Issues with Digital River Customer Service

[vazqjose]

Post at the matty forums, have them look if they have that amount registered. They should sort it out for you, just calm down and it will be fixed

[Dynamo of Eternia]

but it's not a credit card, it's my bank/debit card that i use as a credit so it's there, but it's gone at the same time. it put me in a negitive balance.

Well, it's probably basically the same issue, only since it's a debit card, that is the one big negative effect that it can have is putting money in your account "on hold" and putting you in a negative balance. The money should sooner or later become available again, but I have no idea how long that will take.

Honestly, credit cards are better for this kind of thing. It doesn't take from your actual money, and if something like this happens, you can just dispute the charge and have your credit card company reject it right away.

This still shouldn't have happened in the first place, and it is (another) stupid issue with Digital River's crappy website and payment processing system. But, it's best to use a credit card for this sort of thing to not run into this problem.

[WDWFreak53]

But....this still isn't ok. Whether the money is taken or not.

If he's "negative" in his balance now...the bank could charge him for going into the red. Also, with this money being "on hold" what right does Matty have to hold his money when they can't send him product? (Especially when he only wanted one...and not five.)

These are problems that happen month in and month out...and it never gets fixed and it really can affect people.

The whole experience with this line just absolutely sucks. I've only missed out on one figure but the stress level skyrockets every month. It shouldn't be like this and it's done on purpose (whether people want to admit it or not...because Matty knows that sales of this line will dwindle when the key players are gone...so they need people tied into a subscription to keep the line moving.). They know we want the product...and we'll go through this crap to get them because it's a fantastic product, but if it was any line that I didn't have the strong nostalgic tie too (like GI Joe for instance), I would've quit the line a long time ago.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

But....this still isn't ok. Whether the money is taken or not.

If he's "negative" in his balance now...the bank could charge him for going into the red. Also, with this money being "on hold" what right does Matty have to hold his money when they can't send him product? (Especially when he only wanted one...and not five.)

These are problems that happen month in and month out...and it never gets fixed and it really can affect people.

The whole experience with this line just absolutely sucks. I've only missed out on one figure but the stress level skyrockets every month. It shouldn't be like this and it's done on purpose (whether people want to admit it or not...because Matty knows that sales of this line will dwindle when the key players are gone...so they need people tied into a subscription to keep the line moving.). They know we want the product...and we'll go through this crap to get them because it's a fantastic product, but if it was any line that I didn't have the strong nostalgic tie too (like GI Joe for instance), I would've quit the line a long time ago.

I don't disagree with any of this. It shouldn't happen (just as I stated in my previous post).

That being said, above and beyond this issue, there are certain advantages that credit cards have over debit cards in preventing the problems of going into a negative balance. There are a lot of things (even outside of anything related to Matty/Digital River) that "shouldn't" happen that result in situations like this with people not haing funds available in their bank account that should be there. If it was funds being held up on a credit card, it doesn't effect people's actual money.

Too many people seem "scared" to get a credit card or use it if they have one for fear of going out of control with spending on it. If you are smart about it and only buy those things with it that you would buy anyway, then when something like this happens, it won't have such a terrible effect. Credit Card funds being heald up won't prevent someone's rent/mortgage check from going through.

[WDWFreak53]

I don't disagree with any of this. It shouldn't happen (just as I stated in my previous post).

That being said, above and beyond this issue, there are certain advantages that credit cards have over debit cards in preventing the problems of going into a negative balance. There are a lot of things (even outside of anything related to Matty/Digital River) that "shouldn't" happen that result in situations like this with people not haing funds available in their bank account that should be there. If it was funds being held up on a credit card, it doesn't effect people's actual money.

Too many people seem "scared" to get a credit card or use it if they have one for fear of going out of control with spending on it. If you are smart about it and only buy those things with it that you would buy anyway, then when something like this happens, it won't have such a terrible effect. Credit Card funds being heald up won't prevent someone's rent/mortgage check from going through.

I wasn't saying anything you were saying was wrong...my thing was about Matty only. This seems to happen every month...and nothing seems to be done about it. That's all

(BTW, I absolutely love your avatar.)

[markatisu]

Its probably because their credit card processor crashed when they opened up the sale (I had to try 3 times to get my CC charged)

Since he was using a debit card he gets doubly screwed because debit cards are not treated the same as credit cards when it comes to holds and pending authorizations.

stprime, did you call the 800 number or did you call Digital River directly? They are not the same number. You will need to avoid their pathetic call center to actually get this resolved

[stprime]

i just don't understand how none of the "processing" orders went through, came back with an error, and it's still going through. i mean if it came back an error, then none of those submitted, and unfilled, orders should have even showed up.

i called matty because the digital river number in the sticky here, Digital River Phone: (952) 392-2971, is disconnected. is there another number i can call during my crappy 20 minute lunch brake? i spent my entire planning period messing with matty, mostly on hold.

i posted at the matty forums, i hope it's in the right place.i also emailed matty on top of my call this morning.

[He-Ryno]

Good luck with your issue man. I do think it sticks royaly that you are having to deal with this mess. I hope your bank will not charge you overdraft fees and if they do they should be understanding enough to reverse those fees since this is no fault of your own. I would call the bank back and explain the situation again before it's too late.

[customcrazy]

I had the same thing happened. I called my bank and when I didn't get the answer I didn't like I asked for a supervisor. When they didn't have an answer I liked I went to their supervisor. By the 3rd time I went up the ladder one more step they canceled all the pending charges so my balance wasn't affected. Ultimately Matty then collected on of the several authorizations and sent the product.

It can be frustrating, but you know you did nothing wrong so just politely ask for their supervisor at the bank if they won't help you and you'll eventually get the result you deserve.

[He-Ryno]

customcrazys idea seems to be the best here.

[markatisu]

i called matty because the digital river number in the sticky here, Digital River Phone: (952) 392-2971, is disconnected. is there another number i can call during my crappy 20 minute lunch brake? i spent my entire planning period messing with matty, mostly on hold.

Thanks for letting us know, I can't believe they disconnected it

Try 1 952-253-1234 (that is their Corp number)

[Dynamo of Eternia]

The submit button doesn't always work. In fact, if I hadn't hit it twice myself the other day, my order wouldn't have gone through.

Both times I attempted it, after hitting submit, the screen just went to the WSOD and stayed there for some time. I never did see a final confirmation screen either time.

After the first time this happened, in a separate window, I attempted to make my way to my Matty order history to see if the order was showing up, and it wasn't. So, in another window that I had opened, I once again completed the order, hit submit, and the same basic thing happened.

Only this time, when I then went to check my order history, there was an order there. Only one order.. the only one that went through, even though the same thing happened both times. I didn't want to miss out on the items and figured that I could call up to cancel an order if need be if it went through twice. But this is also why I prefer using a credit card, because if something like this happens (regardless of whether or not it "should"), it's not taking money out of my actual bank account. It just some funds on my credit card that aren't available temporarily.

The site is a crap shoot and there are a lot of problems with it, and the submit button doesn't always work like it should (this past Monday being one of the most extreme cases that I've seen).

I can also understand people's haste in hitting the button again and not waiting to check their order history. To get to the order history, they still need to wait through the WSOD. Matty email confirmations can often take some time to arrive, so that's not an accurate gauge to go by. And when you are concerned that the item is going to sell out at any minute, I can understand why the submit button would be hit again. 5 times may be a little excessive, but I can still see why he did it.

[Darkspecter]

if it doesn't go through and comes back an error then i shouldn't have to check my order page. if it didn't go through, then it didn't go through. i don't know how i'm supposed to check when each time i'd get the wsod. i don't care who's fault it is, i just want and need my money back, atleast for the 4 i didn't want. i'm not looking for sympathy, and espically not blame, just help to get headed in the right direction. ok?

Yeah, when my mom was ordering for me last year, she had a problem exactly like this. Mom called and the Matty lady said we had like 50 orders (none were in the order history and everytime she tried to submit the order, it had a wierd error and TOLD her to try again) and couldn't keep any of them and cleared them all away. She also yelled at my mom for trying again like the message told her to...

So...kind of a different situation, but it still sucked. I didn't get charged for any. The error was on Mattel's end, not on my end. It took them a few months and LOTS of agents to figure out the errors were because they blocked my credit card because I dd a dispute with Mattel because I never received my Faker and did a chargeback. I was promised another Faker or money back if he didn't arrive...and he didn't, then Mattel changed their minds. That's a separate issue though.

Moral of stprime's issue though: Matty doesn't work perfectly, Matty's employees are supposed to help fix these issues. Blaming people helps nobody.

[Horde08]

i just tried 952-253-1234. which worked, but when i told them what i needed they transferd me back to where the matty # goes. and i've been on hold again through my lunch and my class is about to get here.

Call that number again and tell them that the matty people are being of no help to you and you want to speak to someone who can actually help you.

I've had to do this a number of times and it always works.

I just tell the person i speak to that i want to speak to a supervisor or someone that can actually help me and not someone who gives me the run around.

[Brian-Man]

I'd say post your issue over at the Matty forums in one of the CS threads. The mods there have helped move things up to the proper people for me a few times when the DR phone monkeys just didn't have the right answers or didn't care to research it. They're outsourced and read from scripts, that is the extent of their skill.

MC Jodie is my go to gal over at Matty for issues that the 1-800 goons have no clue on. She's super nice and really gets these sort of things done and in a timely manner. She rocks.
You may even be able to PM one of the mods to move it along more quickly.

Hope this helps and you get your issue resolved quickly stprime.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

i just tried 952-253-1234. which worked, but when i told them what i needed they transferd me back to where the matty # goes. and i've been on hold again through my lunch and my class is about to get here.

Did you follow the steps that I explained in the PM on getting to the escelation department after you dial the number? Was it that department that transfered you? Because as far as I know, they should be able to help you.

[markatisu]

the DR phone monkeys just didn't have the right answers or didn't care to research it. They're outsourced and read from scripts, that is the extent of their skill.

Yeah that is the main problem, its why we try to refer people to DR Corp numbers because when you get the 800 Matty number its the absolute worst CS you can reach. Those guys dont even know what the company sells half the time

[customcrazy]

customcrazys idea seems to be the best here.

Even it was riddled with gramatical errors That's what I get for posting from my blackberry!

[Dynamo of Eternia]

You can contact DR at 1877 466-2889, it`s matty`s number but run by DR Customer Service

That's just the regular "Go Matty" number that's gets you to the pointless call center with the crap excuse for customer service. The other number that Markatisu posted earlier (which I had also PMed to stprime) will get him to a much better department that can do a lot more to help him than that call center can.

[adam03]

That's just the regular "Go Matty" number that's gets you to the pointless call center with the crap excuse for customer service. The other number that Markatisu posted earlier (which I had also PMed to stprime) will get him to a much better department that can do a lot more to help him than that call center can.

This is the number that I`ve always used, they have resent an order that didn`t arrive and ordered my sub manually for me when I was having problems. They may or may not be of help, but they have always been helpful and nice when I`ve called so maybe give it a try if you can`t get anything else accomplished. Just a friendly suggestion, hope you manage to recover you money stprime!!

[mjharwood]

I get the feeling, every month when I read about people saying "Mattel took my money and I have nothing to show for it" that nobody really understands how "credit" card processing works.

Every time you click a "Submit" button on an online ordering page, it's like saying "try the card again"... regardless of the reason you choose to submit again, you are telling the merchant to try to run the card again. If you click "Submit" 10 times, there will be 10 authorizations... An authorization is not the same as a charge and the merchant does not, technically, have your money at this point. They have merely "asked" for your money.

For those who say why can't Mattel hold items in the cart until you complete your order, this is kind of the same concept... the funds are being held in the merchant's "shopping cart" they are using with your financial institution... they are not guaranteed to get the funds.

Unfortunately, if you choose to use your debit card, you are putting these holds on your actual checking account and, yes, it does affect the funds your bank shows you have available.

However... this is not something you can blame on Mattel in terms of holding funds. This is not their practice, it is the way "credit" card transactions work (and yes, when you use your debit card online like this, it is technically acting as a credit card). There is very little a merchant can do to have these held funds released before the authorizations naturally fall off in due time (usually within 5-7 days, but depends on the "middle man" processing the transactions for the merchant).

By the way, this is exactly why you see so many webstores that say "Do not click submit more than once or refresh while your order processes"... they know that if you do, you will be authorized more than once. Unfortunately, if an error occurs during the authorization, you may or may not have "successfully" authorized against the transaction. And given the mad pace we have to take in placing our orders on Mattycollector to try to get our items, none of us would take the time it takes to do what we can to check on that (and even if we could,would it prevent us from trying again and again?)...

Anyway, yes, it's not your fault that an error occurred every time you tried to submit, but yes, it is your choice to try to submit again... unfortunately, not enough of us consumers understand (or even care, probably) about how payment processing work until it bites us in the @$$.

[stprime]

how many times do i have to say i didn't click submit 5 times! i clicked it once, got and error, and then started back from square one. i use the net to pay all my bills, i know not to, and don't, hit submit more then once. but obviously getting an error page then starting from scratch and hitting submit more then once is the same thing.

i asked for the escalation dept and they connected me to the same place i've been sent each time. they want to know my order number and then they say we have no order for you and blah blah blah.

i'm not blamming matty/degital river so much as i'm just mad that no one can just say here ya go, we've dropped the holds and now your moneys back.

[adam03]

I get the feeling, every month when I read about people saying "Mattel took my money and I have nothing to show for it" that nobody really understands how "credit" card processing works.

Every time you click a "Submit" button on an online ordering page, it's like saying "try the card again"... regardless of the reason you choose to submit again, you are telling the merchant to try to run the card again. If you click "Submit" 10 times, there will be 10 authorizations... An authorization is not the same as a charge and the merchant does not, technically, have your money at this point. They have merely "asked" for your money.

For those who say why can't Mattel hold items in the cart until you complete your order, this is kind of the same concept... the funds are being held in the merchant's "shopping cart" they are using with your financial institution... they are not guaranteed to get the funds.

Unfortunately, if you choose to use your debit card, you are putting these holds on your actual checking account and, yes, it does affect the funds your bank shows you have available.

However... this is not something you can blame on Mattel in terms of holding funds. This is not their practice, it is the way "credit" card transactions work (and yes, when you use your debit card online like this, it is technically acting as a credit card). There is very little a merchant can do to have these held funds released before the authorizations naturally fall off in due time (usually within 5-7 days, but depends on the "middle man" processing the transactions for the merchant).

By the way, this is exactly why you see so many webstores that say "Do not click submit more than once or refresh while your order processes"... they know that if you do, you will be authorized more than once. Unfortunately, if an error occurs during the authorization, you may or may not have "successfully" authorized against the transaction. And given the mad pace we have to take in placing our orders on Mattycollector to try to get our items, none of us would take the time it takes to do what we can to check on that (and even if we could,would it prevent us from trying again and again?)...

Anyway, yes, it's not your fault that an error occurred every time you tried to submit, but yes, it is your choice to try to submit again... unfortunately, not enough of us consumers understand (or even care, probably) about how payment processing work until it bites us in the @$$.

This exactly what I meant, I just used a bad choice of words. I on the otherhand do check when there is an error or else I too would most likely have more than 1 charge. I have played the submitted/unsubmitted order game before at the very beginning with matty. My initial post was to point out that it COULD have been avoided and not to point fingers

how many times do i have to say i didn't click submit 5 times! i clicked it once, got and error, and then started back from square one. i use the net to pay all my bills, i know not to, and don't, hit submit more then once. but obviously getting an error page then starting from scratch and hitting submit more then once is the same thing.

i asked for the escalation dept and they connected me to the same place i've been sent each time. they want to know my order number and then they say we have no order for you and blah blah blah.

i'm not blamming matty/degital river so much as i'm just mad that no one can just say here ya go, we've dropped the holds and now your moneys back.

can`t you return the funds or decline the transaction through your financial institution? I misundertood what you meant initially

[mjharwood]

can`t you return the funds or decline the transaction through your financial institution? I misundertood what you meant initially

Unlike a paper check, which you can put a stop payment on before it clears, with a debit card transaction the consumer can usually not do anything themselves until after the transaction clears the checking account... in this case, if there was never any successful order, none of the authorizations will actually clear, but will rather drop off on their own. If the transaction(s) were to clear and no product is actually shipped/delivered, then there would be grounds to dispute the transaction, but even that may not get the funds added back to the account immediately, depending on the financial institution's guidelines for charge disputes.

i asked for the escalation dept and they connected me to the same place i've been sent each time. they want to know my order number and then they say we have no order for you and blah blah blah.

i'm not blamming matty/degital river so much as i'm just mad that no one can just say here ya go, we've dropped the holds and now your moneys back.

Depending on who their payment processor is, they may not be able to look the transaction up without an order #... The only way they might be able to would be:

1. You call up and say you need authorizations removed from your account
2. They take the "credit" card number used on the transaction
3. They either place you on hold or tell you they will call you back
4. They call their payment processor (there is always a middle-man service between the merchant and the financial institutions who actually handles the payment/funds transfer) if they have the ability to do so
5. They provide the payment processor your "credit" card number
6. The payment processeor provides them the authorization number(s)
7. They call your financial institution
8. They provide your financial institution the authorization number(s)
9. The financial institution initiates the process of removing the authorization(s)... some FIs have a near-immediate removal, others take some time to drop off
10. They take you off hold/call you back to let you know they have asked the FI to release the authorization(s)

So, as you can see, not the easiest or most convenient process for anyone involved... and there's not even a guarantee they have a line to their payment processor they can use to get the authorization number(s)...

[Pravus Prime]

I'd rather not get involved into this member created crapfest, but still, if nothing else, Stprime, consider contacting the fraud department of your issuing debit card. Usually you can use the number on the back of the card to report it, but specificy the fraud department when you want to talk to someone if it's not an option.

That way you can file a claim that would negate any fees you have for negative balance and force the wheels turning to resolve your problems.

However, I'd use this only as a last resort. The fact that you don't have any order numbers and multiple billings shows a major problem and hopefully you can get it resolved quickly without resorting to any drastic orders. I wish you the best, I really do.

On a somewhat related tangant, way back when, ordering King Grayskull, I got the error on the checkout screen as it timed out on me. I closed the window, about 20 minutes later I gave it another go, it again timed out on me, this time during the final checkout. I never got an order confirmation. 4 days later I got a shipment confirmation and a single King Grayskull, with a single order then appearing in my order history.