sure of everything before writing up the situation.

- Andrys

Hey, Andrys, you efforts are most appreciated!

I agree, thank you very much Andrys!

@Marc
Thanks ;)

Arts and History Fan:
thanks for the trouble you're taking!

does anybody have any new information on this subject? web is still out cold and i'm really starting to get annoyed with this ...

C.,
No. On Tuesday I received an email that there might be an answer by end of day. That is the last I've heard though I've written again a couple of times.

I'll wait through Monday and then on Tuesday or so write up what I know from my correspondence and how, at the current time, there is no known recommended recourse when customer service won't address the simple question from specific customers as to whether or not their countries -are- or -are not- enabled for the 3G web browsing and where to go to get that simple buying question resolved.

It must be complicated and they probably don't want to encourage unnecessary 3G use on the web browser (where WiFi is an option customers have), but they're marketing the feature on the international page and I agree with int'l customers that there should be clarity for the people who have been asking for weeks now so they can make an informed buying decision on 3G since the int'l page lists the 3G web browsing as a feature. There are threads on MobileRead forum on this as well.

Most countries have the same wording re 'Whispernet' and 'WiFi' on the country-specific product pages now, but that includes countries that ARE known to be enabled and countries that were not officially enabled in July. Germany is an added puzzlement since it is the one country in which "social network features' are said to be "currently unavailable."

Also, it appears some there CAN use the web browser but some cannot, so it needs some kind of answer.

I did get a reply a bit earlier in correspondence with Amazon (as a blog reporter) about, primarily, 3G web browsing capability, and was given permission to quote a sentence about Germany and The Netherlands (see further below).

I've been asking as one who's trying to write a coherent story on the status of this for customers but there's no reason you can't write up the chain as an affected customer. You can google
amazon customer service

to find departments to write to...

I think it's detrimental to keep pushing for it in the public thread while I'm still trying to get/wait for an official reply. Someone mentioned here my blog entry on the int'l web-browsing capability -- and comments and questions can be asked there where I can reply without making a big public forum issue out of it while waiting for a reply as they have been trying to give me something to work with.

I don't update in this thread because I don't want to bump it to the top for no reason and I like to give them a chance to reply with so many departments involved and because 3G web browsing is probably a financial minefield for them so it's important how something is phrased. You can imagine several depts trying to agree on wording.

Also, they likely have contracts being negotiated currently, and in some cases may not be able to say something concrete.

My final question for Amazon is who do customers go to when they cannot find out whether or not the 3G web browsing is *supposed* to be disabled and what to do if it shouldn't be disabled but is.

But here's a reply i was given explicit permission to quote; however, it requires one more clarification so I hadn't done it yet. I really prefer to have things more tight before reporting so that I don't misinterpret or mislead.

======= From Executive Customer Relations =======
"To your web access questions; yes, Wikipedia is available in Germany as it is in all countries. Web Browser access to the internet works in Germany and in the Netherlands and access to the internet is the same for all device versions and generations."
=======

It does differentiate Wikipedia that is available everywhere that wireless exists and the web browser availability.

Within the context of my questions that seems to imply that 3G web browsing is available -- however, the wording '3G' is not part of the quote itself so i did not want to write it up without further clarification, which hasn't come yet.

However, I add that the part about 'all devices' is a big clue since no Kindle device before Kindle 3 had WiFi. If that's right, what is the answer to how one goes about having it re-enabled.

- Andrys
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com

Andrys
Thanks for all the work you're putting into getting clear infos.
I'd already guessed that international web access probably is a question of negotiations between amazon and mobile providers in all countries - and that probably a lot of people are involved. That's why I keep waiting before contacting CS again, hoping that things get resolved. In the meantime, I like bumping up the thread in hope of amazon screening the forums to see what people are interessted in and discussing - and that int'l customers are interested in the question of web access so they won't take the attitude of "well, as long as people are not complaining, what the heck?" ;-) I didn't and don't think web access is / will be dependent on device version / WiFi but rather on the contracts between amazon and the mobile providers. If amazon is already saying that access to the internet works in germany and the netherlands, I guess that contracts are signed - question is: with which provider? Because my K2i still says "due to local restrictions ..." So, my guess would be: they have contracts with some but not all int'l providers and are working on it. Patience seems to be what's needed. In the meantime: Let's let amazon know we're interested in web access ...

Well put, C., and extremely reasonable, given your circumstances. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to show the same restraint if I were in your position.

M.Cox
Not so hard to do - I have a Kindle because I love reading - the web access is a bonus. One I'd like to have back (I had it for a while which makes it a real nuiscance having lost it), but in the meantime I just enjoy reading and the features the kindle has, waiting and hoping for the web access problem being solved. I'm confident it will be - but knowing German mobile providers I can't really from the bottom of my heart blame amazon. If there's blame to be dished out, I'd guess it would for the most part have to go to German providers. ;-)

Three weeks later and no news, did I miss something? Well, I don't think that's entirely the fault of our providers. Like I said before: My K2 was still able to connect to the internet a few days before my K3 arrived. So it was working but now with the K3 it's not working anymore. That's just disappointing.

Edit: Just saw the update, wikipedia is working now at least.

A. Boehler - same here ...
maybe it's getting time to contact customer support and let them know how disappointed we are ... and maybe get an explanation. nothing more from andrys either ... pity ... i had really had my hopes up ...

Yes, I'd think it would be time to contact kindle customer support. You've been quite patient. Maybe even move up the line a little bit to manager-level.

C.,
That's what I recommended last time, that you who actually suffer from it contact Customer Support and also, the Executive Customer Relations people if Customer Support is not more forthcoming as they had been about your specific countries. After seeing the ECR response.

If you were following it closely, you'll have seen the language of the product pages have changed since then, quite different and they dropped the strange Germany one that said "social networking feature"was not available in that country.

I can't make a case that I need questions answered if the people themselves don't make their case first (with the new circumstances) as people -had- been doing. I gave you an answer from ECR and asked you to interpret what was said and then you should go on that and call to ask should you be getting 3G browsing or not in the two specific countries I asked about -- Germany and the Netherlands and did get words back about specifically.

No one was interested in the response I did get or in parsing the words.
So I was not motivated to be pushy with them since they apparently felt they'd given me an answer, if it was mainly so that I could know.

My whole initial premise was so that others might know for their own buying decisions. Meanwhile, other people still report their situations at that ongoing blog entry at http://bit.ly/kwkweb as I remain interested in collecting data from all regions from customers who are concerned.

- Andrys
http://kindleworld.blogspot.com

hi andrys - sorry if i sounded as if i wanted to attack you, i really didn't mean that! you're the last to deserve an attack!
soon as i find the time, i'll look into the changed country pages again and contact support to whine a bit about the missing web accesss ... ;-)
i think everyone missing the web access should contact cs so they know people care and try finding solutions for what ever the problem might be ... so, people out there: start whining! ;-)

C.,
It's interesting the wording changes, and it's my own take that you have the right to know what to expect in the way of the marketed 3G web browser -- whether or not it is enabled for your country.

You're not demanding it -- you have mainly wanted to know one way or another. This is true at mobileread forums as well.

I'll extract and include here what I posted earlier on this, the ECR response wording and what I thought from it.

=======
3G web browsing is probably a financial minefield for them so it's important how something is phrased. You can imagine several depts trying to agree on wording.

Also, they likely have contracts being negotiated currently, and in some cases may not be able to say something concrete.

My final question for Amazon is who do customers go to when they cannot find out whether or not the 3G web browsing is *supposed* to be disabled and what to do if it shouldn't be disabled but is.

But here's a reply i was given explicit permission to quote; however, it requires one more clarification so I hadn't done it yet. I really prefer to have things more tight before reporting so that I don't misinterpret or mislead.

======= From Executive Customer Relations =======
"To your web access questions; yes, Wikipedia is available in Germany as it is in all countries. Web Browser access to the internet works in Germany and in the Netherlands and access to the internet is the same for all device versions and generations."
=======

It does differentiate Wikipedia that is available everywhere that wireless exists and the web browser availability.

Within the context of my questions that seems to imply that 3G web browsing is available -- however, the wording '3G' is not part of the quote itself so i did not want to write it up without further clarification, which hasn't come yet.

HOWEVER, I add that the part about 'all devices' available is a big clue since no Kindle device before Kindle 3 had WiFi. So, -IF- that's right, what is the answer to how one goes about having it re-enabled. But most important is the clarification: yes or no for 3g web browsing in Germany and the Netherlands.

You've asked long enough for clarity that I think maybe you could be the one to go to the next level, which is to ask ecr@amazon.com (this should not be used without trying normal customer service first -- it's for elevation of a problem concern) what the status is for you in your country, since customer service had not given you an answer. MAYBE CS might now, so I'd try that first.