Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I placed an order with Best Blanks this morning with a credit card. My billing address is a mailbox at a UPS mail center, and my shipping address is my home. Since I was shipping to an address that was different from the billing address, they wanted me to fill out a "Charge Authorization" form to help prevent credit card fraud. Ok, no big deal. I printed out the form, in which I had to fill in my credit card numbers again, and then was instructed to also fax a copy of my credit card as well as a copy of the front and back of my driver's license.
I don't know about you, but there is way more opportunity for fraud to be committed by having a customer FAX this personal information that I just can't believe it. Being a first time customer with them, I don't know how reputable this company is, or what they do with my COPIES afterwards. This is just bad policy on the company's part. I'd much rather them tell me to call them and verify over the phone my credit card CVS code and driver's license number.
Anyone else experience this? I ended up just having them ship to my mailbox billing address. What an inconvenience.
I've purchased from bestblanks several times before. They keep that information on file so that the next time you use that card to purchase anything you don't have to go through the hassle. Personally, I'm glad they check for fraud. I wouldn't want to find phoney charges on any of my cards, especially when charging a large dollar figure. Yes it was a hassle the first time, but I haven't had any problems since.
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It is extra work and time but the reasons companies do this is to prevent themselfs from getting ripped-off. On average, companies with high volume sales get at least 1 ripp-off attempt per day.
On the other hand, I can understand the fraustration when you are a legitimate buyer and just want the goods asap without going thru the extra security features etc.... but it is for the best of both worlds, the buyer and seller.
Also, due to the vast amount of web users these days that may or may not be aware of standard safe online transactions, often times they are quick to jump the gun and not look at the other side of the coin, and why somethings may seem strange when in fact it is to help educate and protect buyers and help prevent losses and further headaches.
The best place to start is to look at the companies sales policy and terms of sale. There you will find such info relating to transactions even before an order is placed and paid for.
The problem with Credit Cards and different shipping addres etc. is now a well know hang up for sellers and buyers.
On the upside, once the companies have your CONFIDENTIAL information on record and your account is setup for your FIRST order, from there on its all good.
I think this is fairly standard procedure for a lot of vendors, especially on larger initial orders or those with expedited freight. We take these steps as well and find that we can keep our prices lower for the vast majority of customers by reducing the number of fraud cases.
We also ask for this type of information if a first time customer is shipping a larger order to an address that is different than the billing address. Once we have the information it is stored in our system using a very trustworthy encryption method.
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I am fairly new to the apparel industry and almost every blank distributor has required I fill out the Charge Authorization. Some of the forms require you attach an image of your card, front and back to it, others don't. I to am a bit nervous faxing all this information. I just have to hope they have good security practices in place. I am not really even comfortable with them having this info in a file cabinet, it is just begging to be taken, or copied by someone...Ok I need to not think about this anymore
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I think all of this comes into play when considering a company to do business with, you will want to look at their practices and how they handle your personal information.
Thank you everyone, I appreciate your answers. My order was only $73, but if this is the way many companies are going I may as well get used to it. This is the first time I've experienced something like this, and I should probably be prepared for more to come as long as my 2 addresses are different. Thanks again!
I will never do business with Best Blanks again after how I was treated. Here's a link to what the did to me. Got My New Cap Press
That was not all of the story. I posted a review of what they did, but I think it must have been deleted because I can't find it anymore. They ended up charging me like a 25% restocking fee for their screwup. And 25% of $850 is a lot of money to get fined for trying to do business with them. Never again.
I am fairly new to the apparel industry and almost every blank distributor has required I fill out the Charge Authorization. Some of the forms require you attach an image of your card, front and back to it, others don't. I to am a bit nervous faxing all this information. I just have to hope they have good security practices in place. I am not really even comfortable with them having this info in a file cabinet, it is just begging to be taken, or copied by someone...Ok I need to not think about this anymore
I'm going to add to the anxiety....the last office I worked in we would get a "stray" fax at least once a month. Only takes a slip of the finger to type in one wrong numeral and send that fax to the wrong person. There must be a different way to get them the information.
Best Blanks shipping inconvenience... 
This is the first time I've experienced something like this, and I should probably be prepared for more to come as long as my 2 addresses are different. Thanks again!
...the last office I worked in we would get a "stray" fax at least once a month. Only takes a slip of the finger to type in one wrong numeral and send that fax to the wrong person. There must be a different way to get them the information.
