HSN AUTHORIZES A HIGHER CHARGE THAN U AGREE TO PAY

DRATS!  I despise it when I respond to a year old thread . This is history,  should be on the bookshelf.

I have shopped here for years and purchased  mucho  .     I have never  been overcharged and  have made hundreds of purchases here .

I do almost ALL my shopping online and this is the first time I have ever been pre authorized for more than the correct charge. I’ll never shop with HSN again. Completely ridiculous!! And what is taking so long to push the correct amount thru while you’re still holding on my extra funds via the pre-auth. Ridiculous way to do business and it should be illegal not to tell the consumer upfront.

their practices are all suspect!! they play with this flex-pay crap and then their explanations are always the same, their credit card co is beyond rude, their employees are very quick to tell u u are wrong, can’t recomend this outfit to anyone and will posts to all i can, flem-flam operation with ur monies

Sort of the same thing just happened to me… I was buying my grandfather a tablet case, and came across a -$20 off of $40 coupon. This is my first order from HSN, and I thought all went smoothly. The coupon code worked just fine in my cart. After submitting the order, I checked my debit card balance and the price they charged me was $20 higher than what I agreed to. I immediately called the customer service number listed in the order confirmation e-mail, but I can’t get through to a person. That’s how I ended up here… I can almost understand authorizing the full amount with an order using flex-pay, but I didn’t. I simply applied a valid coupon and paid the order in full. If that cost isn’t adjusted/the $20 isn’t put back into my account fairly quickly then I’m going to be very upset…

Of course debit cards work differently than creit cards. With debit cards, cardholders could withdraw all of their funds tomorow. The Retailer needs some assurance that the funds will be there next month. The bank gives this Assurance in the form of ‘Holds’ or ‘Authorization’ charges. It is like insurance of future payments.

Of course this procedure varies by banks and for different cardholders.

In most instances a coupon or free shipping will show as you check out so you can see what the final price is.But when the authorization goes through it will be for the full amount because the final total isn’t in the system yet.When the actual charge goes through it will be for the correct amount.Almost all companies that I order from do it this way.

I would never use a debit card or bank account online because you have few options if something goes wrong and the bank is very little help.I use a credit card then pay the card from my bank account.The less people/companies that have access to your bank account the better…It is best to make sure you have enough in the account to cover the full charge amount until the final total goes through the bank.Everything puts a hold on your money with a debit card.

I see the issue coming down to a couple of things.

First, usinng a debit card connected to one’s checking account and not understanding how debit cards (or credit cards) work.  That fine print that arrives with one’s card is not just for decoration, and one really should understand the difference between authorization holds and charges.

Secondly, and I hesitate to say this at the risk of sounding cold, cruel, and unsympathetic, but if one is utilizing a debit card and it takes only around $16 to tie up the money in one’s account completely, then perhaps purchasing something off a shopping channel is not the best move — even with flex pay.  There is nothing sold on any shopping channel that is a necessity, so when funds are tight, it may make more sense to just hold off on purchasing for a bit.

So in response to its pretty common had my wife open her own HSN account and order same exact items without coupon she wasnt charged anything extra. Only the flexpay and tax. Hmmmmmm.

It’s a pretty common practice and not just at HSN. Lots of places do this, I think it happens a lot at gas pumps when you pay with a bank or credit card. 

To add insult to injury im goin on fifth day of waiting for the difference of the higher authorization and what i will actually pay to be returned. A bit more understanding and upfront info would really go a long way. Im a new customer and this is one of first experiences with HSN. SHAME SHAME. How can i agree to a specific dollar amount yet be authorized for nearly double. Doesnt make sense to me although it apparently makes sense to HSN as it is standard procedure.

Don’t forget the sheep.