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AT&T/Apple double order = $1000 & locked out of my bank acct

M

mac'inmama

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 6, 2005
119
2
Southeast USA
Just a heads-up that you might want to double check your bank account/orders if you tried to order through both AT&T AND Apple on Monday, even if your order "didn't go through".

I tried AT&T numerous times on Monday as well as Apple to pre-order the iPhone 4. I got as far as to be able to put in my cc# information on AT&T once before their site went down for good that day, but I never got to click submit or checkout or anything, after the cc screen, it went to an error and I was booted out of their site. I was finally able to order one through Apple for the supposed upgrade price of $299 for the 32 gig. Got an order confirmation within a couple of hours of my order.

I noticed later that day that there were a couple of $1 charges in my bank account from AT&T and I called to ask them why since I never got through the ordering process. They said that if I put my cc# in, it would have tried to verify that I had money for the purchase in my account, but that NO, I was not successful in ordering and would not be getting the phone and the charges would reverse since I didn't complete the order. Sounds good, right?

I got an order confirmation from AT&T in my email last night (Wednesday night, more than 48 hours after I gave up trying to order from them and from the time I called them) and I figured I'd call them today and just cancel if it was a legitimate order, though I couldn't see how it would be.

Fast forward to today...I was out shopping and my debit/credit card was declined at two stores (thank goodness I had cash on me, too) and when I looked at my bank account online, I could see that both Apple AND AT&T charged me for an iPhone purchase. They were both $299 + tax. I called AT&T to cancel my order with them and they told me that they were going to charge me $299 for the phone and that I would want to cancel with Apple because they Apple shipment was going to actually cost me $699 and that they would adjust the charge when they shipped because you're only allowed to order one at the upgrade price (DUH). I was assured, and I'm not entirely confident, that AT&T will be shipping me the iPhone 4 and I canceled my Apple order, so hopefully they will reverse the charge.

I had to call my BANK, too, and have them unlock my account because all of the multiple small charges from Apple and AT&T triggered the fraud system and they didn't bother to call me, so I didn't know until I tried to use my card, which they had to unlock for me today.

I just want to make sure that anyone who may have tried and gotten that far in the process but didn't quite make it keeps an eye on their bank account because I never clicked "submit order" or "check out" or anything on AT&T and didn't get confirmed for my order for 2 days. You may end up with double charges, one of them being for the full price if you tried to order on Monday.
 
THIS is the reason I reserved. I would be pissed if I had to go through ALL of that.
 
nfl46 said:
THIS is the reason I reserved. I would be pissed if I had to go through ALL of that.
Click to expand...

yg17 said:
This is why you never use a debit card when making big purchases like that.
Click to expand...


Although I feel for the OP, this seems like a rare instance.

I used a debit card, tried both on AT&T and Apple, and I finally got it to go through on Apple.
Today, one charge from Apple of $213.
No $1 chargers/fees/anything.

Although it take a while, and a lot of frustration, I was able to get everything done with a delivery date of June 24.
:)
 
This is the reason I have perfect credit scores in the 800s. And my AMEX card has a 25K credit limit. and Chase Signature Visa card has no credit limit.

I don't deal with debit cards (with those visa/mastercard). If you are responsible, real credit cards are the way to go.

Disclaimer: I do own shares of Visa stock.

But it doesn't matter, get a AXP, MA, VA, discover card always available for purchases and especially for hotel and car rentals where they put large holds on your card.

I think I've used my debit card 3 times in the past 10 years. And that's because I was trying to collect extra frequent flyer miles promotion.
 
aneftp said:
This is the reason I have perfect credit scores in the 800s. And my AMEX card has a 25K credit limit. and Chase Signature Visa card has no credit limit.

I don't deal with debit cards (with those visa/mastercard). If you are responsible, real credit cards are the way to go.

Disclaimer: I do own shares of Visa stock.

But it doesn't matter, get a AXP, MA, VA, discover card always available for purchases and especially for hotel and car rentals where they put large holds on your card.

I think I've used my debit card 3 times in the past 10 years. And that's because I was trying to collect extra frequent flyer miles promotion.
Click to expand...

PleaseLeave.gif
 
I'm only out an extra $213 since AT&T doubled up on my order. I'm told one is canceled now, so now it's just a waiting game for when I get the funds back in my checking account.
 
Kyliec89 said:
Apple gift card kept them out of my debit and credit cards :)
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I don't think Apple gift cards don't work at AT&T's website. I would have done it, but Apple's sites were dependent on AT&T's site, and that's what made it all the worse to order through Apple at the time.
 
When i woke up on the 15th i raced to my computer to order the Iphone on the At&t website, i got as far as inputting my CC# and it just timed out... so i tried 2 more times and still same thing

i look at my email and it said i had 3 confirmed orders and i also called At&t and they also said i had three orders but they couldnt cancel it... that i had to wait till i receive the phones and i would just be able to send them back

so i called again to speak to somebody else and i lasted about 45 mins on hold and when somebody finally answered... they were able to cancel two of them

thank goodness i used my credit card
 
aneftp said:
This is the reason I have perfect credit scores in the 800s. And my AMEX card has a 25K credit limit. and Chase Signature Visa card has no credit limit.

I don't deal with debit cards (with those visa/mastercard). If you are responsible, real credit cards are the way to go.

Disclaimer: I do own shares of Visa stock.

But it doesn't matter, get a AXP, MA, VA, discover card always available for purchases and especially for hotel and car rentals where they put large holds on your card.

I think I've used my debit card 3 times in the past 10 years. And that's because I was trying to collect extra frequent flyer miles promotion.
Click to expand...

You have much trust and faith in credit companies.
 
BeyondtheTech said:
I don't think Apple gift cards don't work at AT&T's website. I would have done it, but Apple's sites were dependent on AT&T's site, and that's what made it all the worse to order through Apple at the time.
Click to expand...

Yah I am pretty sure you would have had to use Apple.com, but I got through on apple thank god, since that was my only option (250 dollar card specifically as a gift for buying iphone 4). I was wishing for a minute that I could use ATT but I got lucky on apple.com so it worked out.
 
Kyliec89 said:
Yah I am pretty sure you would have had to use Apple.com, but I got through on apple thank god, since that was my only option (250 dollar card specifically as a gift for buying iphone 4). I was wishing for a minute that I could use ATT but I got lucky on apple.com so it worked out.
Click to expand...

I used a gift card as well and had a heck of a time getting my order in on Tuesday. After a half dozen times, I got to the end and had it crap out on Submit order. After closing and restarting a browser session, I went through the process again and completed successfully, receiving an order confirmation a few hours later.

Wednesday, I now see 2 orders in the system, the one that went through and another one 11 minutes later for the same $199 16GB pricing. Oddly enough, the 2nd order has the same gift card applied as the first one; however, there wasn't enough on it to pay for the order! I checked the value of the GC and there is now $0.08 left on it!? After checking all my credit cards AND my bank account and PayPal (which is linked to iTunes), I see no additional charge for the 2nd one beyond the GC.

I will wait and see what happens next week. Until I physically have 2 phones shipped to me door, I am not sure what the system sees and am afraid to request a cancellation of one of the orders.
 
I also placed a double order with AT&T and apple. It was by accident I didn't realize my at&t order had gone through because the browser froze before the confirmation screen came up. I only realized one and half days later when AT&T sent a confirmation note.

But I haven't been charged on my credit card by either company. I am currently on hold for the third time to talk to at&ts pre order people to cancel the pre order. Hope I get through this time. Had no luck on two attempts yesterday.
 
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