Another NewEgg.com dig

I just placed an order at NewEgg.com for a new hard drive.  It reminded me of one of the big problems that I’m having with any orders from NewEgg recently:  the credit card charge time.   NewEgg has a 5-step process to keep you posted on where your order is in the chain.  Step 1 meant that they had received your order, but they haven’t done anything yet.  Step 2 was for verification and fraud prevention, but still no credit card charge.  Step 3 was the stage where they finally successfully charged your credit card.  Step 4 was packaging, and Step 5 was the final stage, which meant your order had shipped.

Now, a couple of years ago, the time it took to go from Step 1 to Step 3 was about 5 minutes.  Everything was very quick.  However, the last several orders I’ve placed with NewEgg seem to take FOREVER to go through those 3 steps.  Is this NewEgg’s fault or did the credit card companies put some process in place to slow these things down?  I’m guessing it’s NewEgg’s fault because I don’t seem to have this problem with other retailers.  Which leads me to another question:  WTF?!?!  What the hell did NewEgg do to create such a slowdown?  Why does it take hours, or sometimes even days (yes, I have had it take almost 2 business days just to have my card charged) to get through this step?  McDonald’s can charge my card in 20 seconds while I’m standing in line for a burger.  Why does NewEgg take so long?  Does their credit card processing center consist of one guy in a basement somewhere who comes in late, goes to lunch for 4 hours, and leaves early?

Yet another reason I’m going to start looking elsewhere for my computer goods until NewEgg gets their act together.  I think today’s purchase will be my last from NewEgg unless I see some indication that things are turning around there.