When do Warmoth charge you?

[jhumber]

I thought they charged your card at the end of the process, but I placed an order last week and it just showed up on this month's credit card statement. Does that mean they've started on it already?

Thanks
Jordan

 

[Wyliee]

I thought they charged your card at the end of the process, but I placed an order last week and it just showed up on this month's credit card statement. Does that mean they've started on it already?

Thanks
Jordan

If you order online, payment is collected at the time of the order.  Orders over the phone or email will generally be charged at time of shipping.

 

[Cagey]

They've always charged me immediately, even on things that needed work. Not sure if that's proper - seems to me you're supposed to ship goods before you invoice them - but I could be wrong there. Still, I order just about everything but groceries online, and even some of those, and nobody charges before shipping. That's usually how I know something has shipped if I don't get notice from the shipper.

 

[Finch]

banks vary in how long they take to "post" a transaction, especially one's done online. While warmoth might charge the transaction right away, it may take several days for your bank to verify the funds, certify the transaction, and post it as being "paid" to your account. Sometimes major purchases (like Warmoth) appear on my account immediately, disappear, and reappear a few days later as finalized.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

All special order, non stock type items are usually prepaid. You want something that is not the norm you pay first. Order a neck with no dots and you will pay up front, I know.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Doughboy]

I just put in an order today by phone & was charged immediately, since I wanted all kinds of custom options.

You can't blame Warmoth. Imagine doing a one of a kind custom build & the customer decides he doesn't want it. I'm sure it's happened a lot in the past & some of the parts in the Warmoth Shop were for customers that changed their mind.

 

[Jeremiah]

How does this work for the shipping charge? Surely it can't be calculated until the order is ready to ship as the exact weight isn't known until then. Or do they just guess an approximate weight for that type of order?

 

[Cagey]

Shipping charges aren't that exact. They fall into "ranges", so they know what to charge on the going-in side. Plus, there's long experience to draw from. Even the post office is running a system now where it's a flat rate - if it fits in this box, it's this much. I imagine everybody is going to get to that point. So much commerce is taking place online these days, it's too much of a hardship to putter around with postal/shipping rates. Put 'em in a range, and call it good.

 

[Wyliee]

How does this work for the shipping charge? Surely it can't be calculated until the order is ready to ship as the exact weight isn't known until then. Or do they just guess an approximate weight for that type of order?

Shipping within the US is flat rate based on order value.  This is fairly common.  International orders use an averaged weight.  Remember, box dimensions generate a minimum dimensional weight which also comes in to play when determining shipping charges.  There's actually quite a bit of work involved in box theory and shipping.... far more than I had ever planned on learning......

 

[OzziePete]

Just to balance things up and in defense of Warmoth's business prcatices.....

I placed a Custom Guitar order with Maton's Custom Shop back in  January and still waiting on the order to be completed (it's a Custom order what do you expect!)..

But I had to lodge a 25% deposit to get work started & that appeared on my CC statement the day I placed the order & made the deposit.

At some point you have to accept that there's some periods throughout a transaction where the retailer may have the advantage over you - like after you have paid for goods and wait for it to be delivered - and other periods where you have the advantage as customer. A company with the longevity of Warmoth's should not be problem trusting to 'do the right thing'.

 

[Cagey]

A company with the longevity of Warmoth's should not be problem trusting to 'do the right thing'.

I seriously doubt anyone here has a problem with Warmoth's credibility or integrity. I think this is just a curiosity question more than anything else. Most vendors don't charge until they ship, while Warmoth wants some earnest money. It's not surprising, since in almost all cases their customers are asking them to make a specific investment in labor and capital where they could get stuck. With most businesses, all that's happening is bartering. Warmoth's commitment is a little more serious than that.