It is reasonable for a company to ask for payment on an item that's not in stock?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › It is reasonable for a company to ask for payment on an item that's not in stock?

mattwnz

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#216606 4-Jul-2017 18:41

Currently ordering some appliances from a retailer. For one of them, they said that they would need to get new stock as they had run out, which could be at least two months before the stock comes into the country. But it is not a special order, as they would be getting these in anyway. However the remaining parts of the order would be available in a week. They asked for the full payment now, including for the item than could be 2-3 months away, if not longer. Is this reasonable for a company to ask for full payment, or should they only be asking for the money for the goods they can supply now?

The reason I can see this potentially being an issue for me as the consumer, is that the company could cease operating, or get taken over by another company who doesn't purchase the liabilities, and then due to the big time delay, I probably wouldn't be able to do a chargeback on the credit card. It is also for quite a lot of money.

sonyxperiageek

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#1812799 4-Jul-2017 18:42

Why not just order the available appliances now and cancel the one that's out of stock and buy that when it comes back in stock?

And typically you only hear of deposits being made on big ticket items with the remaining cost to be paid on pick up.

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tripp

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#1812802 4-Jul-2017 18:44

No, don't pay them. Why should you take the risk on products they don't even have yet.

gregmcc

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#1812804 4-Jul-2017 18:45

Tell them you will pay for the items that are in stock now and more than happy to pay for the out of stock item when they actually have stock to supply.

Why should they get the use of your money until it arrives and you carry the risk of losing the money should the worst happen

surfisup1000

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#1812808 4-Jul-2017 18:51

mattwnz:

Currently ordering some appliances from a retailer. For one of them, they said that they would need to get new stock as they had run out, which could be at least two months before the stock comes into the country. But it is not a special order, as they would be getting these in anyway. However the remaining parts of the order would be available in a week. They asked for the full payment now, including for the item than could be 2-3 months away, if not longer. Is this reasonable for a company to ask for full payment, or should they only be asking for the money for the goods they can supply now?

The reason I can see this potentially being an issue for me as the consumer, is that the company could cease operating, or get taken over by another company who doesn't purchase the liabilities, and then due to the big time delay, I probably wouldn't be able to do a chargeback on the credit card. It is also for quite a lot of money.

No way i'd pay now.

mattwnz

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#1812810 4-Jul-2017 18:52

sonyxperiageek:

Why not just order the available appliances now and cancel the one that's out of stock and buy that when it comes back in stock?

And typically you only hear of deposits being made on big ticket items with the remaining cost to be paid on pick up.

The risk with that is that they new stock may get reassigned to someone else who may prepay for it in advance, so they would have preference as they are apparently very popular. Also there is no way of knowing when it is instock, unless they let me know, which companies don't tend to be that good at. I would use an escrow service, but trademes own system is closing down, if it hasn't already done so. So I will probably ask for them to contact me when they come in, and then pay for it then.

sonyxperiageek

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#1812819 4-Jul-2017 19:24

That's where the partial deposit comes in play.

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UHD

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#1812827 4-Jul-2017 19:31

Full payment before stock being in hand sounds a bit dodgy. Can you issue charge backs on a merchant if they go into receivership? I'd not pay more than a token deposit.

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alasta

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#1812828 4-Jul-2017 19:32

I agree with others above - I would never pay the full price upfront.

When you order from Apple if there is no stock available they hold your credit card details and then process the charge when they eventually ship the goods. That is what all retailers should do in my view.

sonyxperiageek

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#1812838 4-Jul-2017 19:45

alasta:

I agree with others above - I would never pay the full price upfront.

When you order from Apple if there is no stock available they hold your credit card details and then process the charge when they eventually ship the goods. That is what all retailers should do in my view.

I don't know about holding credit card details either as what if they "accidentally" charge your credit card when the goods have not been shipped yet? Best bet is still to just purchase when available or a partial deposit IMO.

Sony

richms

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#1812845 4-Jul-2017 20:00

Also there are issues with the way so many places hold credit card details. Not uncommon for them to just record them and manually put it thru the terminal or other non PCI compliant things.

Richard rich.ms

frankv

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#1813012 5-Jul-2017 07:04

A company can ask whatever it wants. It's up to you whether you want to anything in advance.

Bung

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#1813025 5-Jul-2017 08:00

mattwnz:
The reason I can see this potentially being an issue for me as the consumer, is that the company could cease operating, or get taken over by another company who doesn't purchase the liabilities, and then due to the big time delay, I probably wouldn't be able to do a chargeback on the credit card. It is also for quite a lot of money.

Have you checked that there aren't other retailers with stock of all the items you're after? If it is just your retailer that is short they may be closer to collapse than you think ;-) It's more than deposit at risk if you consider warranty support.

MikeAqua

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#1813078 5-Jul-2017 10:10

I don't think that's reasonable. There is no risk to the retailer They were getting the item as standard inventory anyway.

From your perspective, paying a small deposit would mean you can expect they reserve one of the items for you.

I'm happy to pay in advance for special orders for small items and pay a deposit equivalent to 2 x shipping costs on large items but that's about all.

If a business goes broke, you are an unsecured creditor.

Mike