I monitor my online credit card spending very carefully.....and today I noticed a purchase amount that didn't seem right...it was from amazon uk...and the amount wasn't familiar either....I have 2 upcoming pre orders(Tangerine Dream and King Crimson)but neither was for this amount and it was too early for them to ship it....they usually charge it around the time they ship it...so I contacted amazon UK via a chat session and the rep told me they are "trying" a new system for billing....so if you see a "pending" charge on your credit card and the amount isn't the price of the pre order...it's probably due to this new system...
AMAZON UK BILLING PROCEDURES
- Thread starter Clint Eastwood
- Start date
Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:
Ok...now things are more clear in one respect...but questions still exist on this new billing....the basic observation is that amazon UK no longer waits until your item ships to charge you for PREORDERS....they charge you ahead of time...but how this works is a mystery to me...here is my example.....on May 2nd I ordered the Tangerine Dream Box Set...which has a release date of June 14...so on May 22nd my credit card was charged for $131.12.....roughly 3 weeks AHEAD of the release date..
Now keeping those time frames in mind...I ordered the King Crimson Box Set on May 17th....and the release date on that one is earlier than Tangerine Dream...it's on June 7th...so the time before the release is a little under 3 weeks...so I should have been charged for that one....but I haven't been YET.....and something that has nothing to do with amazon directly....I use Chase Credit Cards for my amazon purchases....they charge me a small transaction fee(which is fine with me)on overseas transactions....it's usually a dollar and some change per title....well this time when they charged me for Tangerine Dream...the transaction fee was the equivalent of 2 purchases...which would make sense for the 2 box sets...but what puzzles me is why I haven't been charged for the King Crimson box set yet as it's an earlier release date and it appears that the transaction fee from Chase has already been paid....
Perhaps there is a window on these pre orders...if you order within a time frame(maybe under 30 days)your credit card won't be charged...and if you order EARLY....like I did on Tangerine Dream...which was over 30 days....they charge you....I'm just guessing on the 30 day figure...
Maybe some of our UK members can chime in on this...I don't order that often from amazon UK and I'm curious what the new policy actually is.....I looked on the amazon UK website but couldn't find the right topic...
Now keeping those time frames in mind...I ordered the King Crimson Box Set on May 17th....and the release date on that one is earlier than Tangerine Dream...it's on June 7th...so the time before the release is a little under 3 weeks...so I should have been charged for that one....but I haven't been YET.....and something that has nothing to do with amazon directly....I use Chase Credit Cards for my amazon purchases....they charge me a small transaction fee(which is fine with me)on overseas transactions....it's usually a dollar and some change per title....well this time when they charged me for Tangerine Dream...the transaction fee was the equivalent of 2 purchases...which would make sense for the 2 box sets...but what puzzles me is why I haven't been charged for the King Crimson box set yet as it's an earlier release date and it appears that the transaction fee from Chase has already been paid....
Perhaps there is a window on these pre orders...if you order within a time frame(maybe under 30 days)your credit card won't be charged...and if you order EARLY....like I did on Tangerine Dream...which was over 30 days....they charge you....I'm just guessing on the 30 day figure...
Maybe some of our UK members can chime in on this...I don't order that often from amazon UK and I'm curious what the new policy actually is.....I looked on the amazon UK website but couldn't find the right topic...
There are a ton of posts in this over at SDE.
It sounds like the Amazon policy us moving toward charging within 5 days on preorders regardless of release date.
Price guarentee is still in play so you will get a refund.
Where it is currently applied seems unclear.
I know once it is in full effect, if an item isnt labeled as price guarantee (or wharever their term) I will not preorder from them.
I already order often fron smaller shops, this will probably spur even more of those purchases.
It sounds like the Amazon policy us moving toward charging within 5 days on preorders regardless of release date.
Price guarentee is still in play so you will get a refund.
Where it is currently applied seems unclear.
I know once it is in full effect, if an item isnt labeled as price guarantee (or wharever their term) I will not preorder from them.
I already order often fron smaller shops, this will probably spur even more of those purchases.
yes! i first noticed this the other week when i saw a charge come up from Amazon.de. i initially thought it may be some error or - horror of horrors - fraud and made enquiries. it turned out it was for my Purple Rain Atmos BD preorder, so knowing it's not out for a while, i asked why the money had been taken from my account already and not upon dispatch as usual and received a double Dutch response in pigeon English from German customer service! so.. i'm absolutely none the wiser as to what it's all about but the upshot is the charge made in advance still stands - and seeing as not tieing up funds way in advance is one of the few things that is for me in Amazon's favour when preordering software stuff, if this is to be a new blanket policy it'll make me much less inclined to preorder BDs/CDs/DVDs/games from them in future.. d'oh! 
yes! i first noticed this the other week when i saw a charge come up from Amazon.de. i initially thought it may be some error or - horror of horrors - fraud and made enquiries. it turned out it was for my Purple Rain Atmos BD preorder, so knowing it's not out for a while, i asked why the money had been taken from my account already and not upon dispatch as usual and received a double Dutch response in pigeon English from German customer service! so.. i'm absolutely none the wiser as to what it's all about but the upshot is the charge made in advance still stands - and seeing as not tieing up funds way in advance is one of the few things that is for me in Amazon's favour when preordering software stuff, if this is to be a new blanket policy it'll make me much less inclined to preorder BDs/CDs/DVDs/games from them in future.. d'oh!
That's the type of explanation I got...which was a Jedi mind trick that explained nothing...I wonder what the motivation is on amazon's part?...I wonder if this is just involved with "media" products...
Shall I fire up the Gap Band again?
I reckon its to fund Mr. Bezos' divorce
I'm still puzzled about the specifics of amazon UK's pre order policy....today I was charged for the King Crimson Box Set $143.29 as today is the release date....and I was charged for the Tangerine Dream Set $131.12 on 5/22 and it won't be released until June 14th....SO.....it appears that if you order within 30 days of the release...you won't be charged until the release date(I ordered 21 days before the release date)….but if you order outside that 30 day window(I ordered 43 days prior to the release date)you will be charged before the release date....but even using these guidelines I can't understand the procedure....I ordered Tangerine Dream on May 2nd(outside of the 30 day window)but I wasn't charged for the pre order for another 20 days...that's the part I don't get....they could have just charged me then(on May 2nd)when I ordered...not wait some random 20 days and then charge me....
Anybody on the other side of the pond know the answers....and I don't care...I'd just like to know the "rules"....the other thing I thought of was this...these releases are sometimes delayed...sometimes for months...so what happens if Tangerine Dream is delayed for an unspecified period...and I've already paid them on May 22nd?....interesting....so I guess they want you to pre order early...but not too early
Anybody on the other side of the pond know the answers....and I don't care...I'd just like to know the "rules"....the other thing I thought of was this...these releases are sometimes delayed...sometimes for months...so what happens if Tangerine Dream is delayed for an unspecified period...and I've already paid them on May 22nd?....interesting....so I guess they want you to pre order early...but not too early
SNAFUI'm still puzzled about the specifics of amazon UK's pre order policy....today I was charged for the King Crimson Box Set $143.29 as today is the release date....and I was charged for the Tangerine Dream Set $131.12 on 5/22 and it won't be released until June 14th....SO.....it appears that if you order within 30 days of the release...you won't be charged until the release date(I ordered 21 days before the release date)….but if you order outside that 30 day window(I ordered 43 days prior to the release date)you will be charged before the release date....but even using these guidelines I can't understand the procedure....I ordered Tangerine Dream on May 2nd(outside of the 30 day window)but I wasn't charged for the pre order for another 20 days...that's the part I don't get....they could have just charged me then(on May 2nd)when I ordered...not wait some random 20 days and then charge me....
Anybody on the other side of the pond know the answers....and I don't care...I'd just like to know the "rules"....the other thing I thought of was this...these releases are sometimes delayed...sometimes for months...so what happens if Tangerine Dream is delayed for an unspecified period...and I've already paid them on May 22nd?....interesting....so I guess they want you to pre order early...but not too early
Ranasakawa
1K Club - QQ Shooting Star
Amazon UK don't even ship to Australia any more but surprisingly they ship to China. I used to be a huge shopper at Amazon UK. They screwed up big time and this new up front charge shows they don't give a rats ass about it's customers still.I reckon its to fund Mr. Bezos' divorce
SNAFU were a band I saw quite a few times, really good mid-70s Funk-Blues-R&B Rock band, formed by Bobby Harrison ex-Procol Harem/Freedom & Micky Moody (ex-Juicy Lucy) who after SNAFU went on to greater fame!
Another installment of the Amazon UK billing "wheel of fortune"....so today a change of direction...I received an automated email from the good folks at amazon UK....they are now reversing field from a policy decision...to a billing error...keep in mind I have never actually contacted them after the internet "chat" I had when I first saw the charges for the pre-order....they must have gotten a lot of complaints...
they emailed earlier offering a full refund or just leave it, i can't be bothered so i'm just gonna leave it but it does sound like they royally screwed up.
Yep...that's the same email I got..looks someone is not getting that big promotion after all....they are probably headed for the mail room
Yup, got that one too. Like I said SNAFUYep...that's the same email I got..looks someone is not getting that big promotion after all....they are probably headed for the mail room
yeah, Amazon! STFU with yer phantom preorder payment policy SNAFU!! its funny i didn't notice it until they charged me for that Purple Rain Atmos BD.. err.. where were we??
Similar threads
