Bedroom Talk

is it legal for a furniture co. to charge my credit card immediately but not deliver for over a month?

My husband and I ordered our girls new bedroom furniture a month ago and we just realized today that they had immediately charged our credit card the $1360 for the furniture on the day we ordered it but we still don't have the furniture (they told us it "should" be here in ten days, now they are saying it could be another week or two). I thought that they weren't allowed to charge my credit card until they were getting ready to deliver. I'm very leery that they have already charged my credit card for the furniture that I don't have yet!!! Is this legal?

Public Comments

1. Legal all the way. You should be able to cancel the order until the day they deliver though, if you want.
2. If its backorderd, or in shipping yeah I've had that happen. I've also had checks cashed for items that haven't been sent.
3. Yes, it's legal. I work for a company that sells fireplace mantels. Some are custom made and take up 6 weeks to build. We charge our customers the day they place their order. You can cancel the order unless it's something being built specifically for you or you signed off on something saying the order is non-cancellable/non-refundable (this is a stipulation for our custom made products)
4. It is legal, just tell them you want to wait to make the purchase until after it is ready to be shipped, if they dont get it in a month, look elsewhere, their loss not yours
5. Yes, in theory, if you authorize them to process the charges, you are stuck unless you file a dispute. I work for a furniture company, and sometimes customers order items that we don't have, and it can take a couple of weeks to fill the orders, and then get them shipped out. It could also be a case with the carrier to, sometimes if your order is placed with a small trucking carrier, it can be difficult to get them to come into pick up the furniture, especially now with fuel so high. I don't think you have to worry about being scammed, you will get your furniture eventually, but if you don't want to wait, you could cancel the order, have them refund the charge to your card, and order a different set that is in stock.
6. Yes, but call your credit card company, there is a way to basically suspend the transition till the furniture is delivered. Call the customer service center for you card and ask they will talk you through it.