Topic: Problem with www.autopartsway.ca

[MikeD]

Mike...I would never use my debit card online. If there is a problem or fraud a credit card company can be your best friend.

I must say I agree. I'm going to think long and hard before doing something like this again. What bothers me however is that the website told me the transaction was declined. Upon talking to APW staff the reason I was given was that my billing address differed from the one linked to my card. This would appear to be a good reason for declining the transaction, but I ask again, why then was the money taken out of my account in the first place? Why do I now have to wait what will now be 3 more days to get my money back?

Throughout this whole ordeal I have been focused on getting my money back for an order that was never placed and parts that were never shipped. But I still need the parts for my car. I won't be able to pass emissions without them, which is going to cause a lot of headaches for me. I have to wait until I get my money back to be able to buy the parts locally (and at a much higher cost no less).

Because of this issue I will not be buying the parts from APW this time around. This is truly lose-lose as I was hoping to buy many more parts from them in the near future, and their prices seem to be very competitive. But my trust will have to be earned before taking a risk like this again. It's just not worth it.

[sailor723]

Mike...I would never use my debit card online. If there is a problem or fraud a credit card company can be your best friend.

I must say I agree. I'm going to think long and hard before doing something like this again. What bothers me however is that the website told me the transaction was declined. Upon talking to APW staff the reason I was given was that my billing address differed from the one linked to my card. This would appear to be a good reason for declining the transaction, but I ask again, why then was the money taken out of my account in the first place? Why do I now have to wait what will now be 3 more days to get my money back?

Throughout this whole ordeal I have been focused on getting my money back for an order that was never placed and parts that were never shipped. But I still need the parts for my car. I won't be able to pass emissions without them, which is going to cause a lot of headaches for me. I have to wait until I get my money back to be able to buy the parts locally (and at a much higher cost no less).

Because of this issue I will not be buying the parts from APW this time around. This is truly lose-lose as I was hoping to buy many more parts from them in the near future, and their prices seem to be very competitive. But my trust will have to be earned before taking a risk like this again. It's just not worth it.

Yep, the whole thing sounds pretty sketchy to me. The fact that you have to wait any length of time to get the money back just makes it worse. I'd give these guys a big  "Fail" and shop elsewhere.  Did they ever give you any sort of reasonable explaination of how the money was taken out of your account twice when the order never went through?

[MikeD]

@Mike - I agree with sailor723 about debit cards.  Our site is as safe as they get, but I still advise anyone agains using a debit card online or even in any physical. 

Let me tell you about what happened to me and my AMEX card about 2 years ago.  I have this card in my wallet constantly but never used it for anything.  Not once.  Somehow someone in the USA tried to use my card at BestBuy.  AMEX called me and asked if I have the card, I said yes, they said someone tried to use it.  They said to shred the card and they would send replacement.  I asked how is that possible, and AMEX said someone on the street must have had a device that duplicated the card while it was in my wallet.

Second Story, a friend of mine had a debit card.  She was always paranoid and used it only at her bank branch ATM.  Anyway, someone still found a way to withdraw lots of money from her account, using a duplicate of her card.  Bank gave her all money back, but the fraud at this point is unbelievable.

I'm glad to hear both stories had a happy ending. I hope mine does too:) And I'd like to thank you again for addressing my concern. Although I am still waiting for the refund, having the opportunity to read what others have posted and talking with you have given me some peace of mind. This forum has been a godsend after trying to deal with your company on the phone. I sincerely hope things change in the future as I used to buy parts all the time from autopartsonlinecadada.com (which I believe is now under APW) and could not have been happier with their service.

Yep, the whole thing sounds pretty sketchy to me. The fact that you have to wait any length of time to get the money back just makes it worse. I'd give these guys a big  "Fail" and shop elsewhere.  Did they ever give you any sort of reasonable explaination of how the money was taken out of your account twice when the order never went through?

Yes, the reason I was billed twice was that when I first pressed the "place order" button after entering all the required information, I got a "Transaction Declined" message. Thinking I may have entered something wrong, I returned to the order placement page, checked everything, and resubmitted the order. Again it came back as transaction declined. Not wanting to do it again, I decided to check my bank account before going further, and sure enough the money had been taken out twice for the same amount.

I admit it was likely me trying to place the order twice that resulted in double billing, but when the site tells you the transaction is declined and you find that they took the money anyways, it doesn't give a very good vibe. Especially when no reference number or confirmation was given. I'm just glad I checked the account immediately and not after waiting 2-3 weeks for the parts to arrive.

[sailor723]

@Mike - I agree with sailor723 about debit cards.  Our site is as safe as they get, but I still advise anyone agains using a debit card online or even in any physical. 

Let me tell you about what happened to me and my AMEX card about 2 years ago.  I have this card in my wallet constantly but never used it for anything.  Not once.  Somehow someone in the USA tried to use my card at BestBuy.  AMEX called me and asked if I have the card, I said yes, they said someone tried to use it.  They said to shred the card and they would send replacement.  I asked how is that possible, and AMEX said someone on the street must have had a device that duplicated the card while it was in my wallet.

Second Story, a friend of mine had a debit card.  She was always paranoid and used it only at her bank branch ATM.  Anyway, someone still found a way to withdraw lots of money from her account, using a duplicate of her card.  Bank gave her all money back, but the fraud at this point is unbelievable.

I'm glad to hear both stories had a happy ending. I hope mine does too:) And I'd like to thank you again for addressing my concern. Although I am still waiting for the refund, having the opportunity to read what others have posted and talking with you have given me some peace of mind. This forum has been a godsend after trying to deal with your company on the phone. I sincerely hope things change in the future as I used to buy parts all the time from autopartsonlinecadada.com (which I believe is now under APW) and could not have been happier with their service.

Yep, the whole thing sounds pretty sketchy to me. The fact that you have to wait any length of time to get the money back just makes it worse. I'd give these guys a big  "Fail" and shop elsewhere.  Did they ever give you any sort of reasonable explaination of how the money was taken out of your account twice when the order never went through?

Yes, the reason I was billed twice was that when I first pressed the "place order" button after entering all the required information, I got a "Transaction Declined" message. Thinking I may have entered something wrong, I returned to the order placement page, checked everything, and resubmitted the order. Again it came back as transaction declined. Not wanting to do it again, I decided to check my bank account before going further, and sure enough the money had been taken out twice for the same amount.

I admit it was likely me trying to place the order twice that resulted in double billing, but when the site tells you the transaction is declined and you find that they took the money anyways, it doesn't give a very good vibe. Especially when no reference number or confirmation was given. I'm just glad I checked the account immediately and not after waiting 2-3 weeks for the parts to arrive.

These guys have a problem with their system. If the transaction was declined your account should not have been debited at all, much less twice!  The fact that they're going to take days to get you the money back just adds insult to injury.(they took it out of your account fast enough!  ) What did they offer you by way of apology/compensation?...free stuff? store credit? big discount on your order?

[apw_rep]

sailor723 - not an error at all.  This is the only way it works in Canada with debit card.  Remember this is not a credit card.  And billed twice, because 2 attempts were made to make the purchase both with AVS code N (no match on address or postal code).

Read my first post. Debit as opposed to credit withdraws funds automatically, because it checks funds availability before anti fraud checks such as AVS (address verification).  This does not happen with credit card and I really suggest everyone use a credit card, not debit, online or anywhere. 

This is every merchant, not just us, everyone, its the only way the credit card processing works.

What makes us great is that in these events we have an automated refund in place, which is why Mike was refunded almost instantly.  Many companies do manual refunds, which they can overlook or can take days. 

[MikeD]

sailor723 - not an error at all.  This is the only way it works in Canada with debit card.  Remember this is not a credit card.  And billed twice, because 2 attempts were made to make the purchase both with AVS code N (no match on address or postal code).

Read my first post. Debit as opposed to credit withdraws funds automatically, because it checks funds availability before anti fraud checks such as AVS (address verification).  This does not happen with credit card and I really suggest everyone use a credit card, not debit, online or anywhere. 

This is every merchant, not just us, everyone, its the only way the credit card processing works.

What makes us great is that in these events we have an automated refund in place, which is why Mike was refunded almost instantly.  Many companies do manual refunds, which they can overlook or can take days. 

When I filled out the form I was not required to enter the card address. If this is a reason for decline then why not ask for this information along with the card information? I would gladly have provided it. I am not currently located at the address on file for my debit card and there is no stated requirement on the site for the card address to match the billing address. From APW's checkout page:

A credit card is required for registration purposes only. Your credit card will NEVER be charged until you place an order and the order is shipped.

Why can't this policy be in place for debit cards? Kind of a rhetorical question but nonetheless I feel that this could have easily been prevented.

@sailor, I was offered no compensation, but I'm not expecting any. I just want the parts I ordered for the price I was supposed to pay. Besides if they don't trust me enough to complete the order I'm not sure they'd want to offer me a credit. That's what really gets me, is that they clearly have my money and the transaction has gone through, why can't they just refund the second withdrawal and send me the parts? seems too simple i guess

I got a message from  Andrew and I have been assured that I will receive a refund by early next week so we'll see, and I'm optimistic. The irony is that I'm not as enthusiastic about getting my money back as much as I was about getting the parts (and giving APW my $$ instead of the dealership). It seemed like such a good deal!

[sailor723]

"Mike was refunded almost instantly"

Your definition of "almost instantly" is early next week? 

Good thing you guys are in business in Canada....you'd get eaten alive with that kind of customer servive in the US.

Mike...

I agree it's pretty silly that they have double your money for the parts you want but still won't sell them to you.

[apw_rep]

@Mike - When you place your order it always asks you for your billing and shipping address. 

Image attached.

You ask why that can't happen for debit cards, and that's a great questions. I very much which it could, but that's not the way that merchant account work in Canada.  Remember, we don't ourselves charge credit card, we send the info to a credit card processing company, like every business that accepts credit cards.  They have their own (government enforced) rules that all merchants must follow.  Debit cards work differently than credit.  With credit merchants have a way to either charge or only authorize the card.  With debit we don't.  Sorry but this is true. 

We know this, which is why we have a system to check for declined debit transactions and issue refund automatically.  I'm attaching a screen shot of 1 of Mike's transactions.  He ordered evening one day, was refunded morning, before before our business day starts next day.  Second transaction is only minutes apart. Mike I blocked out any of info that can be considered personal.  There is only first 2 and last 4 digits of your card there, but I blocked it out anyway.

I'm also including a screen shot of our website just for reference.  Look what is says next to billing address and shipping address.  This is the registration form.

Lastly, Mike, I believe I apologized to you in our PMs.  Believe me, I want nothing more than customer satisfaction.  I've worked for AutoPartsWAY since 2005 and I enjoy working here because the owners and managers care about nothing more than customer satisfaction.  They themselves go through customer service emails, and every policy they make is to benefit the customers.  It really pains me when I see negative comments such as from sailor723, for things that have not in any way been mis handled by our company.  I agree, it may look like they have, but if you understand the merchant account system and the limitations it becomes clear that they haven't.  Why do you think I'm here?  I'm here to provide more service, beyond normal customer service  to our customers and ensure that everyone is happy.  How many other companies do you know that are joining forums just to keep in contact and get opinions from their customers?

IF you know our company you know our margins are pretty small, but if you want a discount, I can get that arranged. And if you want to place an order, I can help you myself or if you prefer have one of our sales agents call you as well. But please the transaction has to be accepted by the credit card processing company.  Which means it has to come back with Success status not Declined status, as your last 2 did.

[quadzilla]

Did I lose track or is the count at two charges BUT only one refund?

[apw_rep]

quadzilla - you only see one charge and one refund.


there is only 1 refund because only one charge shown.  If you read my post, you would see that I can but didn't post the second one but it was the exact same thing only minute apart.

[MikeD]

Andrew,

Thanks for the info, but the image you provided is confusing, one line says declined and the other approved. Could you please clarify? Does this mean I will only recieve one refund? If that is the case then I trust the entry that is approved means that one order was approved and I will in fact receive the parts?My issue, according to you, is that the card address and the billing address did not match, which was the reason for the error. If that is the case, according to your image, why was the order successful one time and not the other? I still don't understand this. And if those two entries are for the first  transaction, where are the entries for the second one?

@Mike - When you place your order it always asks you for your billing and shipping address. 

Image attached.

You ask why that can't happen for debit cards, and that's a great questions. I very much which it could, but that's not the way that merchant account work in Canada.  Remember, we don't ourselves charge credit card, we send the info to a credit card processing company, like every business that accepts credit cards.  They have their own (government enforced) rules that all merchants must follow.  Debit cards work differently than credit.  With credit merchants have a way to either charge or only authorize the card.  With debit we don't.  Sorry but this is true. 

Interesting insights on Credit card processing, but not so much for debit cards. My take from this is that if you use a debit card it will automatically be charged regardless of subsequent errors. Good to know.

We know this, which is why we have a system to check for declined debit transactions and issue refund automatically.  I'm attaching a screen shot of 1 of Mike's transactions.  He ordered evening one day, was refunded morning, before before our business day starts next day.  Second transaction is only minutes apart. Mike I blocked out any of info that can be considered personal.  There is only first 2 and last 4 digits of your card there, but I blocked it out anyway.

If the refund is applied automatically then why is the money still not in my account? I am trusting that I will see the funds ASAP but please don't say it's an automatic refund because that implies that the money goes back into my account right away, which it clearly does not. I am not trying to accuse your company of anything at the moment, and I am optimistic that this will be resolved by Monday, but the fact is that as of right now the money has not been refunded into my account. You are correct, I placed the order online in the evening and the following morning spoke with Chris (very nice guy, although the delay made our conversation awkward).

Lastly I get the impression from you that you don't feel that I appreciate your replies and communication on this forum. They are very much appreciated, but that does not mean that I am satisfied with your company at the moment. I am not really interested in a discount to be honest but thank you anyways. What would make me happy would be a full refund into my account, or better, a refund for the second transaction and my parts in the mail. If you need me to provide part numbers for my order I can certainly do that. If not no worries, but I will be expecting a refund in full.

[apw_rep]

Mike I'm going to answer quickly because my 6 week old is sick and we are trying to decide if hospital is where we need to be right now.  Typing from iphone so sorry for speling issues.

The screen shots shows the same order #.  It shows a declined charge and an approved refund.  This is for your first order.  You tried to resubmit again, with same result. I can provide screen shot.

No, you will not have your order shipped because both transactions were declined due to address issues and both refunds were approved. I guess that's the part that's not clear.  I provide 1, but second transaction is just a few minutes apart, i can provide screen shot if you guys want.

The successful one is the refund, yes, refund can be declined sometimes.  Only reason I know is due to connection error with credit card processing company, but probably others exists that I'm not aware of.  Both yours were approved as most usually are.

Automatic refund means issued by system not by person and issued quickly. I'll give you a test, go to best buy, or anywhere but something.  Come back next day return it, then check your credit card.   Refund shows up a few days later, although the store issues it the day you show up to return it.  Why?  Again something I would personally like to happent quicker but its credit card processing companies working in "daily batches" communicating with banks.  I bet the store you go to will tell you 2-3 days, because that's how long it takes and how it happens. Although the physical store gives you a receipt and processes your refund while you're there, not later. Same with online companies.  We processed your refund around 8am Toronto time on the 28th, if you don't see it yet today, you will monday. Weekends are not banking days.  Again not something merchants control, no matter if you buy from us, or anyone online, or anyone in a physical store. 

[MikeD]

I am sorry to hear that I hope your little one is doing OK. I will reply but please don't feel obligated to respond right away, and again I thank you for your commitment to this forum.

The screen shots shows the same order #.  It shows a declined charge and an approved refund.  This is for your first order.  You tried to resubmit again, with same result. I can provide screen shot.

I appreciate that you have provided the details of the first transaction. It does give some insight into what has been going on.If possible would appreciate details for the second transaction but no rush. I was given only the one order ID when I spoke with Chris, which matches the one you posted.

[apw_rep]

Here is the second order you tried to place.  Looks like they were about 2 minutes apart.   Again, it was declined and refunded automatically the next morning. 

PS, little one has a cold.  As long as fever stays down he will be OK.  Nothing serious for an adult, but with a new born like this things get scary. 

[MikeD]

I'm glad to hear everything is OK, and thanks for providing the details of the second transaction.

It also looks like the checkout form has changed and is more specific when asking for billing information, so hopefully this won't happen again.

As to the system (and not speaking of APW specifically), I am still concerned that I was billed before the necessary verification was completed. If there was a mismatch no debit should have taken place. I believe this is the core issue that caused trouble for me.

Appreciate your help and look forward to the refund,

-Mike

[MikeD]

Got the refund this morning for both transactions.  Now begins the painful journey to the stealership!

Andrew, I want to thank you again for participating in this forum, helping me with my issue and for providing insight into how the billing system works. Because of your communication I will consider buying from APW in the future (although it won't be with my debit card ).

Although we couldn't do business this time around I think some good has come of this and hopefully others may find the information here useful.

[apw_rep]

MikeD - I'm glad to help and glad to hear everything is OK with your refund.  I'm very glad that I could join this forum and provide an additional means of communication between www.autopartsway.ca and our users. 

[triplef]

HOW ABOUT FIXING YOUR SHIPPING / DROPSHIP site ?

got wrong item from you and getting the same song and DANCE...

im calling mastercard in morning and requesting a chargeback, then ill make sure i talk to your current merchant account provider as this is close to be a SCAM and FRAUD.

not only did i SEND your wrong part that was addressed to someone in another province... but your customer service sucks.. they just dont get it....

if i dont receive my stuff in morning, im going to go to the full extent of the law and get law enforcement in this.. this is CLEARLY FRAUD as its not 1 or twice.. BUT so many cases, its surely on purpose...

[blur911]

I was just going through my bills and see that Autopartsway.ca has refunded me for the brake pads they cancelled off my last order to them.

https://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php?topic=91375.msg1269331#msg1269331

I was charged $70.81, plus tax, plus shipping insurance, then Autopartsway cancelled the order and didn't refund anything until I complained loudly and repeatedly. Then they seem to have only refunded $12.99

On chat with them now.

[blur911]

I sent request to billing team to double checked the refund you received and immediately issue a refund for this cancelled item. We will just update you via email about this.Rest assured that this will be given an action. I'm sorry again for the delay it cause you.

Maria at Autopartsway.ca