I just had to say something… else.
Pixelpiper trying to be cute again? Who knew?
Why? Merchants have up to a month to ship an order.
I don't know where you get this arbitrary "month" shipping deadline from. Where I'm from, it's incredibly poor form for a merchant to accept all your cash and then hold out on sending something to you. Don't have the item in stock? Don't charge the customer in full then. That's the point of a partial, up-front deposit - to ensure that the customer has incentive to pay in full, so risk to the merchant is mitigated while the customer doesn't have to drop all his change at once on an item with an uncertain arrival time.
They charged a $65 NRD to hold the order, which was what was advertised.. If it takes longer than expected for the item to arrive, after I've placed that deposit, then that's fine. But to charge another $500 when they don't have the item? That's asking for another $500 as part of a deposit, which was decidedly NOT what was advertised.
If they weren't sure they were able to ship it in two weeks, they shouldn't have e-mailed me saying they would be shipping it in two weeks. It's now been three (and one week beyond the time they charged me). It was THEIR word, not mine.
Longer if it's explained as pre-sale or backorder (in such a case you will usually have a cancellation window).
We are not talking about a backorder, and the pre-sale NRD was explained clearly as being $65 up-front, and the pre-shipping notice was clearly explained as being 2 weeks. So then what is your point?
So last week Sideshow was running Spooktacular and likely did insane levels of business, causing them to be extremely busy.
Spooktacular is a regular event - they knew it was coming, and they know what kind of business they do in that time frame. They should have easily been able to anticipate its effects on their operation before charging my card a week (or more) before they're ready to ship.
This is part of every day business.
It's not a part of every day business when that business is well-run and respects its customers (and going through forum history, it looks like they have a history of this kind of behavior - this is NOT new or an aberration). My business has busy periods that I can anticipate - I don't let it affect the quality of my service. Rather, I anticipate it and build that in to my timing estimates (or were I Sideshow, I'd build it in to my timing on charging my customers).
When I order something from Amazon it's a minimum of 1 week before anything is ever shipped - no exceptions (I don't have Prime).
No exceptions? Sorry, but I don't believe you. I've found that shipping LATER than a week is the exception. Usually it's within three days (and third-party merchants ALWAYS ship within three days, I believe they're required to).
But some of the recent comments have been showing some signs of anxiety/panic, not excitement or anticipation.
It's not anxiety or panic, it's frustration at a basic lack of respect for their customers. franpincho is right, it's an interest free loan. $500 is a hefty chunk of cash - multiply that by how many customers they're doing this to (and evidently have done this to, in the past). It adds up.
Ever pay a deposit on an apartment? Landlord's supposed to pay back - WITH interest. It's the law, for a reason.
Reputable businesses that respect you don't charge you before they're ready to ship within a day or two (unless it's agreed-to otherwise). In this case, it was specifically made clear that the deposit would be $65, not $65 + $500. That's why I picked this option (rather than paying via Paypal). It was a deliberate choice on my part.
Sideshow's customer service used to be talked about as being top-notch. I don't see that being the consensus anymore, and it's stuff like this that leads to those feelings.
You know, the guys that are giving you a minimum of three week interest free loan. If you honestly have questions about this particular transaction, and the billing and posting process, you should call your credit card company and ask them about it. While most card issuers have similar processes, they're not all exactly the same.
