They've stopped delivering to the Channel Islands full-stop, as someone from work couldn't get a delivery to Guernsey.
The person on the phone said they had stopped deliveries to the Channel Islands as it was taking to long for them to sort out VAT refunds manually, so they decided it was easy just to refuse to deliver to the Channel Islands.
Apples way of refunding VAT wasn't much fun for the consumer either. First you had to hunt down the VAT request form that was buried deeply in the support section. Then if you were lucky they would knock off the VAT before you were charged. If you were unlucky you would get charged full price then get a refund about a month later. Not too much of a problem when your goods are £25 or so, but when your dropping over 1k on a new system it leaves a hell of a margin for error when it comes to covering the bill.
My main concern is now the availability of Apple goods to the Channel Islands. We have two authorised retailers - one in Jersey whose name escapes me, but when I went there last year impressed me - and then we have Guernsey Computers. They get away with murder for their hardware charges, generally RRP inc VAT and a few quid on top for good measure. Except that is for iPods which they charge at just above Apples non-VAT price as people noticed the pricing discrepancy. But they have a really cr@p range and carry little if not no stock.
So lets now say that you are a Guernsey resident, and you want a new iMac but you want the larger had drive added - well you can't have that now as you can only get it from GC and they will only sell you standard equipment. Want a new PowerMac but want it with Bluetooth and the wireless keyboard and mouse combo? Well then your **** out of luck. You want some software with that, well now you really are joking. You can have a bog standard PowerMac in about 8 weeks, and thats if we order it today, which we wont. So why don't you order this nice Acer that we've had sitting in the window for the last year? They've still got a G4 iMac and an old style ACD on display FFS!
The fact is, it has suddenly just become a nightmare to get a Mac if you live in the Channel Islands. I've managed to get 6 people at work to pick up iBooks, all bought direct through Apple. With the combination of the extra cost and hassle, there is no way that they would buy them now if they were looking to buy a new computer.
And to those that feel "no sypthaphy" just remember the extra couple of quid in your pocket when you next order a DVD/CD/Game from Amazon (Jersey), Play (Jersey) or HMV (Guernsey).
Rant over
