I hope I'm not going to run into the same type problem with an order I just placed -- store I've been doing business with just about every month for over two years. Address on my driver's license is the street address of MY home, but I've been living with my elderly mother and caring for her, and we don't have house delivery here, only PO Box. It's never been a problem before, but this time the vape store required the address on my driver's license. It allowed me to keep my Ship To as the PO Box where I'm staying, but when I went to the next step regarding cost to ship, I got a notice that this information could not be provided at this time. Hopefully I can clear it up with a phone call tomorrow. It's often a hassle getting a company to ship to the PO Box here, but the alternative is to drive 4 hours (up and back) to my actual residence address (which also only uses a PO Box, no home delivery unless UPS or FedEx) to pick up what I ordered.
Frustrating order experience
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I sent a scan of my DL to a vendor I use a lot. I just blacked out everything (including my eyes) except my address and DOB. I don't have a problem with that myself because the information is out there already.
I placed an order with a new drivers license verification system. DL had an old address I haven't lived at in 5 years, billing was PO box, shipping was same PO box but listed as a street address so I can get Fedex/UPS shipments there too.
Shipped without issue. Where are you guys getting that they have to match?
Shipped without issue. Where are you guys getting that they have to match?
I did that for a vendor about a year ago when so many States started their own age laws. That's the only vendor so far that has asked for it.
. That's what they specifically told me. My DL address had to match my shipping address. I don't have a problem sending a picture of my license, but the address doesn't match
Federal and state laws mandating shipping only to verified addresses only for vape goods has nothing to do with cc fraud. vape fraud constitutes about 0.0001% of credit card fraud.
I never, ever had a vape company deny my purchases to an alternative shipping address until deeming. I'm not sure how you can raise this red herring with a straight face...
Because I spent 20 years as a Retail Manager, 17 years of which were as a Loss Prevention Manager. Because I did that job for 5 different Retailers, working with my counterparts at other Retailers. Because I know credit card fraud has existed since credit cards were invented, & an instant flag is a shipping address that differs from a billing address. It triggers an immediate second look. Example: A fur coat located in a store in Texas, being shipped to a PO Box in Chicago, ordered by phone with a Colorado area code. That phone was located in a Federal prison. And three coats, from 3 different companies were shipped using the same credit card from the same Phone number. Just because SOME Online vendors are years late to initiate what most other Retailers have been doing for decades to protect themselves & their customers does not make the point invalid. (Tosses your red herring in the garbage disposal where it belongs) Stick to software.
Somehow most online retailers managed to avoid shipping to federal prisons without demanding age verification. And it should be the merchants choice and his cc company. Not the govt, deciding only vape products, far from fur coats, need this. So i toss this red herring back to you. I'm still clueless what cc card fraud has to do with age verification.
Well I wouldn't shop w/any site w/out a phone number and address either. Not sure why people do but you are smart to consider that.
This has nothing whatsoever to do with just vaping, the matching addresses has been in place ever since the 911 stuff.
It's been that way for years for almost everything I've ever ordered on line. Banks require it now for ecommerce to prevent fraud.
So it's not something new that "we'll all gonna be facing soon."
Age verification has been around forever----- with wine, tobacco, digital goods, Rated entertainment (keeps kids from accessing restricted content), conduct surveys and lead generation programs.
It also protects the vendor and ecommerce sites from kids using borrowed/stolen credit and debit cards.
"Just after Christmas, a California father discovered his 14-year-old son had successfully ordered a water pipe and tobacco through Amazon—both illegal for minors to buy in California."
Amazon and other eCommerce retailers HAVE made this choice. They were tired of chargebacks and problems like this. So you are incorrect about this being a government move only
This is no different than being "carded" in a restaurant, casino, tobacco store, video store selling R rated movies, etc. where there are age restrictions.
The entire ecig industry, including CAASA, supported age restrictions early on.....
OP was about billing vs shipping addresses, not age verification. I'm OT. The product does not matter. The popularity & demand for the product drives fraud & theft. Losses to vendors because of credit card charge backs for fraudulent sales eat up what little profit they have. They are out the sale, & the product for a legit sale. Plus shipping. Frequent fraud claims on credit cards can result in the merchant losing the ability to accept cards. Vendors have to CYA. You have a herring in your lap. It's a red one.
I appreciate the issues that retailers can face with credit card charge-backs and so on regarding fraudulent use of cards. However, I don't know what the answer is for those of us who don't and can't receive mail at our residence addresses and must have a PO Box for everything except UPS and FedEx. My state requires the residence address on my driver's license ... my credit card (and all other bills) requires my PO Box address so I can receive my statements. What's a consumer to do?
I've never been denied shipping to a different address then my billing address for the many things (vape related and non-vape related) I've ordered online since 911. I'm in NY in the summer and Florida in the winter. I also often purchase things and have them shipped to various grandchildren.
But yes, I agree it is often a fraud prevention technique that is handled by the credit card processing software.
My post was specifically intended toward the specific reason the op had a problem with her vape order being denied when no others have ever given her a problem. The procedure that the vape vendors are now required to follow is all about age verification and being sure the vape product is delivered into the hands of people above 18 (or 21 depending on which state one lives in.) and nothing to do with credit card fraud itself. The problem people are running across in "most" cases (yes there will still be some denials because of credit card processing) with vaping orders has to do with the vendors software denying shipment because the shipping and billing addresses aren't matching and therefore can't verify the vape order is being sent to someone actually over 18 (or 21).
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Anytime I've ordered online I've had to set up an account. My billing address is my Po Box & so is my shipping address. Some sites offer the "Is this a gift?" option at checkout. If the option is available just send yourself a gift.
I am in the same situation, I live rurally so keep a PO box in town. My driver's license and bank accounts are under my street address.
All this involves is a simple call to your bank or CC issuer to fix your addresses and how they link to your card.......... I went a step further and got a 2nd debit card, connected to my bank account, SPECIFICALLY for online shopping only.....with my PO address on it. I only fund this account (by moving money online from my main account to my "i-account" for the exact amount of my purchases.
I don't give vendors of any kind access to my "real" bank account. But my bank has excellent fraud protection, so even if something happened, I would be protected because they always seem to know about these things before I do.
Next, there is no vendor, unless you hooked up with true criminals and fly by nights, that can just keep your money. I suspect you will have a refund to your card in 3-10 days.
Meanwhile, just give your bank/CC issuer a call and see if they can include your PO box address. If they can't (some will only connect a card to one address) then just apply for another debit card to use for when you are at your mom's.
Gift cards are another option, possibly.I am in the same situation, I live rurally so keep a PO box in town. My driver's license and bank accounts are under my street address.
All this involves is a simple call to your bank or CC issuer to fix your addresses and how they link to your card.......... I went a step further and got a 2nd debit card, connected to my bank account, SPECIFICALLY for online shopping only.....with my PO address on it. I only fund this account (by moving money online from my main account to my "i-account" for the exact amount of my purchases.
I don't give vendors of any kind access to my "real" bank account. But my bank has excellent fraud protection, so even if something happened, I would be protected because they always seem to know about these things before I do.
Next, there is no vendor, unless you hooked up with true criminals and fly by nights, that can just keep your money. I suspect you will have a refund to your card in 3-10 days.
Meanwhile, just give your bank/CC issuer a call and see if they can include your PO box address. If they can't (some will only connect a card to one address) then just apply for another debit card to use for when you are at your mom's.
I'm always amazed how some like to equate private decisions with brute force govt mandates. But whatever.
I repeat, age verification is a chosen system for many eCommerce vendors, and they are not being forced to do it.
And, again, the ecig industry in general has supported age restrictions on vaping nicotine-containing eliquids for as long as I have been on this forum, including CAASA.
If you are saying that children should be able to buy 18mg eliquid in any vape shop, on their way home from school, I would say most vapers wouldn't even agree with that. MOST, but not all, obviously. Most parents do not want their kids ordering this stuff online either.
Many times newbies log on here as never smokers, and want to take up vaping w/nicotine, and 9 times out of 10, 80% of the responses even on this forum are "why not just vape 0 nic, why get involved with nicotine if you're not already dependent?"
While I'm not in favor of over regulating anything, as is happening with vaping, I am not an anti govt type in general. Because I have something to compare it to. A lot of people don't.
Ever been to Haiti or Somalia? I've been to places where there is little to no government intervention. Electricity doesn't work, nobody tracks the flu, there is no 911, few paved roads, no regulation and no controls, and generally, it's pretty bad, actually worse than most people can even imagine. Some of you "anti government" types reallly should move somewhere like that so you have something to compare to.
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Good news! They actually shipped my order! They aren't sure why I couldn't contact them on Facebook and where very apologetic. So all's well that ends well!
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