problems with Peak and LoneStar

[TraciS]

My billing address is a PO Box and I have my orders shipped to my physical address. All I do is uncheck the box for shipping to same addy as billing and fill in my billing addy and no problems anywhere, Lone Star included.

The trick is not to forget to use that billing addy as most order systems will authorize and kick back for address not matching but can leave that authorization on there a while. It is sure annoying when I forget but I just saved it to my account at LS and now the only thing I forget to to enter my shipping address every now and then. Thank God they have always been nice when they called to see where to ship it!

[coconut]

So one of our members told Lonestar to call me. They did. They got me between meetings and I talked too long. There is a reason why I want things to work well and don't want to have to deal with hobby during the business day.

Anyway, we learned two things.

1. The companies that verify a card use the billing address to do so. About 5 years ago I changed my billing addy. Several companies still use the old addy. I put in the current addy at Lonestar and the company they use to verify triggered a fraud alert because it wanted the old addy. This is a bank problem and the bank has not given me any satisfactory answer as to why my old addy is still showing as a billing addy for some of the verification companies. Other than changing banks, there is little I can do about this. We agreed that I would keep a journal (like that's going to happen) to know which companies I need to use the correct and current billing address and which companies I need to use the prior billing address.

2. Once the fraud alert is triggered, lonestar's verifier then attempts to access the account to see if the account is real. That is where all the "pending" charges showed up. Each pending charge locked up the account for the $$ amount. I keep the account limited so that I don't get burned too bad when criminals figure it out (happened twice over the same weekend, once in Brooklyn NY, and once in USA through a Columbus OH access number, both unrelated to the current candle supply company purchase).

So Lonestar is going to look into their technology about fraud. Quite frankly, it doesn't make sense to me. If a card is fraudulently used, why check the account? The purchase would be fraud. In this case, it was not fraud, but what if it was? If it was, the proper procedure would be to cancel the order (as the software did) and NOT issue a pending charge.

Anyway, all the pending charges did drop off in a day or two and if I understand correctly, Lonestar is going to adjust their technology so that this "pending" thing doesn't happen again. The funds were locked up during that time. I am glad that I don't keep more than minimal funds in the account.

This hobby has to be low stress.

Lonestar is a good company and they have good stuff to offer. Technology sometimes is a disaster and we all end up having to deal with it. I'll buy again from Lonestar.

Technology can sometimes be horrible. I have worked on computers for many years but keep my important contacts in a Rolodex. Never trust a computer myself. Glad everything is resolved and you will buy again from Lonestar. They are a good company.

[EricofAZ]

Funny posts above.

Sliver, why don't I call in the daytime? I answered that. I'm busy. Need to generate money to keep the office going and petty calls about candles is not on the list.

Also, this isn't about having a different billing addy than shipping addy, this is about having a billing addy that is not a street address. Today, we can open an account with a non street addy for billing but right after the Patriot Act went into effect we could not, so that's part of what is going on. I have to change banks to fix this because the bank I'm with is stupid.

Sliver, I never wrote OMG. Don't put words in my thread. And like I said, if all you want on this forum is peaches and roses, sorry, there are folks who share bad experiences so that others don't have them and I really appreciate those people. When a company gets interested in fixing a boo boo, that's also great to know and we certainly have a good resolution on this one.

Also, Sliver, you are missing the point. Imagine for a New Yak second that the fraud alert was real. You're at lunch with clients and your card is denied. You make your best excuse, whip out another card, and realize that you just came across as incompetent because even though you have other cards, the fact that you chose a bad one was noted by your clients.

Then you go back to the office and find out that someone tried to use your number and a fraud alert went off. Ok, good, ... but... then... you see that even AFTER the company had a fraud alert, it continued to reserve funds and lock up an account.

Now, here, Sliver is where you and I differ.

You would go home, take responsibility for getting out of bed in the morning, and carry on as if this was just a hickup in life.

I, on the other hand, would probably go off like a raped ape. Raped apes are pretty nasty. You really don't want to be near one or within reaching distance. They run fast, they wave their arms a lot while running fast, and they hit hard. Nobody wants to be chased by one, trust me on this.

Any company that catches a fraud and continues to reserve funds is just playing foolishly with someone who may resemble a raped ape and they are wrong for doing so. Blame it on technology, fine, just go fix the technology (which lonestar said they were looking into).

I'm not interested how the fraud alert was triggered, but more so how it was handled AFTER it was triggered. Badly at first, great later on. If there is a change in the technology so that this never happens again, then this is a wonderful outcome. The fact that the company is concerned and looking into it just warms my heart and I applaud them. Whether I will risk a purchase any time soon is another story. I lost office time dealing with this so I want more affordable dealings.

Now on to more important after hours things like my favorite game --- ICON POKER!!!

*dead horse*

Oh look! Four of a kind!

Edited June 17, 2011 by EricofAZ

[SliverOfWax]

What the hell are you talking about?

I never told you to call during the daytime.

I never said you said OMG.

I think I'm starting to see a pattern here.

[robertgibbens]

Had the same problem with Peak. I called them (which is pretty easy by the way), and all was good.

[Alajane]

Thanks for posting the update--always nice to hear of a satisfactory resolution!