Verified by Visa is Useless

May 1, 2009 (Click to Rate!) Loading ...

I was just shopping on Newegg and decided to purchase some more RAM for my computer. I added the item to my shopping card, hit purchase, entered my Credit Card info and hit Finish.

I had forgotten that I had enabled the frustratingly stupid “Verified by Visa” check-out security process in the past… I somehow always manage to forget my password and lock myself out… Visa remembers every past password you’ve used and won’t let you reuse one.

After failing to login to the Verified by Visa service and getting kicked out to select a new password, I decided this bullshit was too much trouble and just cancelled the transaction. A dialog popped up warning me:

If you cancel this login process, your purchase will not be complete.

I didn’t care, this was too much hassle to order some freaking RAM. So I hit “OK” and cancelled the whole operation. At that point, the Verified by Visa service forwarded me to my “Order Summary” page:

newegg-failed-order-confirmation-form

… wait, I thought the transaction failed?

Oh well, I’ve bought from Newegg in the past and am familiar with the follow-up “We were unable to charge your credit card” emails, so I figured this was just a fluke and waited for that email.

Instead, I got this email:

newegg-failed-order-charge-confirmation

While I’m happy I’m getting my RAM now, I’m trying to figureout what that useless Verified by Visa service actually does at this point.

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Newegg, online shopping, security, shenanigans, Verified by Visa, Visa

This post was written by:

Riyad Kalla - who has written 1727 posts on The “Break it Down” Blog.

"Ultimately I just want to provide a resource that folks find useful."

2 Comments For This Post

Internet User Says:
September 8th, 2009 at 7:21 am

I had the same problem using New Egg, only after I gave up and clicked cancel I assumed that the order didn’t go thru and I ordered the product thru a differnt vendor. Then I get a email from New Egg saying that my order has been placed and when I call them they said that they couldn’t cancel it and I would have to wait for the item to be shipped and then ship it back. But after I return it they tried to hit me with a re-stocking fee, which they eventually wavied after I complained enough.

Riyad Kalla Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 8:41 pm

God that’s retarded, I’m sorry to hear that NewEgg gave you the “stupid etailer” experience, normally they are pretty decent.

Verified by Visa drives me nuts. It also bothers me that they remember ALL your previously used passwords and never lets you use them again… so in the Visa vault somewhere they have all my personal information and a catalog of every password I tend to use… I don’t like that.

Internet User Says:
September 8th, 2009 at 7:21 am
I had the same problem using New Egg, only after I gave up and clicked cancel I assumed that the order didn’t go thru and I ordered the product thru a differnt vendor. Then I get a email from New Egg saying that my order has been placed and when I call them they said that they couldn’t cancel it and I would have to wait for the item to be shipped and then ship it back. But after I return it they tried to hit me with a re-stocking fee, which they eventually wavied after I complained enough.
Riyad Kalla Says:
September 11th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
God that’s retarded, I’m sorry to hear that NewEgg gave you the “stupid etailer” experience, normally they are pretty decent.

Verified by Visa drives me nuts. It also bothers me that they remember ALL your previously used passwords and never lets you use them again… so in the Visa vault somewhere they have all my personal information and a catalog of every password I tend to use… I don’t like that.

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