Newark charged me $50 and won't ship mine until June 18th

[TravisHoward]

I finally got a shipping date from Newark a week or so ago and it was May 29th. I logged in to check it today to see that it had changed to June 18th. Then I logged into my banking website to see that I had been charged $50 from Newark! What is going on? Of course they charge my account when they don't have any support staff available... I'm ready to call the bank and have them reverse the charge.

[grumpyoldgit]

What a bummer, man.

[jamesh]

I finally got a shipping date from Newark a week or so ago and it was May 29th. I logged in to check it today to see that it had changed to June 18th. Then I logged into my banking website to see that I had been charged $50 from Newark! What is going on? Of course they charge my account when they don't have any support staff available... I'm ready to call the bank and have them reverse the charge.

You really need to get in touch with Newark somehow, as they seem to have made a mistake. Reversing the charge might attract their attention, but try and contact them first. We can't help here I'm afraid.

[ukscone]

this does seem to have happened a lot yesterday. I've spoken to a few friends around the country (10+) who'd pinged me yesterday to tell me they'd been charged and their raspi was due to be shipped next wednesday & today when they logged in to check things the date had moved to the 18th of June. They all were going to contact CS to query this but of course the dates didn't change until CS was closed for the weekend (possibly until tuesday due to the holiday in the US on monday)

[fromagique]

@TravisHoward: My situation seems to be the exact same as yours--same dates (May 29 -> [June 8] -> June 18), same amounts ($50 + change). Very frustrating.

[bircoe]

Guys... that's how back orders work... you pay for something, when it's in stock it gets shipped to you.

[dlhanson]

I ordered mine from Newark on March 1. I received an email in April that stated that they would ship about June 18.

Based on this posting, I checked my credit card online and I discovered that Newark had charged my credit card $50.75 yesterday (May 25). The order information that I find when I log into Newark still shows Back Order(with no ship date given).

So we will see --- I would expect it to come next week (or they shouldn't have charged my credit card).

[fossks]

Bircoe,
Thing is that the RPF, RS and Farnell/Newark all said they wouldn't charge customers cards until their item was in stock and ready to ship. These reports seems to be contrary to the original intent.

[bircoe]

Oh well... look at it on the flip side, your going to have to pay for it eventually, at least now it's out of the way and you can just sit back and wait for your lovely little Pi to arrive.

If it's such a big issue you'd have more luck contacting the supplier than complaining on a forum that is not linked in any way to the supplier.

People are far too wound up with the RPi and the delays involved, it's getting a little boring, how bout you guys try spending your time on something more productive, surely you do have something better to do?

[ukscone]

Oh well... look at it on the flip side, your going to have to pay for it eventually, at least now it's out of the way and you can just sit back and wait for your lovely little Pi to arrive.

If it's such a big issue you'd have more luck contacting the supplier than complaining on a forum that is not linked in any way to the supplier.

People are far too wound up with the RPi and the delays involved, it's getting a little boring, how bout you guys try spending your time on something more productive, surely you do have something better to do?

I actually think what people are more concerned about is that when they were charged their shipping date was less than a week in the future & immediately after the transaction had been completed (or within 24 hours) their prospective shipping date was changed to more than three weeks in the future. That is not what norrmally happens (or was what was stated by the distributor in the past).

When I have bought things from farnell/element14/newark in the past and things are on back order they have not charged me until the backordered item is ready to be shipped that or the next day so what has currently happened also seems to be counter to their normal procedures.

[bircoe]

Let's be realistic here, hundreds of thousands of these things have been ordered... so what if the shipping date got moved, these things happen, if you honestly expected to get one within 7 days like the page suggested then your were kidding yourself, I placed my order on the first day about 45 mins after opening, I still don't have mine but you know what, that is life, I've got plenty of other stuff to do than sit behind a keyboard complaining about delivery dates or being charged early.

[justanotherpi]

The ship date has been moving about since they started updating. Most people must've missed all the drama when Newark/Element14 "systemically" changed them to AUG, at one point.

By the time I noticed the bank charge on FRI, the office/800 had already close, but I did manage to get "Marc" on live-web-chat to respond with the following

me: not $50.75

Marc: The additional charge is just a pre-authorization charge, typically about 15% of the order total. it will fall off in a few days. It is added at the time of the sale to ensure that there are sufficient funds in your account to cover the cost of the products you ordered, any applicable taxes, and shipping & handling.

Marc: We do not determine shipping costs at the time of the sale. When the items leave our warehouse and the exact cost for shipping is determined you will be credited back the difference between the preauthorization charge and the actual cost to ship the items.

For those doing math, 15% on top of my $35 Pi means 40.25, which then translates to Newark charging $10 for S&H.

However, I do agree pre-authing May 25 when estimated ship date may be 3 weeks away is hardly best practice at this point in E-commerce.

[TravisHoward]

$10 is at the tipping-point of what I'm willing to pay to ship such a small, light package... so much for $35, eh? I guess I'm glad it won't be $15 shipping, anyway. Charging my credit card more than the amount of the transaction three weeks in advance still seems a little ridiculous. I'm sure I'm not the only person that ordered one that's a tight budget and random $50 charges aren't something I can handle.

That's not to mention this pricing chart on Newark's website which lists it at a total of $40. Did they change this and just not tell anyone? http://www.element14.com/community/docs ... ing-update

[Otis]

Let's be realistic here, hundreds of thousands of these things have been ordered... so what if the shipping date got moved, these things happen, if you honestly expected to get one within 7 days like the page suggested then your were kidding yourself,

Well my date held.

I placed my order on the first day about 45 mins after opening, I still don't have mine but you know what, that is life, I've got plenty of other stuff to do than sit behind a keyboard complaining about delivery dates or being charged early.

But you seem to have pleanty of time to complain about people complaining. 3 your total 12 total posts on this thread alone. If you don't like the station, turn the dial man. There are pleanty of other topics to be found a click or two away. People have the right to be frustrated and compare notes and this IS a place for that.

To add a little hope, I had a "the week of" May 29th date based on a May 1 email and it (seems to have) held. I had to (begrudgingly) OK a $50 charge this morning (my card had expired between 2/29 and 5/29 - go figure) but then I received an invoice email telling me that on top of the $35 there would be a an additional $5 shipping and $1.62 in taxes so $41.62 total. I got a UPS tracking number in a second email. While I don't like how I got here (and I won't stop holding my breath until it's at least been picked up by UPS) that's a totally reasonable charge and I think on par with the direct RS shipments to the US.

So there's a some hope that Newark may be able to work off their backlog. I hope so for everybodies sake.

[bircoe]

Well my date held.

And you're in the minority...

But you seem to have pleanty of time to complain about people complaining. 3 your total 12 total posts on this thread alone. If you don't like the station, turn the dial man. There are pleanty of other topics to be found a click or two away. People have the right to be frustrated and compare notes and this IS a place for that.

I'd hardly call it complaining... more of a wake up call, being charged for a back ordered item is hardly a new concept, Try SparkFun for instance, go find a back ordered item and order it, you'll find you get charged for it at check out time. This is to secure your stock, so they don't order it and you change your mind and cancel your order... granted in the RPi's case there are thousands of people that will take it instead.

It's time to stop beating a dead horse... by now it should be no surprise to anyone that if you ordered one your probably in for a decent wait, this is what happens when demand far outstrips supply, the absolute only way this could have been avoided is if the foundation had taken pre orders so they would have had a more accurate figure for the first batch order, but in the same sentence the first batch of 10,000 makes perfect sense as these things are still only brand new, why risk ordering 100,000 that may have a design fault when that could be picked up in a much smaller batch.

I'm simply expressing my dismay at a community that is supposed to contribute to the RPi project but instead just bitch and whine about delivery dates... take it up with the supplier, the RPi foundation and/or forum members can't help you!

[sdjf]

bircoe wrote:

" I'm simply expressing my dismay at a community that is supposed to contribute to the RPi project but instead just bitch and whine about delivery dates... take it up with the supplier, the RPi foundation and/or forum members can't help you!"

I have found people's discussing their experiences with the vendors to be extremely helpful in my deciding what to do about my own ordering.

Community is about sharing and support, and this issue about ordering is a basic first step - if a little hand holding is necessary for people to get through the ordering process, because they are not used to this sort of advance ordering for products not yet in stock, then so be it.

Getting charged for an item not yet in stock is a rare practice, but it unfortunately does sometimes happen. Businesses better at customer relations do not engage in the practice, except for expensive special orders, but we are kind of a captive audience here.

I am grateful for people posting their experiences, both good and bad, because it has enabled me to make a more informed decision to change to Newark from RS. I may have to wait a little longer, but it will be worth the wait.

[jamesh]

I believe that Farnell/E14 are checking in to what's going on here, as it certainly doesn't seem right.

[bircoe]

I have found people's discussing their experiences with the vendors to be extremely helpful in my deciding what to do about my own ordering.

That's fair but most of what goes on here is borderline slander... The OP for instance was ready to get the bank to reverse charges before even speaking to the supplier and on what appears to be the weekend (without knowing what region he's from I can only assume).

Community is about sharing and support, and this issue about ordering is a basic first step - if a little hand holding is necessary for people to get through the ordering process, because they are not used to this sort of advance ordering for products not yet in stock, then so be it.

You have to remember that Farnell and RS aren't your typical consumer website, they are geared towards bulk orders for engineering/manufacturing. These companies have typically served businesses, not 100,000 impatient consumers after 1 device that has not yet been manufactured in numbers that meet demand! A little patience is all that's required.

[bircoe]

And on that note my wife just got back from the PO with a package that had an element 14 label on it... now the fun begins.

Ordered on the 29th Feb, received 30th May.

[fromagique]

Got my shipping confirmation (with UPS tracking number) and invoice confirmation (??) this morning. Ordered 3/1 at 6:53am (#171085). My ship date had bounced around from today to the 12th to the 18th and back to the 12th (yesterday) before it moved to Completed today.

[justanotherpi]

Charged on 5.25
Email notification of shipment 5.29

Actual charges-------
Your Merchandise Total $35.00
Your Freight Total $5.00
Your Tax Total $3.20
Your Invoice Total $43.20

Hopefully I'll see the package in the morning, per UPS tracking.

Good luck to everyone else. And the smallest amount of patience and looks like mostly reasonable.

[TravisHoward]

Well, I canceled the order yesterday morning. I was asked why I wanted to cancel but they offered no explanation and didn't try to fix it... just canceled it and said have a nice day.

I'm just going to wait it out. When the Newark isn't constantly sold-out and has actually figured out what they're going to charge I'll order another.

[justanotherpi]

Sadly, my RPi is damaged from shipping...

[normal]

I emailed them about being overcharged and they said they would refund the difference... this was two days ago and they haven't done it yet but that's how long it took for them to see my first email to them in the first place to make that suggestion to me..

[justanotherpi]

I'm going to call tomorrow, regarding RMA... however, I'd rather live with 1 USB port than wait for a replacement, I think. At least that's how I feel at the moment...