help! missing xmas order but still charged $800

[schnappy]

so apparently my mom decided to buy me a tivo for xmas..sweet, huh? unfortunately the "authorization" of her charged "failed" and she didn't receive any type of order acknowledgement, sooo she tried to order it AGAIN. and yet another "failed authorization". today she had TWO charges "pending" on her visa from tivo.com
customer care tried to place ANOTHER order for her, HELLO we already have one too many! they show NO orders placed for her and aren't giving any suggestions on how to get rid of the two charges for the "phantom" orders!
now she has $800 charged and no actual product to show for it. which means she can't order anything else for other people's christmas presents.

does anyone have any suggestions on who to contact to get the money back? or find the actaul orders?
(nothing shows up in her order history in her tivo account online)

any help out there for a tivo newbie and her pc challenged mother ~
schnappy

[Einselen]

Usually what happens is that when you buy something with a credit card first it is queried to see if you have the available credit for the purchase. That money is held for some time, possibly 24 hours or more until it is known if the purchase was made or not. This is done by the bank issuing the card. With that said Tivo can not help you in this case but the bank should be able to.

Now in regards to the failed authorization my guess is the bank blocked it as they were afraid of suspicious activity. I mean $400 being spent online could mean the card was stolen. Usually when that happens for me the bank gives me a call shortly there after and warns me of the suspicious activity and I verify my identity, say it is legit and then the charge will go through. YMMV depending on your bank though.

[flatcurve]

The pending charge was likely an authorization made before the order was filled and the final amount captured by the merchant. Authorizations will show up on your card, but unless captured (which it sounds like they weren't) they should have no impact on the balance of your card.

If they did go through, dispute them with your issuing bank.

[classicX]

You may also have luck calling Tivo with the bank on the luck - the bank may be able to cancel the transaction using the autorization number (which only Tivo would have).

Generally, banks won't let you dispute pending charges until they actually post, but while they are pending, that money is not available for you to spend, so it's a hassle.

[Einselen]

The pending charge was likely an authorization made before the order was filled and the final amount captured by the merchant. Authorizations will show up on your card, but unless captured (which it sounds like they weren't) they should have no impact on the balance of your card.


As long as the authorization is still out and pending then it will go against your credit. Most merchants will clear it up pretty quickly though if you actually do not purchase anything.

[flatcurve]

As long as the authorization is still out and pending then it will go against your credit. Most merchants will clear it up pretty quickly though if you actually do not purchase anything.

against your credit (which is why it's an authorization) but not your balance.

[Einselen]

against your credit (which is why it's an authorization) but not your balance.

Yes, I misread your post. However, the OP's mother (I believe that is who charged the Tivos to their card) has $800 tied up right now, even if it won't be billed, that is making it very hard for them to go and purchase other gifts.

To the OP, I would call up both Tivo and the bank issuing the card and talk to at least a lv 2 CSR/supervisor. If the charges are not going through then this can be fairly easily cleared up and the funds released to give back that available credit. If the charges did go through then that may take a little more work to get cleared up, but still it should be easily reversed. I had a pizza place charge me twice for the same order and they took care of it easily and issued a credit to my card. Again though you need to get past those front line workers as they are usually limited in their abilities.

[Tico]

Why Double Post?

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5800744#post5800744

[schnappy]

sorry about double post, Tico. first time to really use a forum:o
didn't know which one would have best response.

i have spoken to both the credit card co and tivo, no luck yet getting charges released. i'm going to take Einselen's advise and ask for 2nd level supe. i work in a call center and i understand how it works..ha

and yes it's strange tivo still shows no activity on their end.

[dianebrat]

There's a key fact here, these are Authorizations, these are not actual charges, and that's a big deal because while for some folks the authorizations might decrease the amount of credit available to them at the consumermas, err christmas season, they are not actual charges, and they will not show up on a bill.

I have never understood why folks get in such a tizzy about authorizations, since they are not an actual charge, and you do not pay for them. Usually by the time you manage to spend all your efforts to clear a mistaken authorization, it's about ready to fall off the map because it wasn't an actual charge (they do eventually "time out" and drop off your account)

Diane

[rainwater]

I have never understood why folks get in such a tizzy about authorizations, since they are not an actual charge, and you do not pay for them. Usually by the time you manage to spend all your efforts to clear a mistaken authorization, it's about ready to fall off the map because it wasn't an actual charge (they do eventually "time out" and drop off your account)


If the account in question is a checking account (used as a Visa Checkcard for instance), most banks will reduce the amount of available funds based on the value of the authorizations. So it can be a big deal for a lot of people.

[dianebrat]

If the account in question is a checking account (used as a Visa Checkcard for instance), most banks will reduce the amount of available funds based on the value of the authorizations. So it can be a big deal for a lot of people.

Yes, I can certainly see how that might be a problem, but without someone explicitly saying that's what the issue is, I'm not willing to buy into it.

The OP is saying "charges" and "authorizations" in the same post, and there is a very big difference, and that's what I'm digging my heels in on :cool: