[Antoinetta]

I have just tried to order some games from Amazon, and, not for the first time have found it to be an entirely user unfriendly situation. I don't use credit-cards or paypal, and while Amazon says that accept personal cheques, this is sometimes impossible to do.

There is a "Place Order" page in which one is supposed to select your payment option, and the help pages state that I am supposed to click on the "Pay by cheque or money order" option. The problem is that this is quite inconsistant, sometimes this option does not appear on the order page, and sometimes it does. The emphasis on the choices offered is completely slanted towards credit-cards.

I suspect that Amazon is trying to herd people into paying by credit-card by making paying by other means difficult. I'm wondering if there is something I am doing wrong in the ordering process, or something I'm overlooking. At any rate its no fun going over almost 1,000 titles only to find that I can't place my order due to the lack of the "Pay by cheque or money order" option. I can return to Amazon later, re-do my order, and hope that this time the option is present, but the whole thing is such a hassle I seriously considering writing Amazon off as a source of games.

Anybody else have these difficulties, or have any advice to offer.

Thanx,

Antoinetta

[squarejawhero]

It's kind of normal nowadays. I only ever pay by debit card.

[fov]

I'm going to transfer this into Chit Chat.

I'm also going to go take a look at Amazon's site. I feel like that option is always there, but maybe not.

EDIT: What games are you trying to buy? Are they provided by J&R Music, Gamestop, or another affiliate seller instead of Amazon? If so, they don't qualify for payment by check (according to the help page). More and more of Amazon's software seems to be coming through other sellers as of late (even though everything about the process is the same as ordering from Amazon). I just tried two different games - TLJ sold through J&R Music, and Dark Fall sold through Amazon, and I got the check option for Dark Fall but not for TLJ.

[syntheticgerbil]

I wouldn't imagine a better tool to use for internet buying but the debit card.

It's an instant personal check.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I just did it myself, and fov is right. It's a good idea to look very, very closely at where game (or whatever item) is originally being pulled from. [URL=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000A1VEQ//ref=nosim/adventuregame-20 out this availability for Beyond Good & Evil.[/URL] On the right hand side of the page there are two small blue boxes, each giving a different price. In the 'Ready to buy?' box it states the game will come from the Target store. In the 'More buying choices' box it comes from Amazon.com itself. The discrepancy in how it treats your choosing to pay by check may be influenced by that.

Oh, and I when I opened up a new account at a local bank yesterday the banker and I where going over the details, and she said an increasing number of people and businesses are eschewing the paper check. More people are using debit cards, and this may have a great influence in how orders are paid for online. We agreed that it didn't matter if you're scared of identity theft from using plastic, the same things can happen with written checks.

If I were you I'd at least start another checking account but with a smaller balance ($100) and a debit card, and ask your bank for some kind of protection. Use that account when ordering inexpensive things online (like games). That way, if someone takes your identity via an online transaction they won't get away with much. You also need to check your balance every single day and look for any suspicious activity in your account and immediately report it. Many stores online offer the most up-to-date security when ordering merchandise, but sometimes it's optional so make sure you find the 'standard or secure' feature and click on 'secure'.

[squarejawhero]

Wow, you guys in the US are slow to catch up. In the UK it's been the norm for years to use debit cards, and hardly anyone uses cheques unless it's for business purposes. Hardly anyone uses cheques here unless they're in financial trouble and want to buy and run before it bounces.

[tabacco]

Originally Posted by squarejawhero

Wow, you guys in the US are slow to catch up. In the UK it's been the norm for years to use debit cards, and hardly anyone uses cheques unless it's for business purposes. Hardly anyone uses cheques here unless they're in financial trouble and want to buy and run before it bounces.

Basically the same here, for many people. I only send checks to a couple of my utilities that won't send me paper bills anymore if I do their online billing system.