Question about pre-ordering Nook

[joeypore]

Is it true that you will be charged the $259 when you pre-order? Or will you be charged when you pick up the device, etc?

Also, how do the in-store pre-orders differ from the online pre-orders? Is there anyway to reserve a Nook and pick it up in store when it comes out?

Thanks

[Loupy1]

Yes you will be charged the cost once you place the order as opposed to when it's actually shipped, at least that's what happened to me.

Not sure if you can do a pre-order for pick up at a store - I know the store near me said they could not do it, so I would think that would apply to all of them.

[joeypore]

Ok, thanks.

Hmm.. that must be just some stores. I called my local B&N store and they said they are accepting pre-orders that will be delivered to the store.

Any B&N official statements from the Admins?

[PC_FL]

From what I understand, about 100 of the largest-volume B&Ns will have "kiosks" that carry the nook and nook accessories.  Perhaps the B&N you went to will have the kiosk, and therefore you can pick it up in the store, but most B&Ns will not actually carry the nook as a salable inventory item, and you can only order and have it shipped to your home from those stores.

Perhaps.  That's just what I have heard.  You know, you'd think there would be a little more resolution as to whether you can buy the nook in your local store or not, or pick up your pre-order there, or have it shipped to your home.  But looking over these threads, there are still a lot of basic, unanswered questions.  I guess this is just another one...

[LookingCloser]

I was actually thankful they charged the full price of Nook at time of pre-order. Who knows what financial fires I would not know I had to fight at the time it was shipped ahead of time.

[Phil_K]

Thanks for your post, PC_FL: The latest information we have is that the majority of B&N stores should have nooks in stock in time for the peak holiday season, and nook should be available in all the stores by early 2010. If there are additional updates, I'll post them on the board.

[Loupy1]

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LookingCloser wrote:

I was actually thankful they charged the full price of Nook at time of pre-order. Who knows what financial fires I would not know I had to fight at the time it was shipped ahead of time.

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I just noticed that the hold charge for the nook has been removed from my credit card, my order status still has the items in there though.  Anyone else see this with their pre-order?  If so, we should all be careful in case of fires

[stirwise]

Nobody should have been charged the cost of the device before it was shipped. B&N checks that the money is in the available when the order is placed, but after a maximum of 5 business days the temporary hold on funds is released and they become available again. B&N is not charging users the cost until it is shipped.

[Loupy1]

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stirwise wrote:

Nobody should have been charged the cost of the device before it was shipped. B&N checks that the money is in the available when the order is placed, but after a maximum of 5 business days the temporary hold on funds is released and they become available again. B&N is not charging users the cost until it is shipped.

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Depends on your definition of "charged."  I've never had a hold put on my account for any online purchase, I've always been charged when shipped.  So if a person is currently low on funds but decides to preorder something that is not due to ship for over a month (as the current pre-orders are set to 12/7), it can be quite a shock to then find out that they have a hold for the full purchase price placed immediately on their account and they are unable to access those funds for a week.

[stirwise]

"Charged" means that they have charged your account, the money is withdrawn and is permanently unavailable to you. Many businesses, including restaurants, gas stations, hotels, and websites will check for sufficient funds when you place an order, some will check for far more than you're billed (I've been to restaurants that check for funds 25% beyond the bill so that any tip will be covered). The amount of time your bank holds those funds in limbo is up to the bank, not to the institution which checked for sufficient funds. Gas stations will sometimes hold $100 when you swipe your card at the pump, because they don't know in advance how much you will be spending and want to make sure you can cover your purchase when they deem your card "approved." Again, being charged is permanent. Being approved and having funds temporarily held is not the same thing. The amount of time you are without those funds is also not up to B&N, but up to your bank.

[Loupy1]

"Charged" to me means I no longer have access to the purchase price whether 5 business days or permanently.  Plus, I think it's pointless to do a hold anyway if you're just going to release it, because you have to do a verification/permanent charge just before shipping anyway.  I can have $10K in my account today and they do their "charge" and release it five days later - what's to say the account won't be down to $5 when they're ready to ship?  They're going to not ship it because the permament (and only meaningful) charge will be denied.