This is probably nothing, but...

[undertow]

My credit card was charged today by GameStop. I have never pre-ordered from them (Pre-ordered online from www.ebgames.com, actually) before. Is this common practice to charge my card a few days before it ships, I know they charge the card temporarily right when you make the pre-order, but they did that back on September 9th, when I pre-ordered.

At the very least, this should mean that I won't have to worry about not receiving a pre-order and that they charged my card, slapped a label with my name on the box and it's just waiting for Monday to ship overnight.

Someone with pre-order knowledge or conspiracy theories, please chime in!

Anyone else who pre-ordered from either gamestop or ebgames, please chime in as well!

[Qweets]

maybe they just got the game in and are going to ship it out to you early? I'd assume if the full charge price of the game went through that they got the games in and have labeled one as your own.

[undertow]

Thanks for the reply man. Yea they charged my card the full price, including tax, special 9.99 handling, the works. It was around $206 something, if I remember correctly (with overnight shipping for a guarantee to be at my door on the 20th) :D

[Qweets]

then its probably safe to say that you WILL be getting your copy on the 20th or maybe a day or 2 early :)

[admanimal]

Hey cool...my card was charged as well (or someone else bought something for $200 on my card...the actual charge hasn't shown up yet but my available credit dropped $200 since yesterday).

I also pre-ordered from ebgames, but on Sept. 29. My order status now says "processing..." but I can't remember what it used to say.

[undertow]

Hey cool...my card was charged as well (or someone else bought something for $200 on my card...the actual charge hasn't shown up yet but my available credit dropped $200 since yesterday).

I also pre-ordered from ebgames, but on Sept. 29. My order status now says "processing..." but I can't remember what it used to say.

Nice man! Glad to see someone else has been charged as well. I should clarify, that my card was charged the same way yours was. My available credit dropped, the actual charge hasn't been fully processed yet. On that same note, I checked my order status with ebgames and I am 'processing...' as well.

Man I can't wait! (Stupid statement, since I can and I have too lol)

[admanimal]

Do you remember what the order status used to say? Has it been "processing" since the day we pre-ordered?

[undertow]

actually I don't remember. I checked it about 2 weeks ago, and I don't think it was processing. Or atleast it was processing in blue font, like it is now. Maybe it was Back Ordered in red font? I really don't remember! :)

[admanimal]

actually I don't remember. I checked it about 2 weeks ago, and I don't think it was processing. Or atleast it was processing in blue font, like it is now. Maybe it was Back Ordered in red font? I really don't remember! :)

Yeah i think it either said back ordered or pre-release and gave the ship date. I'm trying to figure out how far in advance of shipping they usually charge the card.

[undertow]

Yeah i think it either said back ordered or pre-release and gave the ship date. I'm trying to figure out how far in advance of shipping they usually charge the card.

Sweet, let me know what you find out, if anything. Either here or in the thread you created... thanks for the credit btw!

[NotorietyH]

Damn mine still says Pre-release ships 11/20/07, but I'm not too worried, I preordered mine a week before you so I should be safe.

[rockinaway247]

then its probably safe to say that you WILL be getting your copy on the 20th or maybe a day or 2 early :)
this is ebgames/gamestop were talking about there is NO WAY they will ship it early

[l337r3cru17]

I work at a hotel and whenever cancellation deadlines pass we authorize the credit card on file. That means we just check to see if the funds are there. It isn't actually charged, but authorized, kind of like at a gas pump. Now, if it's a debit card it will look like a charge, but that's only because bank account funds are held, unlike credit cards. This could be what has happened? I'm guessing that's the case. If anything, you could always call and ask :D

[Ryder35]

mine still says pre release and I am worried! maybe it is due to our's being international orders. I have a horrible feeling they are going to decide not to ship it overseas at the last minute :(

[NotorietyH]

mine still says pre release and I am worried! maybe it is due to our's being international orders. I have a horrible feeling they are going to decide not to ship it overseas at the last minute :(

Well I emailed them to change a shipping address detail last week and asked them about the shortage and got this email back.


There has been conformation from the manufacturer of
the shortage for the Rock Band Bundle. As such, we have removed the
product from our website and have fulfilled all pre-orders. We do not
anticipate any issues with shipping out pre-orders, since the product is
no longer available for sale. You are one of the lucky few to be in line
for the Rock Band Bundle. If there are any changes to the release date
or with the product stock, we will notify all of our pre-order
customers.

So I'm fairly confident that I got the pre-order in on time. I mean I ordered it almost 3 months ago.

[Ryder35]

fingers crossed. I emailed them yesterday but have not heard back yet.

[tbradshaw]

If your available credit decreased but you haven't actually been charged, this means that they have placed a "hold" on your account for the amount of the purchase. There's no hard limit to how long credit blocking can last (legally), but a block rarely lasts more than a couple days.

My guess it that you guys are being prepped for shipping and your bundles will be on the road tomorrow. Congratulations!

(Here's more more information on blocking, if you're curious: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/credbloc.shtm )

[Hungryman1905]

I have always pre-ordered games at Gamestop. The reason they charge your card early is to make sure you have the money or your card is legit, because how would you feel if you went into gamestop to preorder a game and the guy in front of you preorders it and they have no more, later to find out that he had no money on his card and you didn't get your game cause of that mishap.

[admanimal]

Of course now I'm paranoid that it will be shipped today, and I will somehow end up missing the delivery guy tomorrow, because it is often the case that they don't send any kind of shipping confirmation until a day or two after it ships.

[Thrashdragon]

There is no charge showing on my card, but there's just about $200 missing from the available credit, so the hold is in place.

FYI, I attempted to change the shipping address on Guitar Hero III a few days before it shipped, and was unable to because it had already passed this step. I did not receive the game any earlier, so don't get your hopes up. Unless you get lucky and it ships from a close distribution center...I got The Orange Box a day before release because it somehow made it from Kentucky to Florida in about 6 hours.

[admanimal]

Yeah, I don't really expect to get it earlier, but it's still exciting. It's so close my credit card can already feel it!

[HeXcoda]

I've had this happen to me to on preorders from Amazon and Gamestop -- they charge and ship with precision timing to get the game to you on your doorstep on the release day. (Unless they don't feel like it, of course.)

I wonder what mojo they use to figure out how long it'll take to arrive, because said mojo is never quite on the money the other times I order things... stuff typically arrives before or after the window. The shipping business, it confuses me so...

[NotorietyH]

I was tempted to email them to ask them to ship mine early seeing as I'm in Europe and it'll take about a week to get here so it would still arrive after the release date. :p

[admanimal]

Well I paid for overnight shipping, so as long as that means they literally use UPS/FedEx overnight shipping, they shouldn't have to ship it until Monday. But if "overnight shipping" just means "we'll make sure you get it on Tuesday" then maybe they will ship before then.