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Credit Card Hold for New iMac Order

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sealed579

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 27, 2012
9
0
I ordered a 27 inch iMac on 12/8, and a hold was placed on my credit card on 1/5. Since my Discover card has had a "Processing" transaction from Apple for 4 days now, I'm curious if others have been in that situation. How long does it take to go from the "Processing" stage to "Prepared for Shipment" with a lingering Pending transaction on a credit card?

It's been 32 days and the only activity I've seen on the order is that hold on my credit account. Thanks in advance for the responses!
 
OldRhodie

OldRhodie

macrumors regular
Nov 10, 2012
221
253
Belfast
sealed579 said:
I ordered a 27 inch iMac on 12/8, and a hold was placed on my credit card on 1/5. Since my Discover card has had a "Processing" transaction from Apple for 4 days now, I'm curious if others have been in that situation. How long does it take to go from the "Processing" stage to "Prepared for Shipment" with a lingering Pending transaction on a credit card?

It's been 32 days and the only activity I've seen on the order is that hold on my credit account. Thanks in advance for the responses!
Click to expand...

I had a problem with the Apple Store when placing an order for an iPad 4 on Black Friday but was able to use another credit card. The original card was suspended and when I phoned the issuer (they initially phoned me) was put through to their fraud department. Apparently the Apple store suffers a lot of credit card fraud. It was quickly restored but it seems card issuers are watching Apple store transactions. Have you phoned your card company?
 
shenan1982

shenan1982

macrumors 68040
Nov 23, 2011
3,641
80
Something is up with your Credit Card....

When you place an order, Apple (sometimes) authorizes the amount to make sure you've got the available funds. As a note, I ordered my iMac in December and they did not authorize anything.

An authorization falls off the "held available balance" within 7 days, however the law allows a credit card company to hold indefinitely until a charge posts (the merchant issues a finalized charge). Generally, credit card companies hold those authorizations in excess of the normal 7 days if the cardmember is a "high risk" cardmember (low credit score, high dispute ratio, low credit available, sub-prime card type). That may be the case in your situation (yeah yeah I know we'd all like to think we have perfect credit and I'm sure that's what you'll reply with).

The other alternative is they may be holding it in error, but credit card companies are just big computer systems with little human interaction, so I'd say it's unlikely if it's held past 7 days that anything aside from the high-risk cardmember attribute comes into play.... but who knows.
 
S

sealed579

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 27, 2012
9
0
shenan1982 said:
Something is up with your Credit Card....

When you place an order, Apple (sometimes) authorizes the amount to make sure you've got the available funds. As a note, I ordered my iMac in December and they did not authorize anything.

An authorization falls off the "held available balance" within 7 days, however the law allows a credit card company to hold indefinitely until a charge posts (the merchant issues a finalized charge). Generally, credit card companies hold those authorizations in excess of the normal 7 days if the cardmember is a "high risk" cardmember (low credit score, high dispute ratio, low credit available, sub-prime card type). That may be the case in your situation (yeah yeah I know we'd all like to think we have perfect credit and I'm sure that's what you'll reply with).

The other alternative is they may be holding it in error, but credit card companies are just big computer systems with little human interaction, so I'd say it's unlikely if it's held past 7 days that anything aside from the high-risk cardmember attribute comes into play.... but who knows.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the info! Apple did authorize my card on 12/8 and I bought AppleCare the same day which went through just fine. I assumed the Pending transaction on 1/5 meant that my iMac order would go through in a day or two, but the delay is what prompted me to ask.

I have a decent credit score ~740 with a 10K card limit, but this computer was the first thing I put on the Discover card, so perhaps that is the issue... I'll give them a call later tonight. Thanks!
 
shenan1982

shenan1982

macrumors 68040
Nov 23, 2011
3,641
80
sealed579 said:
I appreciate the info! Apple did authorize my card on 12/8 and I bought AppleCare the same day which went through just fine. I assumed the Pending transaction on 1/5 meant that my iMac order would go through in a day or two, but the delay is what prompted me to ask.

I have a decent credit score ~740 with a 10K card limit, but this computer was the first thing I put on the Discover card, so perhaps that is the issue... I'll give them a call later tonight. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Well if the transaction was pending on 1/5, that means it's likely about to ship. I thought you meant you ordered 12/8 and the computer's charge has been pending ever since.

I'd give it 7 days from the 5th, then if you haven't gotten a shipping notice, it should fall off.
 
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sealed579

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 27, 2012
9
0
Update: I just got off the phone with the credit card company who said they've approved the charge (hence the Pending/Processing on their end) and are waiting on Apple to actually finish the transaction.

I know others are in the same situation, so when I saw the charge hit 1/5 I was optimistic I'd get my new machine by 1/12, but I suppose I'll have to go back to playing the "wait on Apple" game again...
 
L

Lundy

Cancelled
Dec 20, 2012
13
0
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sealed579 said:
I ordered a 27 inch iMac on 12/8, and a hold was placed on my credit card on 1/5. Since my Discover card has had a "Processing" transaction from Apple for 4 days now, I'm curious if others have been in that situation. How long does it take to go from the "Processing" stage to "Prepared for Shipment" with a lingering Pending transaction on a credit card?

It's been 32 days and the only activity I've seen on the order is that hold on my credit account. Thanks in advance for the responses!
Click to expand...

It took me about 24 hours to go from a hold on my account to prepping for shipment. Although now my iMac has shipped, but the money is still sitting in my account and the hold is gone.

I hope you see some movement soon!
 
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S

sealed579

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 27, 2012
9
0
Lundy said:
Got the email this morning saying my iMac has shipped! I ordered on 12/12. Here is what tracking says so far. Does the "in transit" listing after the shipment release mean its in the air? How do I figure out which plane its on?

- 1/09/2013 - Wednesday
10:43 pm
In transit
SHANGHAI CN
10:38 pm
International shipment release - Import
SHANGHAI CN
2:57 pm
Left FedEx origin facility
SHANGHAI CN
11:57 am
Picked up
SHANGHAI CN
- 1/08/2013 - Tuesday
10:28 pm
Shipment information sent to FedEx

----------



It took me about 24 hours to go from a hold on my account to prepping for shipment. Although now my iMac has shipped, but the money is still sitting in my account and the hold is gone.

I hope you see some movement soon!
Click to expand...

Thanks, this morning it changed to "Prepared for Shipment!" Also, the hold on my account is gone, so I'm assuming they'll charge me soon...

Congrats on yours shipping! I'm not sure how you track it on the plane though. I'm hoping that as soon as they send me my shipping email it will have already been in transit like yours.
 
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