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Don't pre-order unless the money is in the bank.

Always use a Credit Card. Debit Cards are just fake CCs tied to checking accounts. That's why they have to take the money right away from debits.
 
I have ordered from Europe, but I'm sending the device to a friend in US. Since it asked for the billing address in US, I gave my friend's address for that as well. I received the acknowledgement email, but still no transaction shows up. Maybe it's because it's weekend? Or am i not allowed to purchase with a non-US Visa card? Any ideas?
 
ustunozgur said:
I have ordered from Europe, but I'm sending the device to a friend in US. Since it asked for the billing address in US, I gave my friend's address for that as well. I received the acknowledgement email, but still no transaction shows up. Maybe it's because it's weekend? Or am i not allowed to purchase with a non-US Visa card? Any ideas?
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Pretty sure the transaction won't authorize if you put a billing address down that is NOT the address your credit card statements are sent to. Or at least, that is how credit card authorizations generally work.
 
It depends entirely on your bank. I bought the ipad and case and I have a $1 transaction for each piece, and I used my debit/cc card.
 
gwynne said:
Pretty sure the transaction won't authorize if you put a billing address down that is NOT the address your credit card statements are sent to. Or at least, that is how credit card authorizations generally work.
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That's what I had feared, and probably is the case since the transaction still hasn't happened for 4 days.

I don't know why Apple insists on a US billing address while I can use my credit card on Amazon. What's the point of VISA if it isn't universal?

Also, why does Apple send me an acknowledgement message and no rejection/warning message, at all? Is the acknowledgement mail something automated?

Do you know any telephone number or email where we can track our order?

And one last question, is there any cost to cancelling the preorder? (Actually even if there is a cost, they wouldn't get it from me due to my non-US card, would they? :) )
 
ustunozgur said:
I don't know why Apple insists on a US billing address while I can use my credit card on Amazon. What's the point of VISA if it isn't universal?
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My information may be out of date or just plain wrong, but I'm fairly sure the credit card company itself it where the transaction/auth fails if your billing address doesn't match your actual, you know, billing address. It's just part of the authorization routine. I can't speak to how it may work with Amazon, but I don't believe this is Apple being unusually restrictive. There's a reason so much e-commerce asks you whether the billing address is different from the shipping address.

If I were you I would contact your credit card provider *by telephone*, and ask them if they're even seeing the auth attempts on their end. It may be something as simple as you giving them verbal authorization to let the transaction through.
 
gwynne said:
My information may be out of date or just plain wrong, but I'm fairly sure the credit card company itself it where the transaction/auth fails if your billing address doesn't match your actual, you know, billing address. It's just part of the authorization routine. I can't speak to how it may work with Amazon, but I don't believe this is Apple being unusually restrictive. There's a reason so much e-commerce asks you whether the billing address is different from the shipping address.

If I were you I would contact your credit card provider *by telephone*, and ask them if they're even seeing the auth attempts on their end. It may be something as simple as you giving them verbal authorization to let the transaction through.
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Thank you, good advice. I will try that.

I don't recall Amazon asking my billing address or forcing me to enter a billing address in US, however I just checked and in my previous purchases, it seems I had simply given the shipping address in US as the billing address.
 
I have two $1.00 charges as well. When I spoke with Apple, they assured me that I would not be charged until the item shipped and that they are just authorization charges. I mean I have the funds, so it is ok. But, it seems odd that they would charge me now. With my Kindle DX pre-order, I used my debit card and was not charged until shipment.
 
Just checked my account and both $1.00 charges from Apple are gone, and the full amount was never deducted as a pre-auth. I guess it just depends on the bank.
 
Each bank has different ways they handle things like this. However, if you have no money in the bank, not sure if ordering an iPad is your highest priority. :D
 
Island Dog said:
Each bank has different ways they handle things like this. However, if you have no money in the bank, not sure if ordering an iPad is your highest priority. :D
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Those $1 charges are simply Apple checking to make sure the account is available for charging. They fall off after a day or two.
 
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