am i wrong or is this bad business

[jtd_419]

I've ordered through one of the online suppliers before and was very happy with my order. My most recent order from the same company has been waiting on a backordered item for almost a week and i just noticed that my card has already been charged.
Is it just me or is it bad business to charge someone for a product that you don't actually have.

The part that bothers me the most is that one i was notified by email of the backorder i called the next day and was told it should be on the truck either that day or the next and would be shipped right out. Two days after those two days i noticed the charge and called.
.... i was told that they were waiting on their truck to bring it and it was the way theie system operated to place the charge immediately when an order is placed.....

 

[pickles]

I think it's shady, but I assume it more prevalent than we think. I'd be pretty ticked about it myself.

 

[tre9er]

are the initials of this vendor "KC"?

 

[jtd_419]

Nope not them..... i still bottle all of my beers

 

[tre9er]

OK. Still bad business. Don't charge me unless I go in knowing it's on backorder and even then, don't charge me until you have it in stock. It's a pain for both of us.

 

[Grannyknot]

the way theie system operated to place the charge immediately when an order is placed.....

It is a terrible BS cop-out to blame their "system".
They were just trying to manage their cash-flow & hoping you didn't notice.
It is a bad way to do business, but it happens a lot.

Even Northern Brewer has charged my card a day before it left their facility. It happens.

 

[Rbeckett]

I ran into this issue once with an electronics vendor in Thailand. Charged my card, waited 10 days to send the goods and recharged my card for the difference in exchange rate when they actually shipped. Never again, I use Paypal and dont give out my info to anyone after that episode. For the record ther supplier was named Futurelec and I strongly advise against doing business with them in any circumstance. I know I will never give them a second chance to hose me again. Yup I agree it is just bad business to do that and I would be very leary of them in the future... Just my .02, YMMV.
Wheelchair Bob

 

[JonW]

I don't know which vendor you're talking about, but is it at all possible that it is only a pre-authorization on your card? I run an e-commerce site and any time an order is placed, it is pre-authorized. This does take away from your available credit, but the money is not actually transferred to the vendor until the charge is settled. For many people, when they look up their online charges, it is not shown as a pre-auth, only as a charge, so you can't tell that it is really pending.

Believe me, we deal with this every day from people calling saying we took their money without shipping yet.

 

[jtd_419]

I don't know which vendor you're talking about, but is it at all possible that it is only a pre-authorization on your card? I run an e-commerce site and any time an order is placed, it is pre-authorized. This does take away from your available credit, but the money is not actually transferred to the vendor until the charge is settled. For many people, when they look up their online charges, it is not shown as a pre-auth, only as a charge, so you can't tell that it is really pending.

Believe me, we deal with this every day from people calling saying we took their money without shipping yet.

I called them to see and was informed that its s.o.p. for them to charge it out that way and it has been charged to my account not just the typical hold that most companies use to verify a card

 

[JonW]

That's definitely the wrong way to do business. It's also against their merchant agreement to charge prior to shipment (and illegal in some states). You really should post who it is.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I had the same thing happen last week from brewmasters warehouse. Charged card before the order went out. I got an email that one item was out of stock but they offered to ship everything else first so I didn't get bent out of shape about it. Not sure if that's who you dealt with.

I seem to think Amazon also does this.

My guess, in OP's case, is that the company has a vendor that processes credit card purchases and the charge goes direct to them and they process it before the order is fulfilled in house.

 

[jtd_419]

Strangely enough within a few hours the backorder disappeared and has shipped.... sometimes calling and being rude is the answer..... i often wish there was a lhbs within two hours of here