Credit card and Apple Store Online

[Veldek]

Hi everybody,

I have a quick question. I ordered the new PowerMac G5 at the Apple Store Online and chose my credit card as paying method. Some time later, I received an email, that told me I have to call the CC company to announce the (high) amount of money going to Apple. As I never had this before, but didn't invest that much money on my credit card also, I want to know if it's right that they do charge your card yet although the Mac doesn't ship before August.

Just to make sure nobody else is hanging in between waiting for my money...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm not sure that they'll be charging your card now - but they might be making sure you can buy the machine if you haven't bought from the store before or if the amount is larger than what ever they've set their limit check to.

D

 

[Veldek]

Well, they phoned me and I asked them. They told me that they will charge the card in fact. So, this isn't normal?

 

[robotrenegade]

For most places it isn't. But if they say so you have no choice.

 

[gopher]

No way should you let them charge you.

Most places only charge you the day it ships.

Cancel your order and make sure you get a refund.

http://www.macprices.com/

lists many other places where you can order and ask if you can be put on a waiting list. Be sure to cancel the others once you find a place that will let you order when it comes in.

 

[DeKa]

It is likely they are just pre-authorising the transaction, which can make some credit card providers suss if a pre-authorisation comes through for a very large amount.

Derek

 

[MacBandit]

If you made a special order they have every right to fully charge you now. If you modified the options in anyway then for some reason if your card no longer has the funds necessary to pay for it they would then have a machine sitting in the warehouse with no owner and couldn't be sent to a dealer as a standard unit because you custom ordered it.

If you are just preordering a standard unit with no changes then I would say they have no right to precharge you though they in reality could ask for a deposit.

 

[evildead]

Originally posted by DeKa
It is likely they are just pre-authorising the transaction, which can make some credit card providers suss if a pre-authorisation comes through for a very large amount.

Derek

yes... and sometimes they put a 'reservation' on the card. The card is not charged at that moment but if you were to say... if your card had a $4k limmit, you spent $3k at Apple.com and you tried to charge $1,500 to your chard.. it would come back as maxed out... but ... money has not actualy changed hands between Visa and Apple. I dont know if that is what is going on here.. but I have had that happen before to me... they said they dont charge untill it ships but... they put a reserve on my card for the sale price and..... my card got rejected when I thought I had plenty of credit on hand. After a few frantic phone calls to Visa... I figured out that my card was not stolen.

 

[Foxer]

When I ordered my old PowerMac last year, they put a "reservation" on my card for the whole amount. The charge wasn't there, but it did reduce my available credit by the full price of the system. When the Apple Store got the PM's in before Apple.com had shipped mine, I cancelled the original order. It still took them a couple weeks to remove the hold, and then only after I called them up to find out what was going on.

This time, I ordered a new G5 from Apple.com and haven't received any of these e-mails. I can check my statement on line, and what they did was charge $1 and later that day another $60. I have no idea what there rationale is, but if it gets me a G5 I won't complain.