Any way to block a charge before it posts?
 

I know you can dispute charges once posted. But can I prevent my card from being charged by a specific merchant -- short of getting a new card number?

The backstory is I ordered something 2 months ago. It hasn't shipped, despite the quote of delivery in 5 days from the time I placed my order. (n.b., 2 months ago was pre-quarantine.) I called the retailer to cancel my order, but they said the order is processing and cannot be cancelled.

The silver lining is they haven't charged my card yet. How can I block that?

A new card number will not prevent the charge from processing, it's still the same account. Even closing the card account would not completely preclude a charge from processung.

You can't block it if you gave permission for the order.

However there is an FTC rule to cover this situation. It's called the "30 day rule" and you can read about it here. Among other things it says "If, after taking the customer’s order, you learn that you cannot ship within the time you stated or within 30 days, you must seek the customer’s consent to the delayed shipment." You should read the entire thing.

So I would contact the vendor again, point out that they are already in violation of the 30 day rule, and they require your consent to ship the order. Penalties for violating the rule are pretty steep ($43k per incident). Let them know if they ship the order without your consent you will file a complaint with the FTC, contest the charge with your CC company, and file a case in small claims court (assuming the charge is low enough to be handled in small claims court in your state).

If they still ship the order without your consent, follow up on all of the above.

I thought you might be interested in what Dell sends out in order to be in compliance with the 30 day rule:

As long as the "button below" works and allows you to CX the order, that seems like the right (and legal) way to do it ^

Amex allows you to block a specific merchant from putting forward future charges. It's designed so you can block scammy auto-pay stuff, but you can block non auto-pay stuff as well.

YMMV with non-Amex cards.

This works with Chase.

OP's best approach is to let the item ship, see if a charge does post, and then initiate a chargeback based both on having cancelled the order and because the vendor violated the FTC rule by not seeking OP's permission. If the vendor has a no-fee return process, supplies a shipping label or makes arrangements for pick up, then it is OP's obligation to mitigate damages.

To be clear, the FTC rule does not provide OP with a private right of action. Thus, there is no lawsuit for him to file and, in any event, he will not be due anything if he wins. If the FTC wants to sue, it may do so and any penalties (not damages) go to Treasury.

This sort of stuff happens and is easily dealt with. No need to make more of it than it is and any time one spends on this is time lost.