Question about Staples.com orders with Chase
 

I spent $1,853.70 on VGCs at Staples.com last week. The transaction was pending until this morning. Something very strange happened. I received an email from Staples indicating that the order had shipped as of today and is expected to arrive next Monday... but the transaction has disappeared from my Ink Plus account! There is NO record whatsoever of the purchase. Not only that, but my current balance (including all pending charges) does not account for the almost 2K that I spent at Staples.com last week! I'm not sure whether to call Chase and inquire about this or just shut up and accept the free gift cards? Now to be certain, I've added up all transactions on the account and the numbers are slightly off. There's approx. $30 owed that remains unaccounted for. It's a brand new account with no possibility of anything being carried over from past statements. I'm not sure how to proceed... Should I attempt another VGC purchase in-store this time? Does Chase intentionally erase online transactions for gift cards and was the order supposed to have been canceled by the store prior to shipping?

This post has no relevance to your title.... in fact, you don't even mention 5x at staples in your post at all or why you think it wouldn't qualify. Rest assured, you are not getting free giftcards. This is a known "feature" of the ink business cards and your transaction will post within 48 hours.

It's been much more than 48 hours. The order was placed on July 9th and as I've explained above, the charge was pending for almost a full week. It has now vanished and the balance has not updated.

I purchased the VGCs on July 9th. My wife went to Staples in person on that same day to ship some parcels. I asked her to buy the VGC's while there, but they only had them in $200 denominations, so I placed the order online when she got home.

I just double checked and there is only one charge that was transacted on July 9th (posted on the 11th) for the local in-store purchase at Staples ($26.95) but the online purchase made that same day has vanished.


Edit: The 5x points are relevant if Chase is cancelling or erasing VGC transactions for online purchases with the Ink Plus as a means of not awarding points for gift card spend. I'm not suggesting that's what took place but something strange has happened as the cards shipped but the transaction was removed from my card activity... I just wonder if the order was supposed to have been canceled but there was an oversight on Chase's end?

Relax. Don't call. Nothing "strange" or unusual going on at all. This is typical behavior. Sheesh.

On Chase business cards (all of them, IIRC), new charges first appear as pending, then they often drop off and disappear completely for a couple days before they post. Yeah, it's weird and a little annoying if you're trying to closely keep track of things, but just climb down from the ledge, relax, and give it a couple days. The charge will show up soon enough and you will not have to worry about any "free" gift cards.

Don't freak out over nothing. And DON'T CALL.

Staples.com orders pend/fall off/repost once shipped. It will reappear...

OP, you were given basic instructions to calm down, everyone posting in response to you has experience with what you are facing for the first time. Calm down, get a clean pair of underwear, and relax, none of your fears are true, the full amount will post soon, I've had it not post for two weeks on an online order.

This has been discussed dozens of times on this board and the Chase board.

This happens with all Ink purchases. Sometimes they drop off for longer than others, but they have always reappeared and you will get your appropriate URs.

Suggest you check the search function.

Okay thank you both for confirming... I was not freaking out btw, I was just confused and trying to make sense of the "missing" account activity.

That is indeed a pretty annoying feature and it's not something I've experienced yet with any of my previous transactions which (as far as I'm aware) have transitioned instantaneously from pending to posted.

Anyhow, thanks for explaining. I'll edit the title so as not to draw attention or unnecessary concern.

I'm not sure how potentially receiving 2K in free GCs would translate to fear, but all points duly noted and I now understand the transaction recording process with Ink Plus. No need to rehash the same commentary as I've not perpetuated any narrative in this thread beyond the initial question, so I don't see the justification for any condescension.

Well, something weird happened to me. I ordered about a week and a half ago, I just checked and the order is showing as CANCELLED on Staples.com. I ordered again, we'll see if this one goes through.

relax - you are not getting free cards. Same thing happened to me before. The transaction will show eventually.

There was no real condescension, you would know if there was, I made a light joke. Others on this board get truly exhausted by the same repeated questions day after day, my post was lighthearted in nature.

Your initial post had a tone of entitlement, as evidenced by "should I call Chase" as if to suggest certain policies and procedures in a new space not lining up with your expectations necessitating a phone call. And to top it off, you post indicates you are new to the game, or new to this particular MS scheme. New + entitlement = poor outcome.

It gave me the impression that you feel it's ok to call up any bank issuer where you have a knee jerk reaction before researching the issue for yourself, which in essence, is coming to this board and reading for a few minutes, or the google function.

Like you (and thousands others) the first time you get the Ink you have to get in the water for yourself to realize how the charges post and the random timelines often associated with it. In the MS game, calling the issuer is about the last resort, especially if you're using the Ink to buy Staples gift cards. I would never in a million years alert them to that, even though they have access to figure it out. I'm not doing them any favors, and by default, a disservice to myself.

I'm just new to the card and haven't seen this with any of my previous transactions. I didn't think to run a forum search for something that seemed at the time, to be a personal error with a transaction I'd made. It never crossed my mind that this was standard, as it still seems extremely odd for Chase to operate this way (disappearing/reappearing charges). I was obviously not going to call Chase and mention plainly that I was buying VGCs; I posted here first for that very reason. Anyhow, no point going further with this thread as the mystery's been solved.

This is a known "feature" of ALL Chase business cards on ALL charges not just your Staples purchases. The pending would disappear for anywhere 48 to sometimes longer time before they reappear as posted. The reason Chase gave in the past was because business cards have a feature of "expense report" although I am sure none of FTers here use that function. In order to keep that function, the charges would take this peculiar "disappearing act".

If you do careful accounting, you would notice your available credit is reduced by the disappeared pending. Sometimes if an online merchant does not ship the goods in time, the pending would totally vanish and the amount returned to the available limit until the merchant shipped the goods and billed you.

Like many said, rest assure the charge would reappear once Staples ships the cards and bills your card unless Staples cancels your order, and that is another possibility and happens. You will NOT get free gift cards. lol.

As OP has had their questions answered I'll close this thread.

tcook052
MS forum moderator