Disneystore.com now charges your card twice...boooo!

[daughtersrus]

I recently ordered a couple items from disneystore.com totaling about $40. I noticed on my debit card that I had pending payments for the same order twice, tying up the funds on my checking account. I contacted customer service to address what I thought was a clear mistake and this is the response:

"Thank you for sharing your concern regarding your recent DisneyStore.com order.

We have recently upgraded our system with enhanced order processes. This has improved our order authorization system by first checking a Guest's credit card information against the address which is on file with the credit card issuer. After checking to insure the billing information matches the credit card account, the credit card is then authorized for the order total amount.

Regrettably, we are unable to drop credit card authorized from processing orders. Most credit or debit card issuing banks, will drop authorizations. The authorization of $40.87will normally drop off of the credit or debit card account, within the timeframe designated by the credit or debit card issuer. This timeframe is usually within 3 to 5 business days from the shipping date. Please check with your credit card company for any authorization or charges you have questions about.

Thank you again for your interest in Disney."

So now they will charge you once just to make sure they can, then charge you again "officially". The second charge will be dropped eventually, I'm sure this will mess a lot of people up, especially when paying with debit card. I guess I'm not shopping on disneystore.com anymore.

~Cari~

Potentially there could be a double hold on your bank account for quite awhile waiting for the order to actually ship. My last order from them was large (Vera Bradley) and it took them over a week to ship. With this policy, the extra funds from my account would be in limbo for over 2 weeks.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Potentially there could be a double hold on your bank account for quite awhile waiting for the order to actually ship. My last order from them was large (Vera Bradley) and it took them over a week to ship. With this policy, the extra funds from my account would be in limbo for over 2 weeks.

Most financial institutions won't hold funds for 7 days on an authorization. In klnow we will release the hold after 3 business days.

 

[Colleen27]

But then it sounds like it's an issue with the bank processing time, not the merchant.

Absolutely. We had problems with this all the time with our old bank. Changed banks for entirely unrelated reasons and suddenly no more double authorizations. It still happens sometimes than an authorization expires before the final payment is withdrawn, mainly with online retailers that don't process the final charge until they ship, but I haven't seen an authorization and then a separate final charge originating from a single transaction (it does still happen with hotels and rental cars where the hold is processed at check-in and the final charge on check-out/return) in years. Also, new bank doesn't initiate overdraft processes based on pending charges, only when charges finalize.

 

[smadath]

Our local gas stations do this, however, the inquery amount is for $1.00, no matter how much gas you pump. Disney should consider something similar. Doubling your order total for an undetermined amount of time is ridiculous.