DrugBuyers.Com: Canceling Money Orders

Hey everyone, Happy New Year!!!

Just wanted to share with all of you an experience my husband and I had with a customer from our website and the money order they used to purchase a large order.

As many of you know my husband has been self employed for about 6 years now as he sells Nascar Diecast Collectables (um....not something that I can say I enjoy.....why couldn't he have chosen to sell Jimmy Choo shoes or Prada bags, oh well, asnyway as I was saying......)

He has done a pretty good job running the business as he has made far more money then he did when he worked in the Pathology Dept at a hospital. So he has become pretty business savy and can usually figure out when someone is trying to pull a fast one on him before he actually allows the product to be sent out to that customer.

We have had the unfortuante experience of customers cancelling checks, doing thousands of dollars worth of chargembacks, bounced checks (which has forced him to only send the product to a customer that has written a check AFTER the check has cleared from the bank) we actually learned our lesson by allowing a once dependable customer to write 2 checks in the amount of $3,500 and then finding out that after he already received his large order, the checks bounced and he had NO intention of taking care of the problem. Meaning we were out $3,500 bucks, which is a lot to a small business owner. Luckily we took the scum bag to court and we won. But too bad it took over a year to ever get that $$ back, not to mention the time and lawyers fees that we had to pay to get that done!

So my point is, our rules and restrictions on payments for any orders have only gotten stricter with time. But we would never have had to worry about problems arising with a money order. Usually the money orders we have received have been as good as cash. I thought that once the person had payed cash for the money order from Wal-Mart, the Post-Office or wherever, that it would mean that it was as safe for the business owner as receiving cash.

Well we were wrong. The reason I am writning this here is just in case any of you are wanting to try an International OP but they only accept money orders as they are terrified of chargebacks. I am assuming that if any of you are like me, you are afraid of risking losing that $$ spent for the money order without receiving the order you placed. Normally you are pretty scre*ed and can kiss that $ and order goodbye.

However this Christmas we found out that there are some pretty sneaky crooks out there and they have found a way to use a money order and still receive the product while never spending a dime. Now here is a brief warning here, I am NOT telling any of you this so that you can go and scr*w over a business that has legitimately proven to be honorable and has not attempted to scam you, but I am saying that if there is a international or other case scenario, a US OP that has been messing w/ people and it is now well documented here at DB, well there is a way to get back at them, and it goes as follows:

We received 2 money orders from a customer that he had gotten from his bank, Wells Fargo. They totaled $1,734. We were so happy because our sales were a bit slow at that time and we really needed that sale!! So once we received the money order we sent out the items to this customer. We then deposited the money orders along with several other checks from that weeks sales and within a few days (about the same amount of time it would take to find out someone has bounced a check,) we found out that the customer had called their bank and CANCELLED the money order before we received it. It was done the exact way that someone would if they were calling Wells Fargo to cancel a check. I am not sure what the reason was that the person gave the bank, but that really does not matter. They gave the bank the info on the money order and it was as easy as that. Done deal. As easy as canceling any darn check!!

Of course we later found out that it was the first time that bank had ben asked to stop an actual "money order" so they were scurrying around trying to figure it out, but luckily for the jerk of a customer, they were able to figure it out rather quickly. Actually almost immediately after the customer called, the bank figured it out. The funds were put right back in the guys bank account.

I am pretty sure this can only happen with a money order purchased at a bank, and I think it also can only been done if the bank issuing the money order is the bank that the customer uses for all of his/her banking needs. It can not be done at any random bank or else the MO can not be cancelled because the funds have to have an account to be put back into or else forget it.

I guess that is why it costs $6.00 for a money order at our bank. We contacted our back after this happened (we are fighting the stop payment but it is going to be quite hard as the guy is saying he did not receive the proper order....LIAR!!!!) I suppoe the 6 bucks is worth it if you know you are protected from getting scammed from an illegal business.

I guess the point of my post here is to protect other business owners that may be on DB, as well as alert my fellow DB friends that there is a possible way to try out a IOP that has gotten a bad wrap but that you somehow have an inner trust for and believe you will not get scammed from. If you do not get your product or if you get a bad vibe, cancel the money order. Of course if you later receive the product, done be a scum bag and please resend the money orderalong with an extra $20.00 as that is what they were charged for the MO that was stopped.

But before feeling completely confident that you are protected by your bank, ask what their specific policies on MO's are.

Most of the IOP's that are planning on setting you up and are trying to just make a fast buck without having any intention of actually coming through with their promise to send the correct medication will quickly realize that they have been outsmarted.

But please, and I mean please, if any of you do try this, do not do so unless you are confident you have been played as I would hate to see any other business owner experience the same thing that we did. It can really cause damage in their bottom line!!!!!

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Flea