AVALIVE has ruined my week...

[Tom.Wong]

So this is a little bit of venting, and other people might have had good experiences with this online vendor, I'm sure they've made a lot of people happy. But I just got royally screwed from them, and this serves more of a warning of how to deal business with them rather than a stay away post. I've done business with them before and they are usually prompt and have the best prices.

I ordered my Da Vinci software from them because they were 50 dollars cheaper than everywhere else, and had it overnighted because I needed this system set up asap.

I ordered it over the weekend, and the automatic authorization posted on my checking as "pending" than Monday comes around ,and they say they need my emailed signature to authorize the shipment because I was sending it to my work address not my billing address. All fine and dandy, nice security measure.

But then they "void" the automatic transaction and do another one manually. I didn't know they were doing this, and a transaction void takes several days to refund money back. In essence they double charged me, and lowered my account so low, that all the other hardware items I ordered started posting, and overdrafting me one after another.

The void finally went through today, but now I'm still stuck with a couple hundred bucks of overdraft fees. I had just enough money for this overhaul as some back pay just came in, and didn't have any overhead, and I didn't think I would need it. The bank doesn't wanna give me my money back for the fees because their double charge didn't physically over draft me, it just lowered my account so that everything else I ordered DID.

AVALIVE doesn't wanna pay those fees because they feel like they did nothing wrong and have no control on when the money posts.

So I'm stuck ass in the wind, having to pay out of pocket for fees I shouldn't have to pay, all my accounts was squared away and I had the money for everything I needed, and now they are hurting my income because of their business model. I am so pissed, and if neither side gives me anything back, I'm closing my bank account and going somewhere else, and never buying from this vendor again.

If anybody is in a similar situation of needed something overnighted to you separate from your billing address, be wary, they might double charge you.

 

[Michael Olsen]

But then they "void" the automatic transaction and do another one manually. I didn't know they were doing this, and a transaction void takes several days to refund money back. In essence they double charged me, and lowered my account so low, that all the other hardware items I ordered started posting, and overdrafting me one after another.

I absolutely hate this. Until banking transactions occur instantly, I really do think that there should be a federal law prohibiting a company from "adjusting" your transaction without speaking to you about it first.

I know of several people to whom similar things have happened.

Of course, that also goes to say how much I hate the idea of Overdraft "Protection" - which I consider to be more like Overdraft Extortion. I would definitely talk to your bank and have that "feature" removed from your account. That way, in the future, if you do unknowingly run low on funds, purchases will just not go through, allowing you to rectify the situation without having to deal with hundreds (potentially) of fees...ironically, for not having enough money in the first place.

 

[Tom.Wong]

after 2 days of yelling on the phone, with the vendor, who gave me a LOT of attitude, going to see the banks, calling the bank, talking to one supervisor after another. I finally got all my overdraft refunded, and it's logged in as a vendor error. But if it wasn't for my adamant refusal to pay this money and my ability from jumping from polite to vicious i probably would have never got my money back.

i'm still never buying from this vendor again, i'm sticking with ones that charge me once and that's it, and overdraft is a double edged sword. because of the overdraft i had and the "double charge" i was ABLE to get my items in on time, but ended up with this headache. If i didn't have the overdraft, some of my orders would have been declined and I'd still be assed out. There was no winning this week! total fml week.

on other news, ordered my red rocket BT, they charged me practically instantly, and it came in faster than anything I've ever ordered in my whole life.

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

after 2 days of yelling on the phone, with the vendor, who gave me a LOT of attitude, going to see the banks, calling the bank, talking to one supervisor after another. I finally got all my overdraft refunded, and it's logged in as a vendor error. But if it wasn't for my adamant refusal to pay this money and my ability from jumping from polite to vicious i probably would have never got my money back.

i'm still never buying from this vendor again, i'm sticking with ones that charge me once and that's it, and overdraft is a double edged sword. because of the overdraft i had and the "double charge" i was ABLE to get my items in on time, but ended up with this headache. If i didn't have the overdraft, some of my orders would have been declined and I'd still be assed out. There was no winning this week! total fml week.

on other news, ordered my red rocket BT, they charged me practically instantly, and it came in faster than anything I've ever ordered in my whole life.

Sounds like it turned out alright after all.

In addition to all the things you mentioned, they probably ought to note that you need to ship to the billing address of the card for security reasons.

For what its worth, a lot of places do this, and I just make a practice of shipping everything over $500 to the billing address of the card I am using if there is no stated policy.