[macvirgin]

well, after weeks of waiting and figuring out the best possible config and deal for a new pb, i finally ordered my 15" 1.67 GHz s/d with all the toppings last week - only to be greeted with an "on or before 2/28" est ship date. that's fine, all good things come to those who wait, yada, yada, yada, but then i went to use my credit card tonight only to find it completely wiped out. I'm talking the kind of devastation that could only be wrought by apple charging my card for the powerbook, or someone stealing my card for a shopping spree at prada.

i thought apple only charged you when they shipped your computer, but my order status still shows the same heart-wrenching date. anyone have an explanation? or do i close my credit card?

[ast3r3x]

I believe they only charge when it ships.

Why not just check your statement online (any card companies don't allow this?) and see what it was used for.

[FFL]

Apple has authorized the amount of the PowerBook, which means that amount of your credit has been reserved (but not actually charged).

This is their protection that you don't go on a shopping spree at prada, leaving your card without the credit to pay for your purchase, when they are ready to ship it (at which time they will convert their authorization, to a charge).

[macvirgin]

Originally Posted by FFL Apple has authorized the amount of the PowerBook, which means that amount of your credit has been reserved (but not actually charged).

brilliant! thanks - that sounds like a reasonable explanation, and might explain why the transaction isn't showing up on my account. having said that,

Originally Posted by ast3r3x Why not just check your statement online (any card companies don't allow this?) and see what it was used for.

to answer your question, it always takes a few days for transactions to actually post and no details are available till then. it being the weekend, i would have to wait until monday before i could even talk to someone at customer service who might be able to give me more info. all you can do on a sunday is cancel your card.

[macvirgin]

mystery solved...

apple shipped my pb, 2 weeks ahead of schedule! and i found out that the reason they wiped out all my available credit is that they put a hold on more than the actual amount, in case the tax ended up being more than expected (so they say - i don't really understand why that would happen).

anyway, i know i should just wait patiently, but i'm wondering if anyone on the east coast (of the US) could tell me how long it took their pb to get there after leaving shanghai. no estimated delivery date from fedex, and the suspense is killing me. if i knew it was going to be 10 days or something, i might stop checking my order status every 30 seconds....