Photopass: How to pre-order

[2Tiggies]

Can anyone tell me how to pre-order Photopass from the UK? I couldn't find a link on the official Photopass website and Disney UK was clueless and directed me back to the website. They obviously don't deal with that aspect of the "trimings".

I am also keen to know how much it costs to pre-order, how far in advance this can be done and whether the funds come off your card in pounds or dollars (i.e. foreign exchange fee applies).

Also, when the CD arrives, did anyone have to pay customs duty due to the value of the CD? I am happy with the new policy about postage, but if it incurs an additional fee based on the value I need to have a good think about it. I have ordered products from the US before and because the value exceeded somewhere in the region of £20 I was charged about £9 customs duty (can't remember exactly what the fee was categorised as). Just wondered what the Disney folk put on the package as value.

Sorry, lots of questions but I lost my last photopass due to being unwell and missing the window for ordering - don't want to lose it again.

Thanks.

 

[Cyrano]

Here is the link to pre-order the photocd $99.95

Oops We did not pay any customs for the 3 cds that arrived in the summer

 

[Pegasus928]

We pre-ordered ours this evening and only came across one problem.

When it came to paying we put all the details in and clicked to pay. It then went to a blank screen with 'Done' at the bottom of it. I waited patiently for 5-10 minutes and even checked our email but nothing came through. I then refreshed the page and got another blank screen. 30 seconds later we got 2 emails with 2 different order numbers.
We needed to ring them direct to cancel one of the orders - which they did without any problems - but if anyone comes across the same problem I would recommend patience while waiting for your confirmation email

 

[Elise79]

We have had 3 photopass CD delivered and have not yet got caught on the customs front but as it is a $100 value there is alway a chance it could get picked up. They come UPS or Fed Ex (can't remember now which one delivers the CDs) so you tend not to have the huge handling fee royal mail/parcel force stick you with for incoming customs fees.

The code is good for 60 days once you order.

ETA: The offical line from PhotoPass is that the pre-order offer is 'invitation only' hence why there are no links to it on the main site. That said the code has been around on the web for at least 3 years that I know of and they haven't done anything to change it so they can't be that unhappy about it but at the same time they won't direct anyone to it.

 

[Byron13]

I have my photopass cd delivered on 8th September. Disney charged me $17.00 delivery.

 

[2Tiggies]

Oh thank you everyone. I really appreciate all your help. Every poster has given me some useful info. It is supposed to be cheaper to pre-order than it is to order after. Actually I have just re-read one of your posts - $99 is about 30% cheaper than going the usual route.

I think you are right with the Fedex/UPS. That may be why there is no customs duty. Apparently it depends what the sender states the value to be. If Disney state when they mail it that the value is the price of the actual disc, and not the price the customer paid, then I imagine that could be another reason.

I am determined to get my pictures this time! Is the quality better in "real life" than it is when you view and edit online?

 

[Pegasus928]

The only complaint I would have is that the photos that were in our photobook were quite a bit darker once it arrived then they looked ot be on the screen.
This time we are only ordering the DVD so that is a whole different story as the quality of the printed photos will largely depend on the quality of our printer.

 

[Twilight Terror]

I ordered my CD on the Wednesday morning, and it turned up on Friday morning - I was very impressed!!!! Haven't actually looked at the disk yet, so have no idea what the quality of photos are like compared to the online editing facility. Didn't have to pay any customs charges either.

 

[oceanscape]

They come UPS or Fed Ex (can't remember now which one delivers the CDs) so you tend not to have the huge handling fee royal mail/parcel force stick you with for incoming customs fees.

Actually, UPS charge an £11 handling fee and FedEx charge £10. ParcelForce usually runs £8.50 but it depends on the service used.

PhotoPass packages don't often get pulled because of their small size.

 

[wayneg]

Ordered ours on Thursday 1st Oct, Thursday the 8th it still said Processing on their website. Sent them email and with 3-4 hours it said fedex had been informed to collect. Following day I got response from my email to say it had been despatched but no appology for delay. Wonder how long it would have taken if I had not emailed?
Received today, 8 disks with 3,025 pics on(I hope, not checked yet) No time to look this evening, will post a few of best one later in week.

 

[Elise79]

Actually, UPS charge an £11 handling fee and FedEx charge £10. ParcelForce usually runs £8.50 but it depends on the service used.

PhotoPass packages don't often get pulled because of their small size.

They never used to charge must be a newish thing.

Anyway shipping on the CD is now only $10 (it was $17 in April when I ordered).

I ordered in last night and it is being shipped today - can't wait. We haven't got as many photos as I would have liked but there are some excellent ones of DD with Minnie & Mickey.

 

[wayneg]

They never used to charge must be a newish thing.

Anyway shipping on the CD is now only $10 (it was $17 in April when I ordered).

I ordered in last night and it is being shipped today - can't wait. We haven't got as many photos as I would have liked but there are some excellent ones of DD with Minnie & Mickey.

Any item that comes into the UK has chance of being charged, depending on contents & value, nothing new about it just unlucky if you get caught and charged, fees above are for recovering any import duty owed. annoying having to pay any duty but paying the recovery/handling fee is rubbing salt into the wound.
I have recieved about 40 packages from US over past 10 years, 3 times been charged import duty & courier fees.
I got charged $17 shipping on the 1st of this month, must have only just changed it.

We are having trouble viewing the pics, no problem on my Desktop so far(just going to try again) but 1 laptop refusing to load the disks other trying but very slow.