Am I being unreasonable?
 

I wake up to an ICQ stating that a guy I have been talking to the last few days has ordered a dedicated server. I look thru the records and I see that he tried to use two credit cards, the first one failed.

Further investigation shows he lives in CT, but the IP order placed from was Amsterdam.

I call the phone number listed on the application, and it goes to some zoning commission office.

When I ask, he says he doesn't give out his phone number. So I ask him to call me. He refuses.

Then I refuse to sell him a server and issue a refund.

Am I being unreasonable, or is he not being appreciative enough of the fact that I am protecting him as well as us?

Phone confirmation is pretty easy and fully understandable, I personally live in Canada and have a .ca email while my card is from Sweden, I just find it nice that you have some security measurement.

The other day I ordered something from netaporter but accidentaly put the the shipping address which was in the states as the billing, now you have a canadian ip using a canadian email ordering from the US to the US using a Swedish credit card, on top of it the billing address was wrong. Oddly enough the order went through without any security checks.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me.

The guy is acting like I asked for a DNA sample, and we don't ask for that until we are ready to turn the server over.

Perfectly within your rights and not unreasonable at all.

Fraud phone number, failed credit card, IP difference, he won't call you? Screw that - you're only protecting your biz..

Not unreasonable at all. He sounds like a fucking scammer.

my 2cents: if he has nothing to hide then why wouldnt he call etc

If hes from CT maybe using a proxy, 2nd card, no phone n all - just sounds too fishy, youre wondering what hes gonna put on that server.

Agreed sire.

I don't know, on ICQ he specifically said, "Anyway, what are you worried about?
I'm not a scammer."

then he's not...:winkwink:

Sounds like you did the right thing.

Sounds perfectly rational and reasonable to me. Nobody's going to protect you other than you.

I get that kind of response sometimes from customers when I see something out of the ordinary going on with an account and I contact them to verify that it is actually them making the transaction.

its a good idea to do the phone confirmation

hehe - because scammers, the steadfast citizens that they are always ask for a server for scamming.

don't lose any sleep over it, tho' you're prolly not.

Hahaha! Thah's ok then, you should have invited him to come round and housesit next time you go on holiday. He sounds like a really trustworthy guy. :1orglaugh

it sounds as well that the payment went through - phone the ccard company's abuse dept and tell them what happened. You have his IP. Maybe they can contact the real card holder and warn him/her

Well, the guy is reading this thread, so please be sure to say hello.

Top o' tha mornin to ya, you scamming fuckstick. :321GFY

call verification is a must now a days

That is right thing to do

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...it's a duck.

Yep very true - good call baddog :thumbsup

But he is a top secret SEO

refund was issued

LOL, you are perfectly right, he is in the wrong, you can never be too careful. When ordered a Dedicated Server from a new client, I used to ask for credit card and ID scan.

I thought phone verification was standard nowadays??

This is funny. I had my cards stolen last year and what did they buy? Hosting, domains, and memberships to adult personals sites.

If he's not a scammer, he needs to spend more time thinking about why details need to be confirmed.

Lloyd, you are very careful in your investigation of things, and you also have great instinct. I think you are being cautious and protecting your biz as u should.

I should post the entire conversation, it is classic . . . but I don't want to go thru the effort of editing out his name, and he is innocent until proven guilty.

Now, if I find out that he is for sure guilty, then the gloves are off.

Thank you. I have a pretty good record of spotting fraud before it becomes an issue.

I just don't understand how anyone could get upset that I am attempting to protect them as well as me.

go on, what's his GFY handle?
for shits and giggles

I personally wouldn't have refunded him the money.

i think some hosts go too far in verification methods. ie scanning your cc, drivers licence, etc. i will never do that for a host. but this seems perfectly reasonable.

very reasonable from your side!

I demand for semen or egg samples.

I could clone half of GFY. Not that I would want to.

Better off not having him as a client. Smart move.

I agree!

I was born in England, have an English Passport, Live in Reno, NV and have a credit card from the Seychelles!! Are we good to go? :upsidedow

So what you're saying is, that you are a scammer?

But what if it smells like a goose? :(

I think it was fair

I think you could let him buying server.If he do mistake you can easily shut down his server.

then it's a gander?

Very reasonable responce Baddog

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh I'm not checking, I'll just take your word for it. :thumbsup

I am not convinced it was his card, so if I don't refund the card then the true owner gets screwed and I get a chargeback.

I don't ask for proof unless I get suspicious that something is going on.

So, I should wait for the chargeback?

We have 3-4 fraud orders per DAY from our website!!! we verify all new clients with phone call, ordering IP ver Ordering address etc.

you did the right thing baddog.

I just had a debit card stolen, they bought hosting from 4 different places. Plus 2 different internet providers.

I'm sure if they are trying to gain access to servers (with stolen credit cards), it isn't for a good reason. We are strict on checking credit cards, that is not going to change.

Sometimes I get the same guy trying 3-4 different cards in a day.

They don't give me much credit.

:thumbsup Good for you,taking care of business-Fuk that MORON:thumbsup

This is classic.

If the buyer has nothing to hide, then picking up the phone and making a 1 minute phone call won't hurt.

Acting like you have something to hide basically implies that you DO have something to hide. Quite simply, if your stuff doesn't add up, you should be willing to spend a few minutes and make it all work out.

Congrats to any sponsor, hosting company, or service provider that takes a few minutes to make sure that their services can't easily be used by potential scammers.

It's your ball, you make the rules. :2 cents: