Amazon addresses brief glitch which allowed Chromecast to be purchased internationally

A flurry of excitement hit Australia the other day, when it appeared that Amazon had beaten Google to the international punch and opened up orders to international customers for one of the hottest items on Amazon right now – the Chromecast.

The glitch allowed international customers from Australia, the UK and other countries to place an order for the device which had been restricted to US shipping only. Amazon quickly fixed the issue and has begun sending out emails to customers who did actually purchase a Chromecast during the brief window that orders were being accepted.

Hello,

We’re writing about #WITHELD for Google Chromecast HDMI Streaming
Media Player. We recently learned of an error that allowed this item
to be available to ship to international addresses. Unfortunately,
this item is not currently intended for use outside of the United
States. Outside of the United States, all of the functionality of this
item may not be available and the manufacturer’s warranty is void.
We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

You don’t need to take any action if you still want to receive the
item. If your order hasn’t shipped yet, you can cancel it by going
to Your Account and clicking the “Your Orders” button:

www.amazon.com/your-account

If your order has shipped and you would like to return the item,
you’ll find return instructions at the link below. We’ll refund you in
full, including the return shipping costs.

www.amazon.com/returns

We hope to see you again soon.

Sincerely,
Customer Service Department
Amazon.com

Of course the main issue is the warranty, but setup for the device is extremely simple with the Google Chromecast setup page on the Google Support page. At sub-$50 with fairly quick shipping the Chromecast delivered through Amazon directly to Australia is exactly what is needed, although a finalised SDK which would allow developers to release Chromecast apps would be next on the list of highly needed things for the Chromecast.

Meanwhile the Chromecast has taken over from the Kindle as the hottest selling electrical item on Amazon. The flurry of international purchases should go along way to letting the Chromecast retain that title and if Google would allow international orders, it would remain there longer still. It’s a shame it’s a glitch and meanwhile it’s back to eBay or Shipping forwarders if you want to get your hands on the Chromecast