When does alienware charge your account

I placed the order two weeks ago and it has already shipped (according to the site) but I have not been charged. Did I just get lucky?

 

you will likely get charged when you receive it or closer to the arrival date.

 

I guess after 21 days, that´s what happend to me .

 

by law, they are not allowed to charge your account until the item ships. They do verify that you have the necessary amount available, however their processing usually takes approximately 7-10business days.

 

Sometimes they charged me when it shipped and sometimes after its delivered.

 

they charge you 1 day after your estimated delivery date.

 

I don't think it's a law, maybe some state/local law that I do not know. But I think it's just good business practice. I know that there are shady(unreputable) retailer that will charge you since the day you order. Imagine a customer order a very unusually large amount of computer, and if retailer unable to charge certain amount upfront, what happened if the retailer already order part but the deal didn't go through for some reason. Or pre-order an order that's very customize. I know that even reputable camera retailer usually don't charge until order is ship, with an exception when the order is a special order. eg: BH Photo. here is an example of such.

So, definitely not a law, at least not a commerce law. Most of Dell/Alienware computer are generally customized good anyway, so technically they could and people wouldn't have much to complain about. But, as I said usually it's just good business practice.