BUY.COM and Pre-Orders

tlegion · 12-01-00, 11:23 AM

Buy.com authorizes credit cards for all items in an order whether the items are ready to go or are pre-ordered. While this may seem trivial to those who use regular cards, for anyone who uses a 'check-card', having them try to hold your money for weeks or months is highly inconvenient especially when they don't tell you this ahead of time. And their web site DOES NOT mention this.

Their response is that authorizing and billing are different processes.

I think the equivalent of taking your money and mailing it back to you is rather unethical. Authorizing the money now is no indication that it will be there when it comes time to ship. It's bad enough when the car rental companies do this, but I can understand them.

matchpenalty · 12-01-00, 11:29 AM

tlegion,

welcome to the forum. FYI, Buy.com is not alone in this. Everyone preauthorizes a card and it will put a hold on a balance. It's a good reason why to use a CC instead of a check card, but you still need to be aware of your limit...Places want to know you have the ability to pay before accepting the order.

tlegion · 12-11-00, 04:10 PM

Authorization is all well and good to a point, but authorizing cancelled items and items that are not due to be shipped for three months is not.

elnutsacko · 12-11-00, 05:49 PM

tlegion-
It is understandable that you are frustrated, as this is your cash account, but all credit cards are dealt with in the same manner. A Visa debit card goes through Visa for authorization, and is not looked as as a different type of card by the company, they just see your limit as the amount of cash you have. Anything you do mail order deal you do will require this, as they need to make sure you have the money for what you ordered.

Eric F · 12-11-00, 09:58 PM

I don't understand what the big deal is.

As soon as I pre-order something with my CC/Debit card I subtract the amount from my balance. If you don't have enough money in your account you shouldn't place the order.

It's not like you have a line credit, it's like you're writing a check.

12-01-00, 11:23 AM	#1
tlegion New Member Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 7	Buy.com authorizes credit cards for all items in an order whether the items are ready to go or are pre-ordered. While this may seem trivial to those who use regular cards, for anyone who uses a 'check-card', having them try to hold your money for weeks or months is highly inconvenient especially when they don't tell you this ahead of time. And their web site DOES NOT mention this. Their response is that authorizing and billing are different processes. I think the equivalent of taking your money and mailing it back to you is rather unethical. Authorizing the money now is no indication that it will be there when it comes time to ship. It's bad enough when the car rental companies do this, but I can understand them.

12-01-00, 11:29 AM	#2
matchpenalty DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: The Garden State Posts: 8,229	tlegion, welcome to the forum. FYI, Buy.com is not alone in this. Everyone preauthorizes a card and it will put a hold on a balance. It's a good reason why to use a CC instead of a check card, but you still need to be aware of your limit...Places want to know you have the ability to pay before accepting the order.

12-11-00, 04:10 PM	#3
tlegion New Member Join Date: Dec 2000 Posts: 7	Authorization is all well and good to a point, but authorizing cancelled items and items that are not due to be shipped for three months is not.

12-11-00, 05:49 PM	#4
elnutsacko Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: California Posts: 64	tlegion- It is understandable that you are frustrated, as this is your cash account, but all credit cards are dealt with in the same manner. A Visa debit card goes through Visa for authorization, and is not looked as as a different type of card by the company, they just see your limit as the amount of cash you have. Anything you do mail order deal you do will require this, as they need to make sure you have the money for what you ordered.

12-11-00, 09:58 PM	#5
Eric F DVD Talk Ultimate Edition Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Natick, Ma, USA Posts: 4,243	I don't understand what the big deal is. As soon as I pre-order something with my CC/Debit card I subtract the amount from my balance. If you don't have enough money in your account you shouldn't place the order. It's not like you have a line credit, it's like you're writing a check.