Bad experience with PB Tech

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Rikkitic

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#262031 31-Dec-2019 14:52

I just had the most unbelievable experience with PB Tech. I know they seem to be the go-to outfit for many geeks here, but I will never deal with them again. I find their behaviour outrageous and unfathomable for a company that has to sell stuff to people in order to survive.

So I placed an order and supplied all the requested information. I got to the payment page and filled in my credit card details. I completed the order and received a confirmation email. So far so good.

But then I was told I had to have my payment ‘authorised’. I am not a regular customer and I don’t want to register. I just want to make a one-off purchase, like I do all the time from other sites.

I followed the link to the authorisation page, only to learn that I was expected to contact my bank, ask them for the payment details, and relay that information back to PB Tech! Or, I could also send them a copy of my Internet banking transaction page!

What the f*** is this all about? They claim it is fraud prevention. I think it is the most outrageous ridiculous BS I have ever encountered with any company. As I told them in my very angry email, I am not a trained animal that jumps through hoops. I think their demands are ludicrous. So does everyone else I have told this to. No other web site I have ever done business with requires this sort of thing.

They act like they are doing me a favour by selling me stuff. They are not. I am doing them a favour by giving them my money so they can get paid. If they want to protect against fraud that is fine and good, but they are trying to make it into my problem and as far as I am concerned they can go stuff themselves! There are plenty of other places happy to sell me the same item without all the nonsense.

I cancelled my order and demanded the return of my payment. So far I have not heard back from them again.

No doubt some will pile on here with all kinds of explanations for their actions and proclamations about how unreasonable I am being, but I honestly don’t see it that way. I know credit card fraud is a real problem, but that is an issue for the credit card companies. No-one appointed PB Tech sheriff, and if they want to stay in business, they might start by treating their customers with a little more respect and common sense. In the meantime, I will be taking my money elsewhere.

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#2383326 31-Dec-2019 14:56

Want low prices, jump through the hoops.

Or pay higher prices so they can build in unrecoverable loses due to fraud into their pricing.

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rb99

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#2383327 31-Dec-2019 14:56

I had to do that once, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, not sure which company. I thought huh, but I did it and survived.

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#2383331 31-Dec-2019 14:58

I really suggest you don't try to open a new bank account!

This will feel like a cake walk.

It's really just their mini version of AML checks.

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Rikkitic

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#2383336 31-Dec-2019 15:04

I know NZ has gone off the deep end with money laundering nonsense and similar stuff, but I still have my limits. If PB Tech doesn't want to take my money, I am glad to spend it elsewhere. Fortunately there is still some choice in the world.

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tripp

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#2383337 31-Dec-2019 15:04

I had that on my first order, it was easy.

With mine (a few years ago now) they put a hold of under $1 on my credit card, i then had to enter in the correct amount on their website for my order to be processed.

I just opened my banking app on my phone and looked at the hold amount for the transaction, entered that in. Total time it took was less than a minute.

Most of the banking apps i use now will show you the pending transaction amount.

darthkram

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#2383338 31-Dec-2019 15:04

Remember having to do something similar with Computer Lounge a number of years ago so I suspect it may be a requirement levied on the stores by banks?

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Rikkitic

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#2383340 31-Dec-2019 15:09

I don't buy stuff on-line every day, but I have made a fair number of transactions and I have never encountered anything like this before. I think it is ridiculous and it doesn't prevent fraud or money laundering. What South American coke merchant is going to launder $200? Don't make me laugh!

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tripp

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#2383341 31-Dec-2019 15:10

The issue with credit card fraud it maybe the retailer that gets hit, not the customer or the bank. Banks are very clear about this (from ANZ merc agreement)

"If a credit card transaction turns out to be fraudulent, it
may be charged back to you and could end up costing you
more than the original sale. High fraud and chargeback
levels can also attract penalties from the Card Schemes
(Visa, MasterCard and UnionPay) and can result in the
termination of your merchant facilities."

This agreement then goes on to say that they need to do checks on first time purchases etc. This is why they will be doing it.

Rikkitic

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#2383351 31-Dec-2019 15:17

OK, let's say I am a major drug dealer resident in New Zealand or a credit card skimmer from Eastern Europe and I want to fraudulently buy a bunch of stuff to launder my ill-gotten gains or to pay for my drugs. Whoops, too many credit card checks in New Zealand. I guess I better buy all this stuff on Ali Express instead! Way to go, fraud prevention.

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Rikkitic

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#2383361 31-Dec-2019 15:19

tripp:

The issue with credit card fraud it maybe the retailer that gets hit, not the customer or the bank. Banks are very clear about this (from ANZ merc agreement)

"If a credit card transaction turns out to be fraudulent, it
may be charged back to you and could end up costing you
more than the original sale. High fraud and chargeback
levels can also attract penalties from the Card Schemes
(Visa, MasterCard and UnionPay) and can result in the
termination of your merchant facilities."

This agreement then goes on to say that they need to do checks on first time purchases etc. This is why they will be doing it.

In fact, I actually bought something from PC Tech awhile back and I didn't have to go through this nonsense. But I bought it one-off like my current purchase, so I said I was a new customer. Again, though, I haven't had anything like this from any other NZ company.

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tripp

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#2383364 31-Dec-2019 15:21

Rikkitic:

OK, let's say I am a major drug dealer resident in New Zealand or a credit card skimmer from Eastern Europe and I want to fraudulently buy a bunch of stuff to launder my ill-gotten gains or to pay for my drugs. Whoops, too many credit card checks in New Zealand. I guess I better buy all this stuff on Ali Express instead! Way to go, fraud prevention.

It's what PBtech has to do when supplying credit card payment gateway and reducing their risk. You can either do it or not or go in store and pay cash/eftpos/credit card or use another website.

If you have internet banking they tend to tell you the pending transaction amounts on the bank website or via their apps. This was the way PBtech was doing it (by holding a $$ amount for the transaction that you had to enter back into their auth page).

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#2383374 31-Dec-2019 15:43

I am with Rikkitic on this I would tell PB Tech to go fish and I would go elsewhere. I even find their customer facing staff to be terrible with no idea of customer service, I swear a smile must cost extra there. I use them as a last resort. My online buying is done at Ascent and I never had to jump through hoops and get a reference from the ten disciples in order to give the money.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

tchart

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#2383375 31-Dec-2019 15:43

Rikkitic:
I know NZ has gone off the deep end with money laundering nonsense and similar stuff, but I still have my limits. If PB Tech doesn't want to take my money, I am glad to spend it elsewhere. Fortunately there is still some choice in the world.

Actually quiet the opposite. NZ are only catching up with the rest of the world. I encountered these kinds of measures 15+ years ago in South Africa.

The thing with PB Tech is that they have high value, resalable merchandise. Would you rather it easy for scammers to order stuff and resell to get cash? I heard Might Ape gets a lot of this kind of carry on.

As with all 5 finger discounts the rest of the consumers end up picking up the tab with higher prices.

Hammerer

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#2383380 31-Dec-2019 15:49

Rikkitic:

What the f*** is this all about? They claim it is fraud prevention. I think it is the most outrageous ridiculous BS I have ever encountered with any company. As I told them in my very angry email, I am not a trained animal that jumps through hoops. I think their demands are ludicrous. So does everyone else I have told this to. No other web site I have ever done business with requires this sort of thing.

I find it hard to believe that this relatively common check for anonymous users is the "most outrageous ridiculous BS I have ever encountered with any company".

If you told most people about this issue using the same tone and language you use here then they probably would agree because it is risky to disagree when extreme views are presented and they don't have any interest in the outcome.

toejam316

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#2383383 31-Dec-2019 15:54

Yeah they've implemented it recently, I've used my card there a lot and about a month ago they asked me for an online purchase. I just provided the details and carried on as usual. I suspect it's something to reduce their liability for credit card fraud, because they certainly are not getting smaller, which makes them a bigger target for stolen card transactions.

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