Very.co.uk - Just bought something, now got message about account closure?

jungleboy123

Hi,

I just created an account, bought a high valued item on this site straight away as they were doing a sale. I paid the item in full (not credit) via PayPal and the monies been debited and on hold. Item is now out of stock due to popularity.

I don't quite understand what is wrong as I've paid in full (i know this is a site that loans items to people, but it was cheap enough to pay in full).

Got an email to say:
After further checks, we've come across additional information and made the decision to remove the cash facility on this account with a view of closing it when any balance is settled in line with our risk policy.

What this means for you

   · You're unable to place orders on this account
   · If you have an outstanding balance, please make at least the minimum payment as detailed on your statements
   · Once any balance is cleared, the account will be closed
   · Outstanding orders will not be processed

I'll be ringing them in the morning, but has anyone else had similar and ideas how to resolve this?

RefluentBeans

It could be that they’ve deemed the transaction high risk of fraud. Can be for a number of reasons - but having a new account doesn’t help and paying via PayPal. Depends on the postage address, if the name of the card and account holder match, if the postage address is different to the invoice address or the address registered on the card, the email address for the account, the cookies on the web browser. Basically, a risk of fraud score is produced and if there is a perceived higher than expected risk, then transaction is cancelled and refunded and account closed. A nice little email that is vague and non-accusatory is often sent.

They don’t, and probably won’t admit if this was suspected fraud, and probably won’t tell you why it was flagged. It tends to be security through obscurity in these sort of cases. 

Unfortunately, some legitimate transactions sometimes are collateral in the process though. I wouldn’t take it personally - it’s just their risk management as a company. 

jungleboy123

RefluentBeans said:

It could be that they’ve deemed the transaction high risk of fraud. Can be for a number of reasons - but having a new account doesn’t help and paying via PayPal. Depends on the postage address, if the name of the card and account holder match, if the postage address is different to the invoice address or the address registered on the card, the email address for the account, the cookies on the web browser. Basically, a risk of fraud score is produced and if there is a perceived higher than expected risk, then transaction is cancelled and refunded and account closed. A nice little email that is vague and non-accusatory is often sent.

They don’t, and probably won’t admit if this was suspected fraud, and probably won’t tell you why it was flagged. It tends to be security through obscurity in these sort of cases. 

Unfortunately, some legitimate transactions sometimes are collateral in the process though. I wouldn’t take it personally - it’s just their risk management as a company. 

Thanks. I mean the whole reason i made an account was to place the order. I've checked my account, they seem to restrict the profile showing most of your personal info for some reason. What i can see is that my name, address etc is all good and PayPal is in good standing (had it for decades).

Very frustrating though!

RefluentBeans

jungleboy123 said:

RefluentBeans said:

It could be that they’ve deemed the transaction high risk of fraud. Can be for a number of reasons - but having a new account doesn’t help and paying via PayPal. Depends on the postage address, if the name of the card and account holder match, if the postage address is different to the invoice address or the address registered on the card, the email address for the account, the cookies on the web browser. Basically, a risk of fraud score is produced and if there is a perceived higher than expected risk, then transaction is cancelled and refunded and account closed. A nice little email that is vague and non-accusatory is often sent.

They don’t, and probably won’t admit if this was suspected fraud, and probably won’t tell you why it was flagged. It tends to be security through obscurity in these sort of cases. 

Unfortunately, some legitimate transactions sometimes are collateral in the process though. I wouldn’t take it personally - it’s just their risk management as a company. 

Thanks. I mean the whole reason i made an account was to place the order. I've checked my account, they seem to restrict the profile showing most of your personal info for some reason. What i can see is that my name, address etc is all good and PayPal is in good standing (had it for decades).

Very frustrating though!

I 100% agree - very frustrating. It’s unfortunately one of those things that they probably won’t give you a yes or no answer. Like I say - security through obscurity. I’m sure if you want an account with them, and prove your legit then they’ll reinstate your account. 

jungleboy123

RefluentBeans said:

jungleboy123 said:

RefluentBeans said:

It could be that they’ve deemed the transaction high risk of fraud. Can be for a number of reasons - but having a new account doesn’t help and paying via PayPal. Depends on the postage address, if the name of the card and account holder match, if the postage address is different to the invoice address or the address registered on the card, the email address for the account, the cookies on the web browser. Basically, a risk of fraud score is produced and if there is a perceived higher than expected risk, then transaction is cancelled and refunded and account closed. A nice little email that is vague and non-accusatory is often sent.

They don’t, and probably won’t admit if this was suspected fraud, and probably won’t tell you why it was flagged. It tends to be security through obscurity in these sort of cases. 

Unfortunately, some legitimate transactions sometimes are collateral in the process though. I wouldn’t take it personally - it’s just their risk management as a company. 

Thanks. I mean the whole reason i made an account was to place the order. I've checked my account, they seem to restrict the profile showing most of your personal info for some reason. What i can see is that my name, address etc is all good and PayPal is in good standing (had it for decades).

Very frustrating though!

I 100% agree - very frustrating. It’s unfortunately one of those things that they probably won’t give you a yes or no answer. Like I say - security through obscurity. I’m sure if you want an account with them, and prove your legit then they’ll reinstate your account. 

Question is if they do that whether i will still be able to continue with the order. Its still on my account, but given its OOS now, i dont want it allocated to someone else

FlimFlam01

was it a GPU?  I've been a very customer for many years and ordered one yesterday which is out for dispatch (a ventus 4090) hopefully for delivery tomorrow.  They do take big purchases very seriously, even as a long standing customer they've phoned me before when I've ordered stuff to make sure.  Did you order it for collection at a shop or delivery to your home address?

RefluentBeans

FlimFlam01 said:

was it a GPU?  I've been a very customer for many years and ordered one yesterday which is out for dispatch (a ventus 4090) hopefully for delivery tomorrow.  They do take big purchases very seriously, even as a long standing customer they've phoned me before when I've ordered stuff to make sure.  Did you order it for collection at a shop or delivery to your home address?

Ah if it was a GPU I can see why - it’s certainly calmer now than it was 18 months ago, but think retailers learnt that maybe allowing bots for crypto miners/scalpers to bulk buy GPU’s is a bad idea (shock, I know!). Can see why the product would be under added scrutiny with a lower bar of acceptable risk. 

jungleboy123

FlimFlam01 said:

was it a GPU?  I've been a very customer for many years and ordered one yesterday which is out for dispatch (a ventus 4090) hopefully for delivery tomorrow.  They do take big purchases very seriously, even as a long standing customer they've phoned me before when I've ordered stuff to make sure.  Did you order it for collection at a shop or delivery to your home address?

Yes, it was the exact item.  I had ordered it early for delivery because and now because Very was messing me around they are all now OOS.

To add insult to injury they took the money from my card and because its bank holiday weekend they said they couldn't refund me until end of this week, which meant i was unable to reorder.

Given the difficulty and cheap price it was going for, I am going to put a complaint. I am hoping they are able to understand and fulfil the order for the price i paid at the time (if it ever goes back in stock).

JReacher1

They’ve decided they don’t want you as a customer. Probably due to some fraud concern so they’re not going to give you this item. Complaining won’t help either. There is no good reason for Very to allow you to still get this order.