Why wire services? Here's why

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Joe Mioux

Joe Mioux

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Dec 15, 2004
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I took an order from a flowr shop in OK yesteday. It was late so I left the ticket to be entered into the POS and run their CC for this morning.

Guess what?

the card number wasn't approved ths morning.

We called and they said "oh we authorized the credit card yesterday for your payment so wait until noon and we will authorize the approval."

Well that is a new one on me. I never had the card holder have to authorize the CC company to issue credit inorder for me to receive payment.

We ran the card 5 times today and each time the card wasn't approved for credit.

we made three phone calls over this order to the sending shop. With the last phone call, we were told that the person left for the day. hmmm???

If it's not approved tomorrow, I am calling the flower shop's customer. I know the customer and I will tell him what is happening.

I would rather take a card from anyone - any individual - before I take a CC from a florist I don't personally know. (i don't really mean that, but that is how I am feeling at the moment).

The next time I get a florist to florist order, I am running the card while I am on the phone.

Joe
 
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Huh??? Goofy....

I have little patience for stuff like that. If a direct order, be ready for me to run the card as soon as we hang up.

I think you got the bad apple of the bunch. 99.9% of our direct orders are great orders - good shops, who give decent orders...and good credit cards!

- H.
 
Joe, this almost exact florist to florist scenario has happened to me twice in the last 3 months.

One time it was for a same day birthday delivery for approx. $185.00. The card came back declined, so I called the shop back. Here's how the convo went:

Shop: "The owners not here, and he has to approve charges that exceed a certain amount. Go ahead and charge $100 today and $85 tomorrow."

Me: "You realize I won't deliver until paid in full?"

Shop: "Do what you gotta do, just deliver after it's been approved".

Me: "But isn't this for a birthday?"

Shop: "Guess it will be belated then."

I almost refused the order, but I decided to see what happened (I'll admit, I wanted that $185). Yes the card was approved for $100 on that day and $85 the next day. We delivered the flowers and heard nothing since. That was a weird one :dunno:
 
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process card first...process flowers second...no approval...no flowers
 
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Joe Mioux said:
We called and they said "oh we authorized the credit card yesterday for your payment so wait until noon and we will authorize the approval."
Joe
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Hey Joe, I've heard a good many, but never that one! Don't spend the money.

We charge the card before it leaves the shop; NO money? NO FLOWERS!
 
Joe Mioux said:
We called and they said "oh we authorized the credit card yesterday for your payment so wait until noon and we will authorize the approval."

Well that is a new one on me. I never had the card holder have to authorize the CC company to issue credit inorder for me to receive payment.

Joe
Click to expand...

We've actually had this happen I think three times.

In each case, the customer called, placed the order, and was very specific as to the name of our company & the amount being charged to the card.

They then asked us to wait 15 minutes to process the card, because...

...they are so paranoid of unapproved charges going on their account that they have it set up where they call the credit card company to make them aware of the coming charge.

Once they give the name of the company & the amount, they are provided with an approval code for that purchase.

Without this approval call, no charges can be made to the account.

Strange, but true...
 
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we have visual ticket. The credit card is approved or denied before the customer has the time to tell us "Oh by the way it's gold capitol visa.." yay!

If It's not paid... No flowers for you!!
 
prestonway said:
We've actually had this happen I think three times.

In each case, the customer called, placed the order, and was very specific as to the name of our company & the amount being charged to the card.

They then asked us to wait 15 minutes to process the card, because...

...they are so paranoid of unapproved charges going on their account that they have it set up where they call the credit card company to make them aware of the coming charge.

Once they give the name of the company & the amount, they are provided with an approval code for that purchase.

Without this approval call, no charges can be made to the account.

Strange, but true...
Click to expand...

more and more corporate charge card accounts are operated in this fashion, with maximum limits per transaction, and tighter security..."chargebacks" are becoming a huge "issue" with cc companies, and few are in a position to "handshake honour" the credit card users anymore...this WILL BECOME a massive "issue" with shop to shop orders, that are NOT "middled" by a clearing company.
 
prestonway said:
We've actually had this happen I think three times.

In each case, the customer called, placed the order, and was very specific as to the name of our company & the amount being charged to the card.

They then asked us to wait 15 minutes to process the card, because...

...they are so paranoid of unapproved charges going on their account that they have it set up where they call the credit card company to make them aware of the coming charge.

Once they give the name of the company & the amount, they are provided with an approval code for that purchase.

Without this approval call, no charges can be made to the account.

Strange, but true...
Click to expand...

Preston, this is has been the case several times for us as well. The University of California San Diego is a prime example of this. Each charge must be approved by a specific amount and the company name or the charge will come back declined.
 
Joe ...

Joe Mioux said:
I am a VT user, but I don't have that CC instant approval thing.... Yet. :(

Joe
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Get Instant Approval ... it will change your World at a holiday, and like Shannon says, you get the approval before they have a chance to hang up. However, don't get the thermal printer, it slows it all down.

By the way, we know you didn't process the order before you got an approval, can't do that with Michael's system. I learned alot from him when I asked " How do you create a work ticket, delivery, card etc. without it being paid? "

He simply stated in his heavy accent " Why would you want to do an order without getting paid?!? "

That was Jan. of 99', hadn't since.

Trying to green dot you and LJVF on other things, but the @@@@ spread the reputation around button keeps coming up.
 
Rhonda at work said:
process card first...process flowers second...no approval...no flowers
Click to expand...

Victoria said:
No matter who the customer is.

V
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That is exactly our policy. In fact, at the end of the order, I tell the customer to please allow me to review the order with him/her to make certain that everything is the way she/he wants it to be. I read the name and address of the recipient and all of the card message back to the customer, spelling out the names, etc.. This gives our POS time to approve (or not) the CC, and we can quickly see that authorization code. If there's a problem with the CC, we can quickly review the CC information to "see if we typed something wrong." Actually our POS warns immediately if we've typed in a wrong #.
 
HERO said:
Get Instant Approval ... it will change your World at a holiday, and like Shannon says, you get the approval before they have a chance to hang up. However, don't get the thermal printer, it slows it all down.

By the way, we know you didn't process the order before you got an approval, can't do that with Michael's system. I learned alot from him when I asked " How do you create a work ticket, delivery, card etc. without it being paid? "

He simply stated in his heavy accent " Why would you want to do an order without getting paid?!? "

That was Jan. of 99', hadn't since.

Trying to green dot you and LJVF on other things, but the @@@@ spread the reputation around button keeps coming up.
Click to expand...

Yea, but Michael is a computer guy, not a dum sentimental flourist. ;)

Actually, I took the order and delivered it before we got the card approved. I know the person who sent it, so I would have just called him up and told him what had happened. He would have paid me.

UPDATE!

I got paid today. The florist said, "oh you need to have the zip code to process this card." She said its a special card.

Three days.

I think I will stick with the WS's

Joe
 
Oddly enough, we just had a direct order to an eastern US FC member today. It was a nice order. Her store is able to retain more than $70 that would have gone to a WS as a clearinghouse fee - even after the CC fees are deducted.

Direct orders can sometimes be a pain, but so can incomings. ;)
 
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CHR said:
Oddly enough, we just had a direct order to an eastern US FC member today. It was a nice order. Her store is able to retain more than $70 that would have gone to a WS as a clearinghouse fee - even after the CC fees are deducted.

Direct orders can sometimes be a pain, but so can incomings. ;)
Click to expand...


Yet another reason to give you props for your savy acumen Cathy. I would rather have a 100 percent of the order (after doing that much of the work) than, whatever the percentage is now for sharing with the wire service.

I have direct orders (especially at holiday time) from all over the planet. I have e-mail addresses, phone numbers, whatever it takes for communication, so I can confirm the order and the payment. When I have someone from overseas ordering two five hundred dollar baskets, I want the same info as the person who is sending one fifty dollar basket. The client understands the policy and is fine with the time spent. Happily there have been no issues thus far.

V
 
CHR said:
Oddly enough, we just had a direct order to an eastern US FC member today. It was a nice order. Her store is able to retain more than $70 that would have gone to a WS as a clearinghouse fee - even after the CC fees are deducted.

Direct orders can sometimes be a pain, but so can incomings. ;)
Click to expand...

I'm not following, Did you send or receive this order? and where did the $70 come from?

thanks joe

Victoria said:
Yet another reason to give you props for your savy acumen Cathy. I would rather have a 100 percent of the order (after doing that much of the work) than, whatever the percentage is now for sharing with the wire service.

I have direct orders (especially at holiday time) from all over the planet. I have e-mail addresses, phone numbers, whatever it takes for communication, so I can confirm the order and the payment. When I have someone from overseas ordering two five hundred dollar baskets, I want the same info as the person who is sending one fifty dollar basket. The client understands the policy and is fine with the time spent. Happily there have been no issues thus far.

V
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V, when was the last time you filled an order for a florist? The reason I ask is because the industry has changed dramatically in the last few years. You are taking orders from the public, not a flower shop.

I feel more comfortable accepting credit cards from an individual from anywhere in the world than I do florists I don't know.

Being in the greenhouse business has been an enlightening experience these past few years. I have had to sue florists for money owed me and I have had to wait 90 or more days for some of shops to pay me.

and when they do pay me, they lop off the finance charges.

Granted most flower shops pay in a timely manner, but the trend has gone in a bad direction.

joe
 
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The last time I dealt with this was about a month and a half ago. I'm still a free lance Joe.

V
 
Victoria said:
The last time I dealt with this was about a month and a half ago. I'm still a free lance Joe.

V
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Free lance? Does that mean you work for florists or do you do work on the side for people you know and who know you?

also, does this mean you take and fill CC orders from other florists?

Joe
 
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