Has anyone ordered from www.burn.com.au?
 

I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience ordering from this company, which is located in Australia. I placed an order for a dvd and some cd's on 8/31, using a 50% coupon code. The company never sent any confirmation to me and never let me know what the shipping cost would be. I then sent an email to them, asking to cancel my order.

On 9/1, a charge for $5.46 showed up on my bank account. I then sent out emails to Burn.com.au, asking for the status of my order. And if they were unable to provide that, then to cancel it. My messages were ignored. Out of nowhere, on 10/12, I finally received an email from them. It was simply a list of the items from my order, stating that they were in stock.

A customer service rep sent a second message to me the same day. He claimed that they had been sending numerous messages to me and that I had not replied! He stated that I need to confirm my order, or it would be treated as a potential fraudulent order. Again on 10/12, a charge of $91.55 showed up on my bank account.

My immediate response was to point out the irony of the suggested fraud and to request a credit of the charges back to my account. This request was ignored. Finally on 10/28, they responed again. They said that they were still waiting for me to send them confirmation of the payments taken from my account in Australian dollars. Once I did that, they would ship out my order. I again requested for them to cancel my order and credit my account. Guess what? No response.

I have tried contacting my bank, but they say they are unable to take action because I authorized Burn.com.au to charge my account. They suggested that I file a complaint through the Better Business Bureau. But I'm not sure if they will be able to help because this company is in Australia.

Has anyone had any similar experiences? Any advice on how I can take action against this company and attempt to get my money back? In any event, I would advise everyone to avoid this company.

Charges showed up on your "bank account"? You had them deduct money directly out of your bank account instead of using a credit card? Did you "unauthorize" them from taking money out of it in the future?

I used my ATM card, which also functions as a credit card.

Unfortunately, with a debt card you miss out on the consumer protections mandated by Congress for credit cards. There's a lot good info out there on the differences between credit cards and debit cards worth looking at, but here's a starter (not the best one, but the first one to pop up on a google search):

Debit cards too risky for big purchases

I don't know enough to argue this but here is some additional info from Visa's website.

Zero Liability

RTorres481,

If your debit card carries the Visa logo then it sounds like you could be covered by the protection. It won't be applicable though if you used it as an ATM card, with pin, to withdraw money. The only relevant issues appears to be that you initially authorized the company to charge your card. You may have to try disputing the charge again with your bank.

Thanks for providing that link, rdodolak. I didn't use a PIN to withdraw money for the order. I'll try contacting my bank again.

Looks like mastercard also has the zero liability for debit cards. See the following link for more info.

Card Benefits

RTorres481,

Although you initially authorized the charge, it appears you later emailed the company to cancel the order before it was shipped. Before it was shipped would probably be the key here. I would argue at that point you are no longer authorizing the company to make the charge and would consider it unauthorized. I'd also keep a copy of the emails you sent to back up your statement when filing a complaint/dispute with Visa/Bank. Good luck with getting this issued resolved. Let's us know how it turns out.

be careful of email spam blockers. alot of legit emails dont get thru them. since you receive theirs and they dont receive yours (allegedly) it could be their spam blockers, especially if youre emailing from a yahoo or hotmail type account.