Based on overwhelmingly positive feedback in my earlier thread on the topic, I went ahead Monday and ordered a laptop from Newegg.com. Now, I am living in Virginia right now on a temporary basis until I get my wife moved out here from our house in Texas, so all of our bills --including credit cards-- are still going to Texas. When I attempted to order, the website said that if my billing address and shipping address were different, I had to call my credit card issuer and have my billing address added to my record as an 'authorized' address. Part of their order verification process in this case involves calling the customer's credit card and making sure the shipping address is 'authorized'.

I have done a lot of online ordering, much of it while I was away from home, including some while in Egypt and Iraq, even some very expensive things. No company has ever insisted on such a thing before. I went ahead and called my bank and explained what I needed, had them put my shipping address in my customer record and had them note that Newegg would be calling to verify the address. The lady at my bank said that this was no problem.

Yesterday I got an email from Newegg saying that they had attempted to verify my shipping address and were unable to do so, so my order would not go forward. I called my bank AGAIN and checked that they had added the address. They had. I asked them if there was a record of anyone calling to verify the address. There wasn't. I asked if they could add the shipping address as an alternate address for the cardholder. They did. I then called Newegg and asked them why they were unable to verify my address since my bank had both on file. Of course, all I could get was some generic customer service chick who could only tell me that order verification had been unsuccessful. Well, no shit. I asked if I could wait on hold while SHE called the bank. No, that's not her department. I asked her what percentage of customer service calls were for this sort of thing, based on their unique demand for shipping address being on file with the customer's credit card company. She estimated approximately 80%. She said that she would keep my record up on her screen and have order verification try again, then call me back immediately. I said great, and gave her my work number.

A half hour later she called me back and said that order verification had failed again. I told her to cancel the order and that I would get the laptop from another source. I told her that customer service was worth money to me, and that I would get the laptop from another company, one that wouldn't put me through this kind of rigamarole. I told her I had complied with Newegg's unique request and had made sure my bank had all the information necessary to get this done, but Newegg still refused to sell me a laptop. She apologized and asked if I would wait on hold while she tried to get someone to try AGAIN. I said sure.

After another very pleasant wait on hold, she said that my order was verified. I asked if it was unreasonable of me to expect them to get me the laptop I ordered on Monday by Friday and she said that she would get it shipped that day and upgrade me to FedEx second day.

Results:
A LOT of time on hold with both my bank and Newegg.
An understandable but in the end idiotic order verification policy.
A very frustrating experience.
A dedicated customer service girl named Kim.
A laptop *supposedly* in transit.

Quoted: as long as the address is on record with bank.

They're the only company I've ever dealt with that demands that, and it's a pain in the balls. Even when I complied with their demand, they still fucked it up.

The CS chick even admitted that most of their CS issues are related to that one aspect of ordering with them.

Quoted: I've seen a number of companies do this or something similar. Supposed to help cut down on fraud.

Care to name them? I've bought watches, electronics, gun parts, ammunition, no end of tactical gear, CDs, DVDs, books, flowers, clothes, fairly expensive sunglasses and other items online, with all deliveries going to an address other than my billing address, and never before been asked to do this.

I'd like to hear of any other companies who do this.

Quoted: You've got more patience than me.  The second it would have involved calling my bank or credit card to change things, I would have given up.   Hope the laptop arrives without problems.

You weren't there in the office with me. I got a little *irritated* at the second phone call with Newegg. I may even have said something to the effect that if I was a prisoner in Abu Ghraib, what they were doing to me would get them investigated by Amnesty International...

Quoted: This is not uncommon in the computer parts industry...just about any place i've ordered from in the past 4 years has insisted on this.  General retailers like amazon and buy.com too.  Thought most anybody would have had to deal with this by now.

Well, noplace I've ordered from --ever-- has insisted on it, until now. And Amazon.com doesn't do it. I've bought from them multiple times, and had deliveries made to Kirkuk, Baghdad and Tikrit, Iraq as well as Virginia and Pennsylvania, with a billing address in Texas, and have never been asked to do this before.

Quoted: Instead of being a bitch you should be thankful that they are being so cautious.

I'm not a bitch. I'm relating my customer service problems with a well-regarded internet retailer.

Edit: Instead of calling you what you obviously are, I'll just note for the record that any coward can talk like you do when you're not betting your dental health on the outcome.

Waiting on FedEx now. Tracking info shows it out for delivery.

Product received as ordered.

Like an idiot, I ordered an external hard drive enclosure for a full size 3.5" HD instead of for the smaller laptop HD I need to get hooked up. Oh well, that was certainly only my mistake.