Swiski

So.....how do I know if my open orders are cancelled or going to be cancelled? I received the dreaded email from Google on one of my accounts, but it was on an account that I didn't use yet! I checked all of my GCO accounts that I made orders on, but all the orders are still "In Process." I thought for sure they would catch me on all of my accounts since they are catching people now by name and address. I didn't get an email from them telling me that these orders are cancelled either. What's even worse is that my orders are for pre-order items that will not be in stock for at least a month, so anything can happen I guess. Does it usually take a week or will they not tell me at all as punishment. I'm confused!!!

smashthesymbols

Simon giftaccounts are perfect for this. It's a Visa gift card, except there's no plastic involved. You just get the info for the card online. It's $2 per card and they're delivered via email in 24 hours. I used a couple with Google with no problem, except now I have a few bucks on each card leftover and I have no idea what to do with it.

http://www.simon.com/giftcard/default.aspx

Peep

Itunes?

DVDmaniac14

thank you SOOO much for this info dude!

although i would like to know...how many purchases were you able to make with this before GCO caught you and cancelled your orders? was it more than one?

kenbenobi

Here is a list of banks that sell prepaid Visa gift cards, similar to the Simon one posted. I assume they all charge fees (haven't checked them all yet) but perhaps if you bank at one of these institutions there is no fee...
http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prepaid/visa_gift_card_order.jsp?view=Online&it=c|/personal/cards/prepaid/visa_gift_card.html

kenbenobi

Welcome to the forum! I don't think anyone is getting caught solely by name and address. It is re-using the same credit card that is the problem. I now have 3 credit cards I consider "dead" (they are cancelling all orders) but I have 2 cards that are still working, and both have 2 orders "in progress" on each. I used the same name and address for each. So it's the card number that is getting flagged, not the name or address...

All of my cancelled orders happened within 24 hours of placing the order, but I don't know if that is always the case. I do not plan on using either of my "working" cards until my remaining 4 orders are shipped... I don't want to chance killing my existing orders...

BettiePage

Even if you use Visa Gift Cards...
I am guessing your using a fake name with each purchase, wont they catch you based on your address?

All my orders all use different credit card numbers... however CD Universe says they are getting notified by Google that they are all bad.

For me its not a question of same CC#s its the same billing or ship to address.

kenbenobi

Maybe CD Universe is checking addresses, but I haven't seen any evidence that GCO is... The letter they are using is likely used for everyone. I doubt that GCO even notified them at all... Why would they need to? They think they are cancelling all of the fraudulent orders themselves...

smashthesymbols

When I started a couple weeks ago I was able to get through 5 per card. I was doing them all at one time, creating the Google accounts as I was going and clearing cookies between each one (though I doubt that does anything). Those all went through and shipped out problem free, and I have them all sitting here now. I did try a sixth order a couple times and every single time the sixth one would get the oops. So 5 definitely looks like the limit.

A couple of the cards I only made a couple orders on though. Last week I went back to those cards to try and make more orders to get up to 5 per card. Of the additional orders all of the ones with DVD Empire were canceled, the only one still open was with DVD Planet (it still says "in process", no shipping update or anything, I'm only assuming it's still good because the charge is still on the card).

I'm attempting one last order right now because I still have one card that hasn't had any orders canceled. I may try again on the others but I expect they'll get the oops error.

I haven't tried with a fresh card, and I doubt I will now that it looks like Google has tightened up some. I'd hate to buy a card and end up getting no orders through and have my money stuck on it and have wasted the $2 fee.

If you do try it I'd plan ahead. I'd figure out exactly what you wanna get and make the card as close to that as possible, adding $5 for the authorization charges. Then do all the orders right in a row, preferably at DVD Planet, and then cross your fingers. You might wanna consider what to do with the extra money too, I'm now stuck with a few bucks on every card due to poor planning. I can't find a thing to do with them, and I don't wanna just lose the money.

EDIT: I don't know how it is now, but a couple weeks ago name and address info didn't matter at all when it came to getting canceled orders. All the orders I made with my actual card and with these Simon cards all had my actual name and the same shipping address.

The Reaper

Well, my order didn't ship today but no cancellation email either.

kenbenobi

Here's an unusual suggestion, but it may be helpful for someone. I bought a copy of Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus that had a rebate. Symantec lately has given Visa debit cards for their rebates instead of a check. I got a $40 card, and successfully used it 3 times with GCO, and all 3 orders shipped. This card has NOT had any orders cancelled yet. So if anyone needs Norton, look out for rebate deals cuz this could be beneficial to you...

BTW, I received a DVD Planet order today which GCO doesn't even list as shipped. So even though your order doesn't say shipped, it might have...

kenbenobi

My personal opinion, the Simon card is a great idea if placing orders at dvdempire right before the cut-off time since they will likely ship. Don't waste your time with CDuniverse or DVDplanet... Dunno about other sites...

VALUEMAN

My latest order using my virtual account generating credit card has just shipped without any interference.

kenbenobi

I just ordered a $50 card from Simon. Although the advice for planning out my orders in advance would be good advice, I really didn't have a clue beyond 2 orders. I'll just try to use it up eventually.

smashthesymbols

It should be easy enough to use. I just screwed myself because I let them get down to only a couple bucks. It's hard to find anything to get for $3. I just wish I had planned better, or made sure that final order would use all but a few cents.

Peep

Although it may not help with Google orders, some websites let you split costs across more than one credit card.

smashthesymbols

You know of any off hand?

Peep

I knew when I posted that, that somebody would ask. I can't remember any offhand, but I'm sure I've seen it before.

cine

When an order gets canceled by a retailer due to OOS, does one gets the $10-off coupon back in the account as part of the GCO refund process?

DonkeyKong

If it's a Visa card, couldn't you just use it in any purchasing situation? Buy something in a regular B&M store that's about equal to the amount left on the card? Pay extra if the total exceeds the amount left on the card?

kenbenobi

From my experience, no. I had one order cancelled by buy.com and I lost the $10 deal on that account...

kenbenobi

Not with the $2 Simon cards we're talking about. There is no physical card. It's just a number emailed to you...

DVDmaniac14

ya i just ordered a $20 one and just recently received it...i'm gonna try it out for multiple orders tomorrow...

JoN8282

has anyone who has been getting the cd universe error - are these accounts new email addy and cc# for every account?

bdhart

Boy is Google on top of it. I just now got 2 emails from Google that my orders have shipped from dvdplanet. I received the blu ray discs last Friday.