Amazon payment declined but still shipped (what to do and why it happens)
A lot of hiccups can happen when shopping on Amazon, and sometimes even lead to unnecessary misunderstandings for one reason or another.
If you’re one of the few people who finds yourself getting an item “for free” because your payment was declined but your order is still shipping, it might be a good idea to read this article.
Amazon payment declined but still shipped
This happens occasionally, usually because you use gift cards and secondary cards to pay for your balance.Amazon pre-authorized payment on the second card during the shipping phase of the order, but the payment did not go through and the package has been shipped incorrectly
Still, it shouldn’t happen, as Amazon states:
If you place an order with Amazon and your card is declined, we will send you an email asking you to submit your card details again. If the card is declined again, the order will be cancelled. If you still want to buy the item, you will need to place an order again.
Sometimes it may also show up on your bank statement but not on your Amazon purchases, so keep that in mind as well.
Why does this happen and what to do?
This is not a very common problem, and customers facing this issue may choose to keep silent and keep the product, as Amazon doesn’t have any guidelines or official rules about it.
It’s up to the customer if they wish to do things right, return the item or just keep it.
Most customers will just update their payment information and pay for the product to avoid any future issues with their account.
Whether this happens to you or not, this is still a problem that shouldn’t happen, so in order to keep everything in place and avoid this and other problems, read on.
Won’t Amazon withdraw money immediately?
Amazon doesn’t charge you immediately when you use a credit or debit card, however, some third-party sellers may charge you when you make a purchase or when the item is ready to ship.
Due to strict FTC regulations, Amazon doesn’t charge you immediately when you use your credit card, which makes them wait until the order begins the shipping process.
It’s not illegal to charge before shipping, but Amazon will wait until the order is in the shipping phase to avoid any hassle in the transaction process.
How do I know if an Amazon payment went through?
Usually, you will get a notification or email from Amazon that your payment has been successfully completed, but sometimes you may need some confirmation, or you just don’t get a notification.
The quickest way to check is to go to Account Balance and Account Activity, which will show you the most recent transaction at the top and give you all the information you need for that transaction, including your account balance.
If you would like to check your payment and more details about your order to see if everything is in order, please follow the steps below to request a report:
- On the Amazon page, click Accounts & Listings in the upper right corner
- Click “Download Order Report” in the “Ordering and Shopping Preferences” section
- There you can choose the report type, if you choose “Project” you will get the general report
- You can then select a date range and “Request a report”
Once you do this, you will receive an email with a spreadsheet where you can review your order and any information you need.
How do I track payments on Amazon Pay?
If you want to make sure your Amazon payment goes through successfully, it’s easy, just follow these few steps and you’ll have no problem.
To track an order in Amazon Pay, follow these steps:
- First, log in to your Amazon Pay account as a customer on your phone or desktop.
- On your Account page, you can view Account Activity, which displays recent transactions at the top, including “Transaction Date”, Merchant, Status, and Amount.
- Then, to view a specific transaction type, click the Success/Decline/Refund link on the page.
- You can then view specific transactions by selecting a date range and clicking “Go”
- You can view details such as the transaction ID and the payment method used for the transaction.
Want to learn more about Amazon? Check out these posts to find out why Amazon hasn’t shipped in days, Amazon ships to Hawaii, and whether it’s safe to order food from Amazon.
in conclusion…
With a large company like Amazon, there are occasional issues that are bound to occur, and sometimes more common than others, and in this case, it’s not a very common problem. It was just a logistical error, Amazon shipped the product and the credit card payment didn’t make the mistake in time for them to notice.
Keep in mind that most of the time people jump to conclusions and it may just be that Amazon is taking a little more time than they should to charge you. You can simply wait and see if Amazon will retry the payment or update your card information with a new card to avoid any future delays.
