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Rant: Half.com is full of it.

N

NeoPTLD

Platinum Member
Summary:
The same credit card I've been using with half.com order since 12/2003 was suddenly declined this June. They took two freakin' months to respond only to tell me I've flagged "certain" creterion and they can't process the orders in question or any future orders from me, meaning I'm practically banned from using it.

No good explanation given...


Detailed edition:

I have been a buyer on eBay?s Half.com since December 2003 and I have enjoyed my experience with them until June 2005. When I placed an order in June of 2005, my credit card was declined, or rather Half.com declined my card. I have tried my other card and that was declined as well and in the end and taking two generous months to respond, they have put a block on me from placing orders on Half.com without providing a good reason.

I went to Half.com?s help and this is what they have to say about the issue:

?When you enter your credit card on the site, Half.com performs a verification of that credit card by sending this information to your credit card company or bank for an authorization. If the credit card company or bank returns a 'declined' message, we must pass that information on to you. HALF.COM DOES NOT DECLINE THE CARD Several factors outside of Half.com's control may have caused your card to be declined. Here are a few suggestions:?

My experience shows that Half.com WILL INTERNALLY DECLINE your credit card if they feel like it. I have contacted both my credit card issuers; Chase Bank and Wells Fargo Bank NA and they both confirmed they do not have a record of issuing ?declined? message to anyone on my account. Heck neither had even received an authorization attempt from Half.com!

6/22/05: I contacted Half.com customer service requesting assistance with my problem (thanks to the fill in the form thing on their site, I don?t have the original email I sent them)

7/1/05: Half.com responded with: ?Hi,

Thank you for contacting Half.com Customer Support in regards to the
problems you have experienced during your recent purchases.

I apologize for the frustration you have experienced. In researching
your account information I was unable to view anything that would be
preventing you from placing orders on the site.

Therefore, to gain a better understanding of this problem, I have
forwarded this information on to our Billing Department and will wait to
hear back from them with any additional information.

Thank you for your patience during this matter!

Loni C. M. - Senior Half.com Customer Support Representative
?

9/1/05: TWO WHOLE MONTHS LATER..

I finally got an email that basically tells me that their system says I?m flagged and I?m effectively banned from using half.com for no good reason. Read this e-mail and you will see that their response contradicts their own statement on their site ?half.com does not decline the card?. Note that they say your credit card information is checked against several databases and based on their investigation; they have more or less forbade me from using Half.com. If it were up to the bank/card issuers, half.com wouldn?t be making this decision. They?re FULL OF IT when they say ?HALF.COM DOES NOT DECLINE THE CARD?, because THEY DO!

The explanation is vague and ambiguous and only provided me with an explanation blurred out with generic terms such as ?certain? ?number of?. Using multiple departmental layers, they got away with ?the department with authority said? and not give explanation. Half.com referenced I?m denied because ?they (billing dept) said? I failed their investigation on ?certain criterion? based on ?number of checks? against ?several databases?.

Please consider that I have been using both these cards for years and I still do. Nobody have ever raised issues, except for Half.com

Half.com responded: ?Hi,

This is a courtesy email message from Half.com's Customer Support!

I have just heard back from the Billing Department in regards to the
investigation surrounding your credit card authorization. They have
informed me that unfortunately, we will no longer be able to complete
your current and future orders.

Please note, during the credit card authorization process, the
information you entered into our system goes through a number of checks
against several databases. If certain criterion is flagged during these
checks, we are unable to complete the authorization.

In my research, I have found that we will be unable to process these and
future orders placed on Half.com. Please consider visiting our partner
site, eBay, where sellers can accept a variety of payment methods.

To visit eBay, please follow the link below:

www.ebay.com

I am sorry I cannot be of more assistance. We appreciate your
understanding in this matter.

Loni C. M. - Senior Half.com Customer Support Representative?

They apparently don?t care to keep their good customers and don?t always tell you the truth in their policies.



 
Originally posted by: Orsorum
Call their support line and ask for him by name?
Click to expand...



"we don't have any information on it, please contact us by email" the typical Half.com response...
 
You've been flagged for your CREDIT RECORD most probably. If you haven't checked your credit records with the three major US reporting agencies, do it immediately - someone may hav been abusing your credit, and this may be the first indication that you have. My guess is that they automatically check your Experian (or other credit bureau) data as part of the order process, and when they did they found a score they didn't like, or an indication that you may have committed fraud somewhere else.

Run, don't walk, and get your full credit reports.

FS
 
Originally posted by: Future Shock
You've been flagged for your CREDIT RECORD most probably. If you haven't checked your credit records with the three major US reporting agencies, do it immediately - someone may hav been abusing your credit, and this may be the first indication that you have. My guess is that they automatically check your Experian (or other credit bureau) data as part of the order process, and when they did they found a score they didn't like, or an indication that you may have committed fraud somewhere else.

Run, don't walk, and get your full credit reports.

FS
Click to expand...
hmmm. Yes, good point.
 
Originally posted by: Eli
Originally posted by: Future Shock
You've been flagged for your CREDIT RECORD most probably. If you haven't checked your credit records with the three major US reporting agencies, do it immediately - someone may hav been abusing your credit, and this may be the first indication that you have. My guess is that they automatically check your Experian (or other credit bureau) data as part of the order process, and when they did they found a score they didn't like, or an indication that you may have committed fraud somewhere else.

Run, don't walk, and get your full credit reports.

FS
Click to expand...
hmmm. Yes, good point.
Click to expand...

very.
 
Can they see my credit score/report? Half.com DOES NOT have my SSN.
Half.com is an eBay company and the credit card they're rejecting is the very same credit card I use to pay eBay seller's fees. Card still goes through them fine.
 
half.com sucks

no phone support anywhere, looking for help? refer to the help pages cuz that's all you'll get it.
and their comission is high. need to find another place to sell textbooks
 
Originally posted by: NeoPTLD
Can they see my credit score/report? Half.com DOES NOT have my SSN.
Half.com is an eBay company and the credit card they're rejecting is the very same credit card I use to pay eBay seller's fees. Card still goes through them fine.
Click to expand...

Of course they can - that's why they ask for your address, phone, etc. Only pathetic idiots match on SSN only...too easily faked. Companies use software like PostalSoft, Group/1, AbiliTec, etc. to do "fuzzy logic" or rules-based matching, usually by generating substrings from your identifying characteristics (name, address, phone, email, etc.), and then doing the matching with that. Sometimes they use soundex algorithms and check for what even sounds alike as part of that match.

N.B. - did you GET your credit reports yet??? As I said above, it's NOT your credit card approval or disapproval that is getting you turned down - it is most likely a fraud score. PLEASE understand that I consult to credit card companies and banks as part of my job, and have INTIMATE knowledge of this subject matter...this is not mere speculation on my part. I currently have in my direct line responsibility a team which designs and cares for Risk databases for a major credit card issuer...

Future Shock
 
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