Rant ahead
I get coffee from Gevalia five times a year, and have for the past ... maybe ten years? Maybe eight, maybe 12. And I've been reasonably happy with them.
Until the most recent shipment, that is. On April 9th, they got an authorization from my bank for the standard amount. On April 16th, my bank paid that standard amount. However, I noticed when I check my account on-line that there was a credit-hold for twice that amount. Since it kicked in my overdraft protection, I got a hint that at least part of it was from Gevalia.
When I was finally able to ask my bank about it - it was. The bank had to talk to the credit card provider they contract with to verify it, but they had requested, and received, two separate authorizations for the standard amount on the 16th. So, Gevalia had credit holds on my account three times, each for the standard amount. I was not happy with this. The credit card provider would not provide me with any of the information regarding these authorization requests - they'd only give it Gevalia.
When I called Gevalia, they said, 'Your account only has the one authorization and the matching charge, it should be cleared.' They had no way to pass this problem up the line to their back office people to have it looked at. They wouldn't arrange to call the credit card company to release the authorizations. They wouldn't do a thing.
I spent more time than I was happy with talking to the bank, credit card provider, and Gevalia. And all the satisfaction I got was 'it's going to have to just time out', and removing my credit card from their system. Now, every time I get an order, it's going to include a bill. So both Gevalia and I have to jump through additional hoops for every order.
I've been drinking little enough coffee for the last couple of years that I'm seriously considering just cancelling the account completely. I'll have to talk to Margo B before I do - we're actually sharing the shipment 50/50.
Until the most recent shipment, that is. On April 9th, they got an authorization from my bank for the standard amount. On April 16th, my bank paid that standard amount. However, I noticed when I check my account on-line that there was a credit-hold for twice that amount. Since it kicked in my overdraft protection, I got a hint that at least part of it was from Gevalia.
When I was finally able to ask my bank about it - it was. The bank had to talk to the credit card provider they contract with to verify it, but they had requested, and received, two separate authorizations for the standard amount on the 16th. So, Gevalia had credit holds on my account three times, each for the standard amount. I was not happy with this. The credit card provider would not provide me with any of the information regarding these authorization requests - they'd only give it Gevalia.
When I called Gevalia, they said, 'Your account only has the one authorization and the matching charge, it should be cleared.' They had no way to pass this problem up the line to their back office people to have it looked at. They wouldn't arrange to call the credit card company to release the authorizations. They wouldn't do a thing.
I spent more time than I was happy with talking to the bank, credit card provider, and Gevalia. And all the satisfaction I got was 'it's going to have to just time out', and removing my credit card from their system. Now, every time I get an order, it's going to include a bill. So both Gevalia and I have to jump through additional hoops for every order.
I've been drinking little enough coffee for the last couple of years that I'm seriously considering just cancelling the account completely. I'll have to talk to Margo B before I do - we're actually sharing the shipment 50/50.