[Mods - I have no idea where this belongs. Move at will.]
Back on December 13, I ordered some stuff through Amazon. One of the items was backordered and delivered today (January 29). I happened to have my Visa bill handy, and looked at it. All charges were posted December 13! WTF? This can’t be legal. Does everybody do this?
You mean you paid for the item when you ordered it, and not when the backorder actually shipped? Yes, not only is that perfectly legal, but in my experience it’s SOP. Happens to me all the time, with stuff from Amazon and other retailers, like sheet music.
And actually, I’d be surprised, and a little upset, to receive a charge for a backordered item. I expect to get the tedious payment details out of the way at the point of purchase, so when the backordered item eventually arrives, I can just rip it open and enjoy it (“Finally!”) without having to remember not to throw away the invoice because it will need to be paid.
ETA: I will say, though, that in the past I have encountered at least one e-tailer who said, “We will only charge your credit card when your backorder ships”, but that was a major PITA, and I no longer do business with them.
Similar to what Duck Duck Goose said. I can sure see why you would not want to pay for something until it is ready to ship. But the flip side of turning into two separate invoices is that they’d have to split the shipping and taxes et al into two portions, and the two portions could easily add up to more than you originally agreed to.
I don’t see any ethical problem with what they did, provided that when they realized they’d have to backorder that item, they gave you the option of cancelling it and getting a refund on it.
It is certainly legal, but I had the impression that the merchant contracts with the credit card associations prohibited putting a charge through before mail order merchandise was shipped. I can easily imagine a power merchant like Amazon could set its own terms, however.
I used to manage a billing & payment system, although we weren’t a mail order house. If I find a copy of the contract stuffed away somewhere I’ll be back.
It’s legal, but many mail order houses (and eTailing = mail order*) will hold off charging your account until the order ships, primarily so they don’t have to remove the charge if you cancel the order or if the item never becomes available.
*The only difference is the method of placing the order.
I must say tho that that’s really weird for Amazon to do that.
I have had stuff on backorder twice with them and they sent me constant reminders about how my card wouldn’t be charged until it shipped. I wonder though if the difference was that your item only took a month or so and mine took about 6 months.
Also, were you dealing with Amazon or Amazon Marketplace? (second-hand and not-Amazon retailers)
I’m confused when did it appear on your bill. Did it appear on your December bill? Or has the charge not appeared on your credit card bill yet? I certainly wouldn’t pay for something I didn’t physically have.
I’m not really familiar with Amazon, but I’ll go with “Marketplace”. The thing actually came from another store, not Amazon itself.