Is this legal?

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GB

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I was under the impression that a company is not legally allowed to charge your credit card until they have shipped out the product you purchased.

I bought something for my knife sharpening system 3 weeks ago and it has still not arrived. When I called they said they are back ordered and would be shipping them out in about 3 more weeks. They have already charged my credit card though. Can they do that?
 
I'm not sure on the lagalities of it, but, most companies do not charge until ship. I would definately look into this.
 
I was kind of upset with this company anyway because when my package had not arrived I had given them a call. The guy I spoke with put me on hold and then came back and told me if should arrive at my house on Friday or Monday. That was last week. Yesterday I called and that is when they told me it was on back order and I had to wait another 3 weeks before they even ship it to me.

I asked why I was told it would be at my house Fri or Mon and she did not have an answer. I suggested that because of their mess up and also that they did not bother to inform me that there was a back order that they should send me my package overnight or at least 2nd day once they get it. She got really snotty with me and said there was no way they would do that.

If I find out that by them charging my card before they shipped it to me was against the law then I can't wait to call them back and let them have it!
 
they certainly can charge you as soon as you place the order, so long as they tell you it's been back ordered.
if you had placed a large order, and some of the items were'nt immediately available, they would still charge you the full amount up front, and ship the items when they could. it happens all the time at my job, ordering spare parts.
you can always cancel the order, and if they don't charge back the money to your account, dispute it with the credit card company.
 
Hmmm well they did not tell me about the back order until I contacted them much later. Does that matter?
 
only as far as if it bothers you or not. they should have a disclaimer somewhere available that states back-ordering policy.
i think they assume that you will put up with the delay, and i'm sure they'd tell you it happens so infrequently that it doesn't affect their business, and they are very sorry, and blah blah blah from the customer service rep..
 
I ordered a couple of items from one of the tv commercials and they did the same thing. It was over a month from the time they charged my card to the actual shipping date. I decided I would not order anymore that way. I don't see how it could be legal, but it seems legal is only a suggestion in some things.
 
I also think that it probably is legal, though states may vary.

Call your credit card company and see if they can intercede.

This isn't the darn baby monitor is it? Your kid will be going to college before that arrives!
 
LOL no the baby monitor issue was finally resolved thankfully.

This item was very inexpensive. The $7 shipping costs more than the item itself (which I think was $3 or $4). Because the money is not much I am not going to bother getting the BBB involved or anything else, but I did tell the rep that they lost any future business of mine. I am sure she could care less, but it made me feel a little better to let her know that they will not be getting any more $ from me after this purchase.
 
I certainly don't believe in bad-mouthing anyone or company, etc., but I believe it is only right to inform a friend who is about to purchase a like item that your experience may not have been a good one - so they know what to expect. Word of mouth can be bad for a business that isn't considerate to it's customers and can be really good if it is a customer-oriented business.
 
I truly doubt that it's illegal to charge your credit card at point of purchase, as annoying as it might be. Far too many companies do it for it to be illegal.
 
GB said:
I was under the impression that a company is not legally allowed to charge your credit card until they have shipped out the product you purchased.

I bought something for my knife sharpening system 3 weeks ago and it has still not arrived. When I called they said they are back ordered and would be shipping them out in about 3 more weeks. They have already charged my credit card though. Can they do that?

I know companies that do that. Actually I have a family member that runs a company that does that. It is legal, but not very cool. I would never do that if I owned my own company. And even worse, if you paid for shipping you don’t even legally own the product until it is in route. So if they company has the product on backorder. You've paid for it, but they still legally own it. That's pretty messed up. But it's legal.
 
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