Jmaster911

I am so P*ssed off, I ordered a flat screen TV from Tigerdirect.com, seemed like good deal and the company seemed professional.

I phoned them today to track order status and they claim they do not accept international cred card. My HSBC card is even registered in the US but they say that it is thier policy not to accept any card that has been issued outside the US.

They were unhelpful and just refused to listen to me. For god sake, what is the point of having a VIsa card if you can't use it outside the country it was issued in !!!!

:curse::curse::curse::curse::curse:

DON'T SHOP AT TIGER !!!!

USBound

there is a Tiger Direct warehouse just down the road from me with a nice little outlet store on the end... they are definitely cheaper than most places however their systems and policies are driven by their original start point; they are an online supplier for the US.

this limits the types of payments they can accept, the type of business they can do and also the amount of "shop space" they can use.

it is likely that the limit on US issues VISA cards is due to the fact that they are not allowed to sell outside of the US and such a card would be flagged as being outside the US.

Even now, when you buy from their store they essentially fill out an "online purchase" type form at the checkout and operate as if they sold you the items online.

we use them sparingly (but just yesterday to buy a 17inch flatscreen monitor for the kids).

Jmaster911

But why !!! this is what makes me so mad. Whats the point of a Internet pressence when you won't accept anything but US Credit Cards - I'm off to Best Buy

dbj1000

The problem is having a foreign-registered card, and a US delivery address.

Would you prefer it if all those Nigerian scammers could order high-value electronics online with stolen US or UK cards, and have them delivered to Nigeria?

Jmaster911

Thats fine but the UK Card is registered in the US !!

I can Almost understand the UK card, registered in the UK delivering to the US (although I have ordered and had delivered lots of things including Amazon, holidays companies, etc from my other UK registered card) but this card was issued in the UK and has a US address.

Tiger just seems over protective of thier security, I certsainly will never be using them again

Ray

Its not an uncommon practice at all ...

scrubbedexpat099

Get a US Card.

I have used Tiger, can be good for prices, and I hae never had a problem with them.

Not sure if I would buy a TV on line, last one was from Costco, that is a nice TV and a good price and an excellent warranty bu US standards.

Bestbuy, yet again do your research, they can be dorky selling uprades, just say no. Plus is that they do not do rebates.

Jmaster911

Get a US Credit Card - I would if I had my SSN Yet and even then I will probably have to wait 6 months while I build my Credit History !!!

I'll be careful about the upgrades thanks for the heads up

Jmaster911

I have never encountered it before and I do a lot of shopping online. Also when my American wife was living in the UK she never had a problem purchasing anything with her US cards.

Isn't that what Visa and Mastercard market themselves on - the fact that you can use yor card anywhere in the world !!!!

dbj1000

Check FatWallet for any current coupons for BestBuy before you go shopping.

I saved 10% on my new TV with a coupon I found through FatWallet, then price-matched a week later to CircuitCity for another 11% off thanks to advice I read on the site. In the end, I saved ~$550 off the original BestBuy price, and ~$850 off the list price.

Even better, you should get 60 days price promise on flat-screen TVs from BestBuy right now, so you have time to price match.

On the flip-side, BestBuy's sticker prices are CRAP. They're only any good if you use their 110% price promise to undercut another local retail store.

BritGuyTN

The company IS professional and they often have good prices

You just happened to fall foul of a company policy that is actually quite common - not a reason to not shop with them

british telecom don't accept any of my US credit cards, should everyone dump them?

Bill_S

Very common policy for online merchants. They are protecting themselves from fraud. B and H Photo in New York is the top online vendor of photography equipment, and I'll bet they wouldn't accept such a card either.

JAJ

They probably would, as they do international orders:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/Hel...tionalCust.jsp


I wonder if the original poster should make a phone call to TigerDirect - it seems that they might be able to take his order by phone, if he is willing to pay by wire transfer.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/h...ernational.asp

JAJ

They are allowed to sell outside the U.S. but as someone else has pointed out they can choose not to accept non-U.S. issued credit cards (even if the billing address is in the United States) due to greater risk of fraud.

It probably wouldn't be an issue if you went to one of their stories, but they are more vulnerable when shipping orders placed through their website.

Big D

Yes - but not for that reason