Billing System needs to be improved

I have a revolutionary idea: Just charge customers immediately upon their decision to pre-order.

Either that, or give them an option of whether they'd like to PAY NOW, or wait until they roll out their arbitrary/random waves of "we've decided we will be charging you and a random group of individuals now" e-mails. There is absolutely no point to this system as far as I can see, but it certainly breeds confusion and bafflement on the part of the customer.

Most of the people I know have already been charged for their Heavensward pre-order (albeit at completely arbitrary times). Meanwhile, I haven't even seen an update on my order since I placed it a while ago. I'd appreciate an option to just settle the account and be ready to have the full product accredited to my account in time.

C'mon guys, wanting to give you our money should be the easiest goddamned part of playing this game.

It makes me nervous, until I don't see that mail saying I've been charged with it, I won't be able to sleep ever again (Not really, I sleep like a champ. Still nervous). I wish I had the option to just "pay now" as you suggest, and just wait for it instead of wandering my inbox, reading the forums and pressing F5 in the news' section. I don't really want to receive bad news few days before the early access when they decide to charge my credit card. However I'm 100% ignorant about the reasons why the billing system works like that.

Don't forget them waiting until the last minute to send EA codes

Most likely they aren't legally allowed to charge immediately when the product won't be shipped for several more weeks; laws meant to stop scams have a hard time telling the difference between a scam and a preorder.

And considering the preorders that were once available for Duke Nukem Forever ... I'd say with good reason.

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Originally Posted by Moonleg

Most likely they aren't legally allowed to charge immediately when the product won't be shipped for several more weeks; laws meant to stop scams have a hard time telling the difference between a scam and a preorder.

And considering the preorders that were once available for Duke Nukem Forever ... I'd say with good reason.

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Plus closing pre-order is easier than getting refund for something that will be out in 2 months. It definitely saves them time too I guess.
I don't know, they said 10 days before shipping out. Physical copies got it earlier because they will be shipped earlier I guess, digital got it today. Atleast on my side everything is ok.

They state in the store when you are preordering that you will be charged for the order at most 10 days before street date and that you will be notified a few days before being charged. I'm used to this from preordering from another store. Basically won't charge until shipped or very close to shipping. I like that they have this sorted that way.

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Originally Posted by Darkshaunz

I have a revolutionary idea: Just charge customers immediately upon their decision to pre-order.

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Then it's a pre-purchase. You might not see a difference but there is, legally too I suspect.

A thought. What if... you pre-order fancy thingy/game/whathaveyou? Then suddenly a minor issue happens that delays that product by months. Do you want them to hold on to that money? You might. But knowing how some Kickstarters works tells me you should be content to wait for them take that money when they do, instead of immediately.

What they should improve is their email bots, that's for sure. I just got billed for my physical CE without any warning, and of course I have no funds on my account because I was waiting for the 'impending payment' notification email, which I never got, to put money on it. Yay SE!

Odd I got the email this weekend - but I tend to get funds on the card a few weeks before expected date anyway - just to avoid last minute issues - also 130 eur... yeah split that between two months and it becomes a lot more manageable.

So weird you didnt get a notice. I got a notice saying that they will charge me for my purchase on june 1th. There was a threaf about that and some players saying to becareful. It is weird you didny get that email.

I did not get a notice either. Got billed this morning.

Physical CE from the EU SE store.

Make sure to check your spam folder for the notification. If you use gmail, it might also be in your Social or Promotion tab.

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Originally Posted by Chessala

Make sure to check your spam folder for the notification. If you use gmail, it might also be in your Social or Promotion tab.

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I have checked the Spam folder after I have found the billing notification, it was no there, nor in other tabs (I have 0 unread emails, it's an "OCD" of mine, I can't have unread emails).

It's not like I haven't been anxiously checking every mail folder every day since the beginning of the month anyway, couldn't have missed it :P

I gave up on checking the e-mails, I check my bank account directly.

I've checked my email, and my bank account. I have not been charged yet. But at least I got my EA code, so there's that.

Idk about you guys but this isn't my first preorder rodeo.

*All* "preorders" that I've done from site itself or digital download have been prepurchase, and I was charged when I made the order.

This goes for every single MMO release *and* expansion I've played past 10 years.

Why they don't draw immediately is beyond me.

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Originally Posted by Nadirah

Idk about you guys but this isn't my first preorder rodeo.

*All* "preorders" that I've done from site itself or digital download have been prepurchase, and I was charged when I made the order.

This goes for every single MMO release *and* expansion I've played past 10 years.

Why they don't draw immediately is beyond me.

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Aside from Best Buy, every online store I have purchased from (Amazon, Gamestop*, and Newegg) don't charge until the ship date.
As for Best Buy, did it once and they charged right then. Cancelled order and was refunded and went to Amazon to pre-order there. Only reason I went for Best Buy was because they had a different pre-order bonus but didn't have the money right then.

That is my experience for pre-orders dating back to before WoW.

*Gamestop online store, through a brick and mortor store I put $5 down then pay the rest when the game releases.

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Originally Posted by DragonFlyy

Aside from Best Buy, every online store I have purchased from (Amazon, Gamestop*, and Newegg) don't charge until the ship date.
As for Best Buy, did it once and they charged right then. Cancelled order and was refunded and went to Amazon to pre-order there. Only reason I went for Best Buy was because they had a different pre-order bonus but didn't have the money right then.

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I don't buy boxes. And Gamestop requires a deposit. There's even a separate line for those that are paid in full before the ship date so we don't have to deal with folks at release that still need payment processing.
I also don't buy from Amazon. I have yet to preorder an expansion for an MMO, or the release digital download of the base game, and *not* pay in full, up front.

Do folks always go out of their way to spend money they don't have yet?

This is why credit cards are useful, you dont need to have money available for the purchase, and can then pay it off once you get your bill.

I've never had a balance on my cards, and it makes ordering online a lot less painful