There is nothing inherently wrong with credit cards. I pay off my credit cards in full and on time every month, so like you, I don't have to deal with interest rates or other charges (but on the upside, I had enough credit to get a home mortgage). They are also more secure than using check/bank cards because it is easier to recover a fraud charge from a credit card or dispute a charge than with a bank card (especially if you have Amex). I never use a bank card to make an online purchase because it is very risky.

A few things I might have done in your situation --

-- opened up a credit card just for the purchase, and closed it when you paid the balance. You can get credit cards with a $2000 limit even with little credit history. You would be in the clear for the $4000 purchase because $2000 of it would have been returned before the balance was due; and if worse came to worst you could dispute at least one of the charges with the credit card company itself

-- would have called Amazon.com the first time the order was cancelled to see what the deal was. I think there are ways to bypass automated messages and get straight to a real person (hitting zero a bunch of times? I forget). After about 10 minutes on hold I would have hung up and tried again. That usually works for some odd reason.

I make transactions all the time on Amazon and they are quick and painless. I hope things work out more smoothly in the future! You may want to write a consumer blog like Consumerist and maybe they'll pick up your story!

im a little confused....so did u open a credit card for this purchase, or did u use a debit card to buy it?

if it was the first, then not sure why it is a big deal if they charged you twice....the credit would have come in plenty of time before the first payment was due.

if it was the second, then it would have just taken a quick call to your bank, they could have easily reversed the charges instantly.

and sadly, yes, sometimes ordering online is a hassle. i have never had a problem with amazon, but there are horrible sites out there for sure.

I think using Debit Cards is CRAZY.

Using credit cards gives you a safety buffer - nobody touches your actual cash. If there is an error, you have plenty of time to work things out.

Use a Debit card and you are talking about real money! Too many fees and too close of a link to my money. What's in it for me, the consumer?

I'll continue to use my credit card (paying balance in full every month) and enjoy my credit card rewards and comfort in knowing that my money is kept completely separate from the Visa / Mastercard logo.

After getting out of credit debt and reading Ramit Sethi's book, I learned how to make credit cards work for me. Like you, I don't buy anything I can't afford in cash, but my big purchases are done on credit card to be immediately paid. It's what I did when I bought my Intuos4 Large from Amazon (granted, it's no Cintiq). This gives me more consumer protection in cases like this, or even if I need to make a return.
The few times I've needed Amazon Customer Service, they've immediately credited my account or sent me replacements with no hassle.

Agreed everyone! A credit card would have given us a buffer between our money being touched and given us a little wiggle room in the situation, though they're just really not for us--and we're sure others are in the same boat we are!

This is exactly why I use credit cards. Personally, I think avoiding credit cards is a pretty lousy and outdated method manage your money or purchases in that you potentially leave money on the table.

If you have a card with no annual fee and some sort of rewards program, such as an amex blue cash card, its a no brainer. Not only does the card make things a lot easier and provide you with just one bill to pay each month but you get cash back (read: discount) and most pertinently, the card company covers your purchases so these cases dont happen.

Forgot to mention that credit cards should be paid off each month. If you dont carry a balance, the card doesn't cost you anything and can save you money and hassle.

Yeah just pay it off and you'll be fine. And I, too, believe debit cards put your $$$ in grave danger. Why pass that number around to retailers?

Whew, I first thought the story would reveal a fake site that stole your money. Using debit to purchase online is unwise. If anything goes wrong your entire account could be emptied. Best to have a credit card that you pay off each month so your online ordering is more secure.

Although this ended in a right royal run-around mess, I applaud your decision to save up for something you wanted instead of merely throwing a credit card at it and paying it off later.

It may not have been a pleasant experience, but I'm glad to see there are still people who think before they purchase instead of creating mountains of debt in persuit of more stuff.

There seems to be a fair amount of judgement aimed at owning a credit card.

Having access to a credit card account does not automatically equal "creating mountains of debt."

If you save up the money, use the credit card to buy the item securely online, then pay off the card in full when the bill comes in, there is no interest and still no debt. Not to mention the possibility of travel points or cash back incentives.

I agree with xsimpletunx-- credit cards are a modern money management tool. But like any tool, they need to be used wisely. This whole cautionary tale very much makes the case for using them versus not.

i've never had a problem with "the rain forest," including shipping back horribly disappointing purchases for a refund. If anything, i'd be more confident in them than anyone else online.

I don't mean to pile on, but yes, the direct withdrawal/debit card thing seems like a bad idea. Credit cards are great for specifically the reasons shown here. I've never understood the animosity towards them. Nobody makes you carry a balance if you don't want to. 20 years of credit card use and i've never paid a dime in interest except for when i was unemployed. Then it was a godsend to be able to spread my expenses over a few months while keeping my cash for an emergency fund.

@Tinyvoices, I think there is some animosity toward credit cards for a few reasons -- the companies that manage them are seen as predatory toward consumers, and the use of them "encourages" paying for things that cost more money than you have. Certainly no one can deny that credit card companies and consumers both abuse a credit system that was originally set up in the 1960s to allow people to defer their payments on goods and services (mostly restaurants -- see Diner's Club) until the end of the month with the issuer of credit deducting a small fee from the goods and services provider. Used properly, credit cards can still have that same effect today... along with a lot of other perks.

I can see why you would be freaked out by the experience. I have to say I've never had a bad experience with Amazon, but I always use a credit card. We pay in full every month. We would never use the card for stuff that we couldn't pay for right away.

I'd bet if you have a local computer store they could have special ordered the item for you.

Or just drive the 100 miles to whatever store carries them.

I agree with everyone else - credit cards are not inherently bad and are a good purchasing tool. I have never carried a balance and regularly get back $200 a year in cash back.

the whole credit cards are not for us is lame...

I'd be curious to know if this order was placed through Amazon directly or if it was placed though one of the marketplaces. I always try to avoid marketplace stores unless I am buying used books, or if they are fulfilled through Amazon. Amazon acts as a money buffer, but there are too many hurdles to jump through when errors and returns abound.

It's still unclear whether the author used a debit card or some other method of deducting money from their bank account.

I have to say that I've used a debit card almost exclusively for 15 years, and have had very little trouble. I've had the number get leaked twice, the first time back around 1998 and the second time earlier this year. This recent time, I had some charges that I wanted reversed, and it wasn't terribly difficult to do it.

The bigger problem I've had with my debit card is that rental car agencies don't like them for whatever reason. Most places accept it just like a credit card (in fact, most groceries and department stores prefer that I press the "Credit" button on the card reader when I do the checkout, even if there's a "Debit" button there).

I doubt my experiences would have been significantly different if I'd always used a credit card instead.

I finally broke down and got a credit card this year. I still prefer to use my debit card.

Hmm, I guess I feel the need to clarify two points:

I was able to reverse the charges on my debit card by basically writing up a short note stating "I did not make purchase X or purchase Y or purchase Z". My biggest problem with that was figuring out how to print out a fax cover letter and determining the proper way to load the fax machine. So, yeah, not hard.

I still prefer my debit card entirely because it deducts money from my checking account quickly. I can monitor my checking account level continuously through the month, as opposed to getting a large bill several weeks after I made my purchases. Of course, I can watch that account online too. I suppose I'm just still getting used to it.

brandonheyer makes a good point in that the Marketplaces require a little more caution than Amazon proper, hence the ratings system. I have had several transactions through Marketplace sellers get cancelled and refunded mysteriously.

Like most everyone else, i'm more than a little put off by the smug attitude expressed by the author towards credit cards. It's ironic because Credit Card usage would have actually eliminated the necessity of this article even being written in the first place. I use a credit card for all online purchases. Perhaps the author should look into PayPal at the very least as a form of protecting themselves and their bank accounts.

Using a credit card doesn't necessarily mean you can't afford something, which I think is the "smug attitude of the author" that some comments are referring to. In this situation I personally would have saved up, paid for it by credit card, then immediately made a credit card payment for the purchase amount (all in seconds through online banking).

Also, I think it's a good lesson here - if there's an issue of any kind when making an online purchase, especially for such a large amount...don't immediately try to repurchase! Take a screen shot of the error message just in case.

And when you call in, never take "no" for an answer. Just keep politely repeating "that's not acceptable" until the situation is resolved.

I don't think the point of this story was a credit versus debit card thing. I think the point was that the retailer charged twice, without having the purchase go through, and then took 72 hours to return the money they took, upwards of $4000.

I'm horrified it took so long to get fixed, when it came out of your bank account, and no one could fix it faster. That would kill my husband and I.

All this freaking out because you chose to not use a credit card is weird.

Dear Readers:

I had no intention of having a smug attitude, my tone above wasn't meant to imply that I was better than others for not having credit cards, it's a choice that my husband and I make to help keep ourselves out of debt and avoid the hassle of extra bills to pay (even if it only takes a few seconds online). For us it's a choice that keeps us responsible for our purchases and we understand that had we of used a credit card for this type of purchase, it would have been less of a heart attack type moment and more of a minor frustration.

That said, there's a few comments above that had questions:

island_monkey: I never took no for an answer and escalated my call through to the top and was finally told that billing had to take care of things and there wasn't a way to call them, that they only responded to email, at which I was outraged. But that was a good theory up until then!

jamilkb: We ended up going through Paypal when we purchased from the other retailer when all was said and done, had it of been an option on our initial attempt to order, we would have done so, we've always had great success when working with them for transactions of this manner.

brandonheyer: It wasn't through a Marketplace seller, we've always been personally leery of those types of transactions as well, it's always felt little "garage-sale-y" to me.

bordjon: The closest retailer that carried them was an 8 hour drive for us. We could have had a specialty photo store in our area order one in, though all of our inquiries to do so left us feeling a little uncertain about our product being here in a timely manner (or at all).

Thank you to everyone who chimed in with your thoughts!

-Sarahrae

Just like to note that I've never met anyone who didn't "pay off their credit card balance every month." Based on my experience, its amazing society has any consumer debt problems at all...

bakerboy--

Nice to meet you.

Now you have met someone who doesn't pay off their credit card balance every month.

:)

I'm 30 & just now started building/using credit. I used to think credit cards were only for people who couldn't afford to pay in cash. I've been using debit cards online since 1999 with no negative experiences. (knock on wood) Though I do keep an account for shopping only. I don't have enough credit history to get the good cards with rewards but I'm looking forward to it!

I had a similar experience with Amazon. They charged me twice and I got charged overdraft fees because I kept purchasing without knowing what happened. They asked for verification of the fees, which were just screenshots of my online statement, and then paid all of them!

I do not have a credit card, and its amazing how much anomausity there is to those of us who choose to use a debit card. I too only purchase things that I can pay cash for. This does not make me snooty, what it makes me is smart enough to know myself. THat is great for all of you that can and do pay your balanced at the end of the month, but like many I got a CC right as soon as I entered college and it was a nightmare. I was not knowlegable enough to really be wise with my spending, and things got out of hand. And considering that most people carry well over 5k (I believe the current average balance on a cc is 5k or so from what I recall) its obviously not an isolated issue. Knowing myself well enough to know that if I had a cc i will get mseylf in debt, so I choose not to have one. For me not having a cc is as much a tool as having a cc is for some of you. Plus, I do get a rather (even smug) satisfaction that I don't own anything to anyone.

@bakerboy, millions of people do not pay their credit card balances in full and on time every month. About half of everyone who owns or has owned a credit card has debt on the card (the Federal Reserve publishes reports about this). The average credit card debt in American households is $8k-10k. Consider yourself lucky that you have "never" met someone who has credit card debt....

A lot of people do not like using credit cards or do not have them. It is easy to forget that, along with the security of knowing what you are spending, you are also taking on some risk.

Credit card or debit card, making online purchases is always a bit risky because there is always another party to the transaction and you can't control what they might do. The consequences may be more catastrophic if you are using a debit card tied to a bank account from which bills auto-pay, but the hassle and risk (overcharging your account, having to spend hours on the phone, wondering what is happening to your credit) is always there, no matter what.

I'll still buy online, but it's a worthwhile reminder for anyone.

I would NEVER use a debit card for an online purchase!
You have NO consumer protection, somewhat less protection should your debit card or checks get stolen, and it's just as easy to get your checking/savings account overdrawn, which to me is a LOT worse and more expensive very quickly than not paying your bill in full for whatever reason.

I only use my debit card for occasional pocket-money bank withdrawals, and at Costco because I HAVE to, there.

Otherwise, I buy EVERYTHING, including all my groceries & drug store purchases, using my credit cards. I get MORE cash back for drugstore/supermarket purchases.

I have 3 major credit cards, they are ALL cash-back cards, and YES, I do pay my credit card bills in full each month. Just like I do with my mortgage and utility bills.
I know it's not always easy, but you do have to plan - I'd rather turn down the heat in the winter than not pay my bills, for example.

That cash-back I get from my cards is my reward for being fiscally responsible, and I put it right back in the bank.
In fact, for quite a while now, the credit card cash rewards have been higher than the pittance in interest I get from my checking/money market account! But again, I only keep what I know I will need to pay out each month in my checking/MMA account, transferred over from a higher-interest account (still pathetic these days!).

Keeping track of your credit card expenditures is no more difficult than keeping track of your debit card expenditures. If you're worried about keeping track, post each credit card expenditure in your checkbook just as though they were checks, so you know what you need to reserve for repayment each month.

In case of emergency, you have a fallback with a credit card - and when I say emergency, I mean things like your car breaks down in a distant city. It's happened to ME! You can't rent a car with debit card, as mentioned above.

If your bank account somehow gets overdrawn, you will QUICKLY get whammed with a LOT of fees, and THAT will ruin your credit rating a LOT faster than not paying a credit card balance in full some month.

But again, you MUST act as though your credit cards ARE cash/checks/debit cards.

If you can't trust yourself to pay your monthly credit card balance, how will you ever be able to own anything like a house where you MUST pay your mortgage?

Believe me, I learned all the above and below by some amount of trial and error when I was younger, and by seeing the mistakes of people around me, including my father, who was an extremely poor money manager.

Another note: I've been buying online (including at the big "A" site you are talking about) for well over 10 years, since I live in a remote area and it's way cheaper and more efficient than driving to distant stores. I also have been buying and selling on Ebay since 1996.

The ONLY time I ever had a problem connected with Ebay, was when, like an idiot, I used a cash balance I had in PayPal to pay for something I bought there. The seller apparently skipped, with my money AND the item. Had I paid through PayPal with my credit card on file, I would have been able to get my account credited.

I learned a lesson there - I pull my PayPal Ebay payments out immediately and deposit them into my checking account, and when I BUY using PayPal, I ALWAYS use the credit card I keep on file with Ebay/Paypal.

Other than that, I've never had a major problem with any site, including the big "A", and I buy through them often, as their prices are the best I can find on many types of items that I can't find locally.

I only use ONE of my credit cards for anything I need to do online, so just in case I should have an issue, it won't tie up ALL my available credit.

The ONLY time I did have an issue with a credit card, it turned out a waiter at a restaurant was making carbons of customer's credit cards, in person, NOT online. He got caught cause he got too greedy, did it too many times, and the credit card companies figured out the common denominator in the disputed charges. But I still wasn't out any money, they simply had to change my credit card number, which was a bit of a hassle.

I honestly trust the V/M credit card companies before I trust my bank; the credit card company has something to lose, but seemingly banks do not!

I don't see why it's necessary to pick a side. Different strokes for different folks, right? The fact is, despite all the advantages offered by credit cards, they do create a danger of spending yourself into terrible debt.

To be clear, I'm not blaming the credit card companies at all (you'd have to pry my Visa out of my cold, dead hands). And I have very little sympathy for people who do spend themselves broke buying crap they have no need for. Obviously, relying on having empty accounts to curb one's spending is NOT ideal. But for some people, it's still better than the alternative. The people who simply can't stop themselves need to have a solid rock bottom, and having rock bottom at roughly $0 is better than -$10,000.

One of my good friends managed to spend her way into a ton of debt using her credit cards. When her fiance found out, it very nearly ended their relationship. Then, because life is so awesome, he promptly lost his job and she had to take a severe pay cut with hers. They have since cut up all her credit cards and now they don't buy anything they can't pay cash for. Perhaps one day, she will have learned to manage her money well enough to apply for another card. But in the meantime, it's back to training wheels for her.

I do agree, though, that for some people it truly is a matter of education. As a teenager, I used to work for a large department store that issued its own credit card and so as a result I had to open accounts or process bill payments for customers. I was boggled by the number of grown adults who clearly had no clue how credit cards work. I've gotten a lot of squinty-eyed skeptical looks from telling people that there's no cost to carrying a card if there's no annual fee (our store didn't charge one) and as long as you pay off your full balance each month. "The credit card companies are tricky! They'll trick you!" was a popular thing to say. What tricks?! It's not rocket science! At 16 years old, I was seriously embarrassed for some of these people.

Anyways... my point is that choosing not to use credit cards doesn't necessarily stem from ignorance about how they work. My friend understands perfectly well what the terms are, yet she has chosen not to use them... and believe me, it was a very hard choice for her to make. She loved her credit cards!

NOT using CC is crazy. If you pay on time, it might even save you some cash. We save a few hundred $$ every year by using CC: "thank you" points on groceries along bring me about $100/year; than there's also a cash back on other card, and store cards you shop the most (that in addition to cash back gives you exclusive discounts) and Toys'R Us (if you have small kids).

Also, I've never had any problems with Amazon, or any other online store, and I shop online a lot. But I do assume that a glitch can happen, and it's not a good enough reason to become all dramatic and say "I'll never shop there again and you should not either". Stuff happens. So, I find that overall tone of the post is very un-polite. You've got an unforeseen problem and you're blaming it on everyone but yourself.