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Tev
01-05-2010, 01:21 PM
I’m assuming that’s what he used because it’s the only card I know of that has no limit and thus could manage to shell out $3 Billion in one go (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1239887/Man-buys-3billion-CD-ROM-Amazon--just-happen.html)like this.

A man in the U.S. has 'bought' an item on Amazon with a price tag of nearly three billion dollars - just to see what would happen.
Brian Klug spotted the copy of the Discovery Channel's 'Cells' CD-ROM for sale at $2,904,980,000 (£1,800,979,540).

Out of sheer curiosity, convinced the price tag was a mistake, he put in his credit card details to buy it and stepped back to see what would happen next.

First off, Mr Klug from San Mateo, California, was charged $3.99 for posting and handling.

Mr Klug has posted on the Reddit website links to the Amazon site and confirmation of his purchase.

One Reddit commentatator posted: 'This is going to end poorly, I can feel it.'
'Might be a good morning to buy Amazon stock,' wrote another, while a third pointed out that had Mr Klug had Amazon's Visa three per cent rewards card, thus entitling him to roughly $87million in rewards.

Some suggested Mr Klug pay in Zimbabwean dollars, while one left a note saying: 'Dear Sir: I hereby award you a gold star for your gallant efforts in propping up the US economy.'

'Geez, at least they could pick up the postal charges,' was the sentiment of many, while others voiced hopes that Mr Klug actually has Win98 - the only operating system the CD-ROM can run on.

Luckily for Mr Klug, however, Amazon does not charge user's credit cards until after their order has entered the packaging process.

Unfortunately for him this was sold third party and so doesn’t fall under Amazon credit charge policy.

Meister
01-05-2010, 01:28 PM
I know that highly professional scientific database CD-ROMs can get incredibly pricey but this would seem a little out of line even if it was one of those and not Discovery Channel.

Tev
01-05-2010, 01:33 PM
I just like that he racked up $87 Million in rewards points.

Mr.Bookworm
01-05-2010, 02:56 PM
I like how another company is trying to take advantage of the obvious mispricing by selling their CD for the modest sum of 250k.

Though I salute this guy for being willing to completely and totally fuck up his credit card, and possibly life, in order to indulge the curiosity of himself and bunch of complete strangers.

I mean, what happens if the charge goes through?

Meister
01-05-2010, 02:59 PM
The mother of all negative customer reviews is what.

Tev
01-05-2010, 03:01 PM
If the charge goes through then he's got $87 million in Amazon rewards points that he has about a month or so to spend before he declares bankruptcy, takes a hit on his credit score, and watches that card loss get written off. It may go to court but I doubt anyone would be willing to let this case get too much more media attention.

A Zarkin' Frood
01-05-2010, 03:02 PM
Unfortunately for him this was sold third party and so doesn’t fall under Amazon credit charge policy.

I just like that he racked up $87 Million in rewards points.

Am I confused? Or is it you?
I mean, wouldn't that mean that he doesn't get any reward points?

Mr.Bookworm
01-05-2010, 03:09 PM
The mother of all negative customer reviews is what.

That one star rating will show them.

Magic_Marker
01-05-2010, 03:13 PM
I have a feeling he's going be be panicing on /r/askreddit soon enough. This could either be the best idea ever, or the worst.

Tev
01-05-2010, 03:17 PM
Am I confused? Or is it you?
I mean, wouldn't that mean that he doesn't get any reward points?No, he gets the points because he used the card and that is a perk of the card. Since it was sold third party the protection usually afforded by Amazon where they are nice enough to not charge the card if it looks like a mis-priced item until they check with you is not given, so the card was charged without question. Both things that I said were correct.

Magic_Marker
01-06-2010, 10:51 AM
Update! (http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/am4fz/amazon_called_me_today_to_discuss_my_29billion/)

I received a very polite call from Amazon today. They wanted to make sure I had received the order cancellation e-mail, and confirm that everything was OK on my end.

I mentioned I was an engineer, so we talked for a few minutes about e-commerce validation routines and such. He described a number of measures they had in place to make sure orders with erroneous too-low prices would get caught; but nothing like that existed for the other extreme.

The best part: He explained that Amazon would be implementing such limits ASAP -- and therefore my transaction would be the largest Amazon purchase ever!

Amazon was very professional about the whole situation. The caller acknowledged there was some humorous aspect to it, but made it clear they treat the shopper's experience with the highest regard and they wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again. I felt the message was sincere -- it was really nice to get the call.

The seller 'suburbanbooks' is only 30 minutes away (in Berkely, CA) .. think I should drive over, offer $5 for the CDROM, and check it out?? :)

The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk
01-06-2010, 10:55 AM
Pfft, they're just worried about the 87 million they'll have to pay out if the order goes through!

Lousy Amazonians!