Access Blocked to Commercial Websites in US

[luther]

I am returning to the states soon, and so shopping for stuff like rental cars and sim cards. I have noticed a big increase in company websites that are blocked. For example if I try to go to staples.com, I get “Access Denied.”

 

Other sites include a message along the lines of “Your ISP server is denied access to this website. Contact your provider.”

 

I'm getting this from various computers through different ISP providers. Malware/viruses are not the issue.

 

Some of these are coming from fortune 500 companies.

 

I guess it's time for a VPN.

[INDI12]

yeah i just ordered something online stateside. order would not go through. soon as i turned on VPN bingo........

[Crossy]

Are you getting the Thai block message (in Thai), or an "access denied" from the website?

 

An increasing number of commercial sites are blocking connections from outside their "preferred" area.

 

If I can connect with a VPN that comes out locally they don't get my custom.

 

[lordblackader]

I just tried Staples.com for the exercise, got: 

 

 

Quote

 

Access Denied

You don't have permission to access "http://www.staples.com/" on this server.

Reference #18.24641cb8.1493557046.146d4b15

 

 

It's a webserver level block based on your IP address, perhaps implemented to block transactions from countries they don't service and/or fraudulent transactions. A VPN is most definitely your friend. 

[mesquite]

I am in Vietnam and have been getting the same messages.  Just tried staples.com and got an identical message lordblackader got.  VPN (US server) gets me through as well.

[KhunBENQ]

Without VPN (Thai IP addr.) I get the described (cryptic) error message.

Now I am on a US IP and staples.com opens OK.

So yes, access denied from Thailand based on IP.

 

One of the most stupid basic error messages possible.

Other sites are nice enough to tell in plain text ("not available in your country" or the like).

[Mrjlh]

It's the US servers blocking you.  They get bombarded by malicious sites trying to hack them from outside the country.

Edited April 30, 2017 by Mrjlh

[KhunBENQ]

Just noticed that the thread was started in the CM forum.

-> moved to IT and Computers

[KhunBENQ]

41 minutes ago, Mrjlh said:

They get bombarded by malicious sites trying to hack them from outside the country.

But that's nothing to do with "staples.com".

 

From their website:

 

Quote

Staples catalog, Web site and U.S. retail businesses are operated within the contiguous U.S. for customers within the U.S. and therefore do not ship or bill to international addresses. Staples only delivers to street addresses (not P.O. Boxes or APO/FPO) in the contiguous United States.

If you're in another country and you'd like to have your order delivered there, visit the appropriate site for Staples in Canada, across Europe and in Australia. You can see all our other international locations here.

And the "here" locations do not include Thailand.

China and Taiwan being the only Asian countries listed.

They will not ship to Thailand, It's that simple.

 

Brings back the question: why would I want to access them from Thailand?

(ordering for shipment to US location or the like?)

[kkerry]

It's not only Staples in the US. I ordered an item online on promotion from Harvey Norman Australia (think Best Buy) from Thailand so it would be ready for me to collect in-store on my arrival there. Using an Australian credit card and remember, I was going to pick it up from the store in person, so easy to verify my ID, they declined my order. I complained and after a bit of back and forth they eventually agreed to sell me what I wanted. The sales guy in-store said they had a lot of fraudulent transactions online. I could understand if I ordered it delivered to a Post Office box or even a street address but when I had to go in person to collect it... 

 

Another site is JetStar. If you buy tickets from them on-line from Australia you are given the option of paying for your ticket direct from your bank account, to avoid the excessive credit card surcharge that can apply. When you try to do this from Thailand you will never see the bank account option. If you use an Australian proxy the bank account option becomes available. Last time for a one way bargain ticket I saved $20 and somehow was even upgraded to an exit row seat.

 

Amazon don't have a problem with ordering from Thailand for delivery outside of the US, and other Australian companies are fine with me doing the same. When I was in dispute with Harvey Norman I rang my credit card company and they confirmed it was Harvey Norman declining my purchase and not them so some stores apparently don't want to risk dealing with any orders from Thailand or outside their own country.

[bendejo]

I sometimes get this when I try to access craigslist:

This IP has been automatically blocked.

 

 

[wpcoe]

It seems that it's specifically Thailand that Staples is blocking.  Without a VPN I get the blocked web site notice as above, but when I sign on to PureVPN's Singapore server I reach the USA web site fine.  If they are simply blocking locations to which they don't ship (apparently in Asia they only ship to China & Taiwan) they should be blocking Singapore, too, no?

[mtls2005]

I have to say the Staples thing is weird - I got the same message on multiple networks. Just tried something else: CVS, and it said CVS is not available in your country. I'm pretty sure I was previously able to access both Staples and CVS before from here without a VPN; I would check that week's sale items just before returning, in hopes of catching a bargain.

 

I return to the U.S. often and make many, many, many, many transactions on-line without issue; airline tickets, rental cars, hotels, T-Mobile (SIM), dozens of eBay sellers, other direct sellers, Amazon, NewEgg, etc.

 

The only issues I can recall in the last 15 years are: Google (Nexus phones, Chromecasts), Apple (IPods, iPads), maybe one other? For those I use a VPN.

 

People from the U.S. travel to other countries for various purposes so may want to perform transactions from foreign lands, prior to returning home. 

 

 

[Pib]

It's not uncommon for access to some sites to be blocked if having a Thailand IP address....such as staples.com   And it's not that staples.com is blocking all countries outside the U.S.; it's just a certain list of countries....usually certain 3d world nations which also have a high amount of internet insecurity/fraudulent activity going on.   

 

I can not access staples.com with a Thailand IP address...I'm in Bankgok on AIS Fibre.  But use a Singapore VPN connection I can access staples.com as Singapore is not considered a 3rd world nation/country with lots of fraudulent activity.  

 

I also have the issue with some U.S. govt website logons...can not access with a Thailand IP address...but use a U.S. or Singapore IP address and no problem.

 

Thailand is just one of those countries that some companies/agencies will block website access.  It "not" the Thai govt blocking anything; it's the company/agency in the other country blocking the access.

[Langsuan Man]

The problem is that we are located in Southeast Asia and as such many US sites block you because they are afraid that you are a  hacker just trying to access them for nefarious purposes.  The US sites feel that it is better to be safe and loose a very small part of their business that comes from overseas sales

 

I am currently shopping for furniture for a US house and I can access Lowes but not Home Deport from Thailand and am blocked when I want to go to JC Penney's (which is strange since I am always seeing JC Penney ads here at Thai Visa ) but can access Macy's 

 

I keep a free VPN available for those few times I absolutely need to access a US site.   As PIp stated above some US government sites block you only during non US business hours.  Social Security is one of them that only allows access from overseas if you log in during their posted hours , Miedicare on the other hand requires a VPN at all times 

[KhunBENQ]

So we see some concrete examples how to save money using a VPN (a feature they sometimes advertise).

 

And can now someone tell me how to book a flight from Bangkok to Germany being charged in EUR (and not in THB)

I tried over and over again. Sometimes I see EUR prices in search list (using VPN) and when being forwarded: THB!

Is it possible at all?

 

Sorry for off topic.

[kkerry]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

So we see some concrete examples how to save money using a VPN (a feature they sometimes advertise).

 

And can now someone tell me how to book a flight from Bangkok to Germany being charged in EUR (and not in THB)

I tried over and over again. Sometimes I see EUR prices in search list (using VPN) and when being forwarded: THB!

Is it possible at all?

 

Sorry for off topic.

 

I would give the following a go before trying again.

Assuming it is a German based company you are dealing with:

 

Delete all cookies you have for the company from your computer.

Delete your internet history.

Change the time zone on your computer to Germany.

Set your VPN to Germany.

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by kkerry

[KhunBENQ]

Just now, kkerry said:

Change the time zone on your computer to Germany.

Good point. Have not yet tried to fool the region/time settings.

Will give it a try.

[luther]

i have bumped into a half a dozen more sites that are  blocked.. .for example

https://www.carfax.com

which lets you look up the history of a car's ownership.

[Langsuan Man]

For occasional use of a VPN I use TunnelBear's free option  (  https://www.tunnelbear.com/ ) which gives me a choice of 20 country networks:

 

[wpcoe]

On 5/1/2017 at 8:03 PM, luther said:

i have bumped into a half a dozen more sites that are  blocked.. .for example

https://www.carfax.com

which lets you look up the history of a car's ownership.

And, again, the site is accessible via a Singapore-based VPN.  It's is specifically Thailand that is blocked (by CARFAX).

[impulse]

1 hour ago, wpcoe said:

And, again, the site is accessible via a Singapore-based VPN.  It's is specifically Thailand that is blocked (by CARFAX).

 

It's those darned digital nomads doing their mischief from their beach chair, poolside or the Starbucks...