Lesson in BAD business

A recent experience of mine has lead to this post on how NOT to run a business!

I wanted to buy a unique product online which i won't name purely for my not wanting to be sued otherwise i'd absolutely LOVE to name them.

I paid via credit card online and sent the order off. That's where my trouble started.
I recieved a phone call to say my payment had not been honoured by the bank.
As i use a debit visa i thought "No problem, a direct debit probably came out i'd forgotten about"
No, The bank tells me i had funds in the account and that a request was never made by the business.
So this time i ring back and try my dad's card. "Sorry" Was the reply we cannot accept that this is really the card owner (I put him on)
Now this is an ONLINE business offering payment by credit card online or by phone!
INFURIATING!

So i have put the order in online and been rejected again with the excuse being "We cannot be certain of the ownership of card"

I was by now so irate that i cancelled the order entirely.

The problem is this. This was a Birthday present for my Nan. She is extremely hard to buy for, loves her garden and this is so unique she's probably never seen it or would never buy it for herself yet she will ADORE it!

So as i cannot buy it from any other source (Patented) i am trying again.

This time i've paid via direct deposit and faxed the order off. I'm awaiting the reply.

My message to all, including myself is to be completely able to accept online payments if they are offered.

Before offering, check they work, obtain the relevant insurances and at least make it easy for the customer to pay another way if this is not possible.

To top it all off this business has a P.O Box only so i could not even drive the 45 min trip to pick them up.

It has now taken over 2 weeks to get this product, by the time i hopefully recieve it i'm sure it will be 3 weeks.
All i can say is that it is extremely unprofessional which is a shame as they have a great product and the market cornered for now. Word of mouth referrals will come thick and fast once people actually see the product but not after my word of mouth that's for sure.

Surely the loss of future business would not be worth it?

Anyway i see it as a great lesson for the running of my own online busineses.

UPDATE
I have my product!
Not only do i have it but i have a sincere apolagy along with another product to the same value free.
Now that's better.
I must say this has not only been a lesson in how NOT to do business but also in how to fix mistakes.
I'm happy to refere my friends though i will advise not to buy online.