LeisurePro's Charging Policy Stinks!

[Melicertes]

I purchased two new items from LeisurePro over the past weekend that totaled $463.15. Looking at my bank statement this morning I noticed the following charges:

09/01 $463.15
09/03 $213.20
09/03 $249.95

I phoned LP and was told that their standard policy is to place an authorization for the full amount (in my case $463.15) against the customer's card when the transaction is made online (in my case on Sept 1st). Since they needed to ship the two items to me independently of one another they then charge additionally for each item when they dispatch it out to me. The original authorization will then "fall off" my bank account within 7 business days. The result of this is that for at least 10 days I have been "liberated" of an additional $463.15 until the original authorization "falls off" my account. The person that helped me on the phone said she would send a request to their credit dept to see if they might be able to expedite the cancellation of the original funds authorization but since LP observes Jewish holidays tomorrow and Friday I would not get any feedback until at least Monday.

I have purchased from LP on a few occasions over the past few years and I have never run into this particular problem. I asked and the agent on the phone confirmed that this is a standard policy at LP. The only reason I placed the order with LP this time around was because ScubaToys did not have one of the items in stock that I wanted urgently so getting it from LP meant I would not have to cancel my dive trip to Catalina this coming weekend. Now I probably won't go this weekend anyway while I wait for LP to sort out their credit dept.

After this experience I will definitely not be buying from LP again. I think it's a business policy that sucks; why don't they just charge the original amount, mark the order as paid on their database and then fulfill the order however they want to, one box, two, or whatever?! Why charge independent amounts *again* upon shipping the items?

No Bueno!

 

[muzikbiz22]

Just out of curiosity, what did you try to purchase ?

 

[redacted]

Perhaps you should talk to your CC company about this making it clear you have only authorized the charge of $463,15.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Similar issues happen all the time at gas stations where they authorized a fixed sum like $75 or $100 when you swipe.

FWIW: LP does not get use of the funds on the authorization, only after it is finalized. If you are running so close to your credit limit that you feel this, then gets some more cards or higher limit. Using more than 50% of your credit limit lowers your credit score no matter how reliably you pay your bills.

 

[chrpai]

Was this on a real credit card or a 'fake' debit card?

On my real credit card this wouldn't even be a blip in my personal finances.

 

[greenliger]

Amazon as well as allot of online places pretty much do the same thing.

 

[Melicertes]

The payment was handled through Paypal which might be why the LP agent on the phone said this will take 7 business days and perhaps not just 3 to 5, who knows. I stayed on hold to try and get to PayPal Customer Service this morning too but eventually hung up when I was on the phone for an hour without getting anywhere. I emailed them to query the status of the payment because I thought it was a Paypal thing (and I might still hear from them on this) and then phoned LP to get more information from them which is when I found out what was going on.

I don't care whether LP has the money in their account or not; that's not the point. The money is in limbo with my bank until the authorization expires or is cancelled. This frustration is more an issue of principle for me since it makes next to no sense to me from a business process perspective. I can understand a gas station doing this because once you have the gas in your tank you can't exactly take it out and put it back into the pump if the charge does not go through after you filled up. This is a question where LP seemed to simply have authorized the amount, thereby tagging those funds for their use with my bank, and then went ahead and double charged afterwards independently of that original authorization. The gas station will authorize $75 or whatever and then when I only use $45, the remaining $30 of that original authorized amount will be released again in 24 to 48 hours.

---------- Post added September 4th, 2013 at 03:25 PM ----------

Amazon as well as allot of online places pretty much do the same thing.

I buy a lot from Amazon and I have never had this happen, ever. The funds are authorized against the card and it shows on my statement as a "pending" charge which has already been deducted from my available balance. When Amazon ships the item the the pending charge is then posted to my account and the account balance is updated. There was only one charge from the get go and my *available* bank balance shows the deduction when the authorization is first made. There are no double charges.

 

[chillyinCanada]

You shouldn't feel you need to explain your personal finances. Nor should other big swinging dicks try to make you feel that is necessary.

Your original point was your original point. It appeared to you as if you'd been double charged for a period of time and it doesn't matter if it was $.45 or $45000.

 

[toddthecat]

You shouldn't feel you need to explain your personal finances. Nor should other big swinging dicks try to make you feel that is necessary.

You put that in exactly the way I was searching for! Thank you.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Happily my prior post doesn't really make sense now because OP edited his response, which is perfectly acceptable.