Dick Smith and credit card charges or authorisations?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Dick Smith and credit card charges or authorisations?

kyhwana2

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#43557 20-Oct-2009 19:39

HI all,
has anyone ordered anything from DSE's website using a credit card(or debit card) before?
I bought a GPS and got it delivered 2 days later, they had put an authorisation on my card and then it disappeared without actually charging my card? (I've got a visa debit card)

When will they take the money out off against that charge?

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#265438 20-Oct-2009 20:02

I don't know what DSE's actual process, but I suspect that they take a pre-authorisation at the time of the initial purchase and then commit the charge once they've confirmed stock availability, etc.

A pre-authorisation essentially locks out funds on your card without actually charging it which is useful in situations where a vendor isn't yet ready to charge your card but wants to confirm that the card can be charged if and when they see fit to go ahead and do so.

itxtme

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#265448 20-Oct-2009 20:53

I have, never noticed a pre-authorisation charge>? They def did charge me for the goods tho!!

johnr

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#265449 20-Oct-2009 21:00

Can I borrow your Visa debit card I need to make some online purchases?

richms

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#265506 21-Oct-2009 00:36

Debit cards suck because of that authorization crap that happens - I know several people that have come into problems because of buying something, the authorization went on, the charge went on, authorization took another day to come off and they had no access to their money.

Only a pretty stupid person would believe that its better to use something of yours rather than something of someone elses, when there is no charge to use the banks money.

Mind you, so many people are brainwashed into thinking credit cards are bad for some reason that I can see why the banks had to bring out these bloody stupid cards just to get people spending.

Oh, and I have not seen any authorizations at all from dse - just a charge for each item as they shipped them.

Richard rich.ms

tchart

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#265525 21-Oct-2009 08:01

Pak & Save fuel, or any self service petrol station where you swipe your own card at the pump, do this too.

Annoys the hell out of me! I think they preauthorise something like $150. If you do it on the weekend you wont see the charge reversed until Wednesday at the earliest. Ive actually had it declined when I still had $100 available in my card (and all I wanted was $50 fuel).

Needless to say I dont get my fuel there anymore!

richms

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#265665 21-Oct-2009 14:12

Thats what happens when you stitch up a fundamentally broken insecure charging system ontop of a cheque account just so dumb people can buy stuff online.

Anyone tried the new gull eftpos at pumps to see if they do anything stupid like the pak-n-save oens?

Richard rich.ms

cr250bromo

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#265680 21-Oct-2009 14:33

The same pre-authorisation happens with a credit card as a debit card, it's just you are less likely to notice it unless you are close to your credit limit.

The pre-authorisation drops the 'available balance' on the credit card without showing up as a transaction, whereas on the NZ Post "Loaded" visa debit card I have you actually see the pre-authorisation appear as a transaction, and if it drops off you see it 'crossed out' on the online statement.

Just one of those things to be aware of I guess... not everyone wants a credit card just so they can buy stuff online, so I think the debit VISAs do serve a purpose.

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Behodar

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#265697 21-Oct-2009 15:26

richms: Debit cards suck because of that authorization crap that happens - I know several people that have come into problems because of buying something, the authorization went on, the charge went on, authorization took another day to come off and they had no access to their money.

I use a debit card (Westpac) on an almost-daily basis and have never been denied access to my money, whether online or in person. While I do see the occasional authorisation charge when using it as a credit card instead of EFTPOS, it's never caused a problem. Is there something specific that causes the issue?

cr250bromo

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#265709 21-Oct-2009 15:44

the places you are most likely to see this is rental car agencies and hotels, they often pre-authorise a significant amount of money, which in the case of a debit VISA is unavailable for you to spend until the pre-authorisation drops off - which in some cases can take up to a week.

For most normal transactions eg buying something at the supermarket, the authorisation is done followed by settlement later the same day, so generally you won't notice.

gumboot

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#265712 21-Oct-2009 15:55

Best one I had was a $2000 hold at checkin by a hotel in Aus, Found out when they declined my card in the hotel bar!

After that started using Amex for anything thats going to put a hold on.

richms

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#265845 21-Oct-2009 22:22

I had dumped all my money for the week onto a loaded cart as I was needing a new atm card, and braindead bankdirect cant leave your current one working and make a new one thats exactly the same, they have to cancel and re-issue a new one, I had filled up at pak-n-save with $40, and then went in to get some shopping (the few things that pak-n-save stock that I want) - came to $50 or so and declined since they had authorized $150 off the card and I only had $160 on it. Took ages to come back onto it which meant I had to borrow some money off someone.

Lesson learned. Get cash out rather then trusting money with a loaded card which basically makes you an unsecured creditor to NZ post and having to pay to deal with them about issues (hmm, sounds like that telco thats out to shaft their customers...)

Richard rich.ms

ajobbins

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#265855 21-Oct-2009 22:43

A hotel in Los Angeles once held $3600USD as an authorisation on our card, despite the fact we Prepaid the stay. We were staying 9 days and apparently they hold $400 per day of stay for "incidentals".

We only had a $5,000 limit on that card at that stage so the authorisation alone maxed the card out. We queried it with the hotel and they agreed to reduce the authorisation to $900US, but it took about 3 days for the funds to become available on the card again.

Lucky we had plenty of cash, plus other cards to use.

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richms

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#265859 21-Oct-2009 22:52

Thats where an amex comes into its own since there is no limit on it. About the only use is hotels since not many other places take them with the insane merchant rates they charge.

Richard rich.ms

ajobbins

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#265861 21-Oct-2009 22:54

richms: Thats where an amex comes into its own since there is no limit on it. About the only use is hotels since not many other places take them with the insane merchant rates they charge.

Yes I have an amex now too. Mine doesn't, but some Amex cards still have limits tho I think?

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freitasm

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#265867 21-Oct-2009 23:05

adamj:
richms: Thats where an amex comes into its own since there is no limit on it. About the only use is hotels since not many other places take them with the insane merchant rates they charge.

Yes I have an amex now too. Mine doesn't, but some Amex cards still have limits tho I think?

There are two American Express services: charge card and credit card. You must pay the charge card balance in full every month. The credit card is like a normal credit card, where you can pay a minimum if you want.

Even though there isn't a "limit" on the charge card (the one you have to pay in full), American Express will put a stop if you go over your rolling average expenditure/payments for the last year - or some similar formula. You can call them and ask to have the purchase authorised though.

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