How Long Is Too Long To Wait?

[Robert Bonomi]

It's in the FTC rules in support of the "Fair Credit Billing Act".

Applies to telephone, mail-order, and on-line sales. Must ship on-or-before the 'promised' (if no specific date promised, then 30 days from the date of sale) ship date, or (by that date) give the customer _written_ means to cancel the order.

However, all the major credit-cards -- I have first-hand experience, as a merchant, with VISA, MASTERCARD, AMEX, DISCOVER, and DINERS CLUB; don't know about Carte Blanche or Nova (Novus?) -- have terms in their contract that forbid charging the card before the product is ready for the customer. i.e. the product is 'shipped', or 'available for pickup'.

Violating same is a _real_ good way to lose your ability to take credit cards. Some of the card issuers will give you the benefit of the doubt, _once_, others are not that generous.

[John Grossbohlin]

A couple of weeks for a retailer to receive a shipment from Delta sounds about right... I went through that same wait three times while waiting for my DJ-20 (two smashed in shipping). The immediate charge to your AMEX sounds like a store policy issue to me. Places like Amazon and Woodworkers Warehouse didn't charge the account until either shipment or pickup. However, another local vendor wants the money up front as they are not a stocking dealer for most Delta items (6" jointers and contractors saws are the only things I've ever noticed in-stock).

John

[Joseph Smith]

I don't know about your particular situation but, I had recently been looking into ordering sunhill's 6" jointer and was told by their distributor on the east coast that I could place the order but they are so backlogged that I should not expect to see delivery until May.

[RB]

They probably don't have control over the delivery date of merchandise to them but they do have control over when they charge your account.

In my dealings with AMEX they do not look favorably upon a merchant processing a charge until the merchandise has been shipped. It is not your responsibility to finance their operation.

I'd talk with AMEX but be aware that AMEX won't process a disputed charge until AMEX has billed you. The fact that you can see a change to your account on-line doesn't count. AMEX must have billed you before they will take any action.

RB

Rob Walters wrote:

[Nova]

When I purchased my Jet cabinet saw I ran into a similar situation.

Although the store sold Jet products, the cabinet saw was not an item they stocked. Since it was a "custom" order the store required payment up front. To save shipping costs the order was placed with the store's regular order from Jet so there wouldn't be a special delivery. They explained this to me before I placed the order. I should have received the saw within two weeks of placing the order. I did not. The problem was with delivery from Jet, and although the store manager kept on top of the delay, we kept getting a variety of excuses from the Jet sales rep. Part of the problem was that I ordered the HTC upgraded fence with the saw and Jet didn't have it.

From running a small business I find that with a "custom" order it is not uncommon to have either a hefty portion of the sale or the total charged to the account at the time of purchase.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

We do the same on custom bicycles at the shop I work at. Sometimes, the frame alone can be $3000 or more, and since many stock road frames come in 10-12 sizes, we often require payment at the time of the order.

Other bikes are completely custom, with a frame made to measurements we provide to the builder. In this case, it can be months before the product arrives.

Barry

[Larry C]

Hopefully your saw has arrived Rob since I'm weighing in late on this issue. I don't know the "reasonable" wait time for a Unisaw, but since they promised you a week and didn't deliver I'd ask for something to make up for it. It never hurts to ask and since you've pointed out to them several times that they're late and they know they're late you might get something like a saw blade, etc for your "pain and suffering".