Posted By Headhunter on 11/29/2006 8:00 PM
So now...no doubt...they'll make good on your order since they have your money order finally, and all your hellfury will be for naught as they do the right thing.

I'm gonna guess you haven't worked much in retail. I can only imagine the number of hucksters that have tried to default them with the money order option. In fact I find it amazingly courteous of BW to even offer it as an option at all. It would be quite possible that once the order is placed as a money order that they CAN'T change it to debit/credit for the simple problem of your information security and their legal liability. Hell, he may not even have a credit card machine in his physical location since he expects all credit card orders to be done securely over the net. If he did and you were somehow a victim of identity theft through their 'good will' (an intercepted phone call, a piece of paper found by the wrong people, etc) I'm quite certain you would hold them liable. If I were them I wouldn't want to take a hard copy of your credit card information either. I would tell you to reorder via the secure online system as well (though it would be nice if they could either reset the price or give you a one time discount code to make up for the price difference though.)

Incidentally, and something to note for other money order purchasers, assume the "two-week grace period" means that you have two weeks to get the money order to them....NOT two weeks to put the money order in the mail, so send off the MO that day. Think of it from BW's perspective...if you order the parts, then wait two weeks to put the MO in the mail, then they have to wait a week for the post office to deliver the MO, then he's had that inventory essentially on hold for three weeks waiting for your money. Three weeks during which he could have sold the items to someone using their credit card on the net. This is especially heinous on a large order as it ties up a lot of inventory, and to be honest, it makes them question the validity of the order. I'm guessing that not everyone orders $300 worth of bits everyday, and if they do they more than likely put it on a credit card to get it as soon as possible.

I'm sure the owner of BW Bits would love to be able to float $300 worth of inventory for three weeks and not worry about actually getting the money, but I doubt he's big enough time for that. It's more than likely a couple of guys working out of the basement or the spare room over the garage.

Now that they've got your money, I would hope they make good with the order. I would also hope that you would then apologize to them for the misunderstanding, and promote them as adamantly as you spread your displeasure with their policies and procedures put in place for their, and your, protection.

Well said Headhunter.  I think BWbits only mistake here was accepting MO's in the first place.  They are a GIANT pain in the butt, and now with modern debit cards and services like paypal there really is no need.    MO's are also worse for the customer, because unlike credit/debit cards and paypal, there is no buyer protection built in.

While customers generally believe that buisness are the guys constantly trying to defraud folks of $$, you just need to run a buisness to understand that for every 1 bogus business there are hundred's of 'customers' working out ways to beat your system and take your product for less than you charge.  Anyone who has ever worked at a service counter for a major retailer can tell you all kinds of horror stories. 

I hope everything works out for the best, and I'm glad that other folks have taken the time to post thier positive experiences with the business. 

http://store.us.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.us?do=List_Models&code=301808&orignav=300901&ParentID=208584&GameNav=10

http://store.us.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.us?do=Individual&code=99060102051&orignav=300901&ParentID=208584&GameNav=10&ItemNav=301808

There we go...