SOMETIMES suspect orders pay off.

But usually not. This one did.

[akmac]

Received an order for a $__,___.00 item. Customer had an AOL Email address and requested Express shipment. To a PO Box. Didn't provide phone number. Didn't provide CVV number. AVS didn't match (due to the use of PO box)

To make a long story short, the customer lives in a rural area where regular USPS Delivery is not available, and overlooked my first request for a phone number by accident.

Granted, the customer was not in Nigeria, and DID pick up the phone after I finally got the number. Sometimes, ones that send up warning flags are worth the extra investigation.

Extra investigation:
1.Calling card company to verify cardholder name & shipping, billing address.
2. Phone number lookup to determine match of provided name with number and approximate geographic location.
3.Call customer to go over details of order, requesting card number and omitted CVV #-for security purposes. In my experience, REAL customers NEVER mind you double checking all the details.

[treeline]

Good for you. Customer service matters, even on the net. You're also helping keep our (your customers) costs down. I'd agree about real customers liking you taking the time to get it right.

[RailMan]

if the cardholder decides to charge back, you don't have a leg to stand on

the card company don't care what you did to satisfy yourself etc - they'll see no CVV, address didn't match, no phone number etc - all the signs of fraud - you can kiss goodbye to all those zeros ..........

(and that's the main problem with credit card fraud - merchants just don't take enough care / responsibility / precautions etc, then complain like hell when they get stung)

IMO, you should have told the customer to place the order again, but to get the details correct this time.
at least you would have had *some* backup in the event of a chargeback - but right now you have none.

[HRoth]

He called to verify the address with the CC company, and it is the correct address, so he should be fine. I have had the experience often of a PO box address being rejected by AVS but actually being the correct billing address (and once in a while, I get a PO box verified by AVS - go figure). Now I usually don't check on a PO box unless the order is large or unusual in some way. I think it might be a good idea in a situation like this, though, where the charge is so large, to note the time the cc company was called and who was spoken to. But he probably did that anyhow.

[akmac]

Also faxed a copy of receipt to customer so I have a signed copy-this is standard procedure for large sales.

Railman, I considered rerunning the transaction with the cvv information included, but decided against it based on the fact that all other requirements were fulfilled and the rate paid to processor would not decrease based on the different result.

[jsinger]

This is exactly why you shouldn't waste time on Nigerian/Indonesian orders that have 0.01% chance of being good.

We get many suspect orders from the USA. 90% of even the screwiest-looking ones turn out to be good. Focus on those, and lavish customer service on your best repeat customers.

In my experience, REAL customers NEVER mind you double checking all the details.

Agreed. Often they're very impressed, and sometimes they add to the original order. Had that happen several times.