Warning Regarding BlahDVD

[Indiana Jones]

Just thought I would let people know of something I just discovered about BlahDVD.

I got sent a £5 Discount Voucher several weeks ago and decided to use it to pre-order the Jaws 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Set which would bring the price down to £26.99

I checked on their site before I ordered whether they charge when you place the order (like CDWow) or if they charge when the item is shipped (like Play) and it states 'Payment will be taken when your order is shipped' so I placed the order.

I checked my bank account online about an hour ago and noticed that exactly £26.99 had been taken from my account, I emailed BlahDVD and was told the following...

When a customer places an order with us we put a reservation in the bank account for the value of the order. This is to ensure our customer has sufficient funds to pay for the item.

Now can someone tell me, what is the difference between them reserving my money so I cant spend it and charging me for the product now? as they seem exactly the same to me.
Do they really have the right to reserve my money without informing me just because I pre-ordered an item from them? If I dont have any money when the order comes around then dont sell me it, the money might be needed for other things more urgent than a DVD and because they have reserved it I cant access it.

I would appreciate people thoughts on this and whether any other companies do this as this is a first for me.

Certainly the first company I've come across that seems to do this, and what a poor excuse. Surely it would be a lot clearer and acceptable business practice to only attempt to take the funds once the dvd is in stock and ready to dispatch.

I would also imagine where you to cancel the order it would take them a lot more time to put the money back into your account than the speed at which they took it. I won't be using these in the future, thanks for the heads up.

[Dr_Mike]

GAME did this to me once with a pre-ordered PS2 game. The difference between 'reserving' it and taking it immediatetely is, I think, that when it's 'reserved' it's still your money so you continue to earn interest on it (for all the difference that makes!)

[Indiana Jones]

Just thought I would mention that it took about 4 days after I cancelled the order for the money to show back up in my account.

You should really have to pay for the goods untill they are shipped. As with some companies you could be waiting for a while depending on how good their service is.

[Ian J]

When a customer places an order with us we put a reservation in the bank account for the value of the order. This is to ensure our customer has sufficient funds to pay for the item.

Where is the money now. If it has gone from your bank account you have paid as there is no middleground with a bank account.

[krish]

I have had no such problem, but then I do not use a debit card for online shopping. I strongly advise against debit card online transactions, should there be any fraud and you are left out of cash while your bank decides if you're to blame or not.

You should not have this problem with credit card transactions at Blah

- credit cards also usually provide some sort of additional insurance/guarantee against fraud or faulty items, should things go pear-shaped when dealing with the retailer.

[Indiana Jones]

I dont really earn enough at the moment to jusify getting a credit card but recently thought about getting one because of the added protection against fraud as I know I am not covered with my debit card.

[LV426]

Earn enough to justify? If a credit card company will issue you with one, even if it has a low limit (and one probably will) then go for it. It's worth it.

The simple discipline is this: Pay it off in full every month*. Never spend more than you can afford, no matter how tempting. Don't consider a credit card as borrowing; just as an alternate, and safer, way of paying for things.

* make sure to select a card that (like most, but not all) has an interest-free grace period every month.

[Mics49]

Reserving funds is quite common practise. Booking rental cars or hotels with a CC e.g., you make the reservation with them, they take your CC details and will check with your CC bank that you have sufficient funds and if so, reserve the amount. "Reserve" meaning it's taken off the spendable allowance but Not yet charged against your card. Once you settle the bill with them (or cancel your reservation), the reserve is released the very same moment (or in case of cancellation asap).

[Indiana Jones]

Its not commen for dvd retailers though is it?

[Mics49]

TBH, I don't know. Worth checking out Amazon's or YesAsia's or any e-tailers T&C you usually do business with. I'm sure, many would reply to direct questions and some will operate the way you prefer.

On the other hand, there seems to be a difference between debit and credit cards. When you say the amount was taken out of your account right after the transaction then may be that's because a "normal" bank account might not have that "hold reserve" feature like a cc. Check(ed) with your bank?

[Indiana Jones]

I cancelled the DVD straight away so the money was back in my account a few days later so I cant check anything but this is the first time I have ever had money taken from my account by a company who state that they dont charge until dispatch so its defently not normal practise just because I was using a debit card as I have bought from many different companies round the world and they have either charged me at the time of ordering like they state on their site or dont charge me until the item has shipped.

[jouni]

"Reserve" meaning it's taken off the spendable allowance but Not yet charged against your card. Once you settle the bill with them (or cancel your reservation), the reserve is released the very same moment (or in case of cancellation asap).

Don't bet on it!! I just called our Visa authorization center (on the 'merchant' side of things) - and reservations die on their own in about 20 days.

A hotel or car rental agency doesn't just reserve the amount YOU think your bill will be - but will allow for extra days, meals, accidents, fuel etc. - and if they are not customer-friendly - the reservation may sit there at 2-3-4X more than you would ever think - and may come up to bite you at your next stop when you find your credit is 'used' up.

Reserved amounts are not actually charged - just reserved - but they can be very significant - it pays to inquire ahead of time of those taking the 'reservations' as to what their practice is re release.

[LV426]

I don't believe that pre-authorisations such as this can actually be "released" by the vendor. What happens is that they either

--- get matched to and merged with a "real" transaction when that comes through or
--- expire after due time; 20 days may well be right.

It's always a good idea, if your credit limit is tight, to check with hotels, car rental firms, etc, what amount they are actually pre-authorising when they swipe your card.