So I placed my first order from Mr. Snuff last Wednesday. I got an email from Andrea, who has been very helpful, saying that my card was declined. She confirmed expiration dates with me, and my card ended up being declined again. After the card was declined the first time, I got an automated call from my bank checking to see if it was a fraudulent charge. I told them that it wasn’t, but they denied it a second time. I called this morning and spoke to an actual person, and had them withdraw the hold from the card, but my account at Mr. Snuff and my bank have shown no changes. Ugh. Frustrating. I’m not blaming Mr. Snuff at all. It is just frustrating dealing with overseas purchases and time differences. It feels like I am only able to exchange one email a day with customer service, so things are very prolonged. Hopefully this got straightened out today, and my order will be soon on its way.
If you call your bank before placing unusual orders to let them know it’s coming, you can avoid this kind of nonsense. I know that’s kind of annoying, too, but if the charge falls outside of your normal CC usage, then good on them, in my opinion. I guess I travel often enough that they’ve never even blinked at my Mr.Snuff charges, but that’s equally as scary, to me. To me, it’s hard (not impossible! 
) to find fault in someone who’s trying to protect you. They’re looking at your ‘normal’ usage to find things out of the ordinary. Once you order regularly from there, it will be no problem.
@IMakeBacon can you tell me your order number and I will make sure that Andrea at least attempts to run your card this evening?
@MrSnuff My order number is 5342. Andrea has been incredibly helpful. Top notch. I’ve heard about how great your customer service was, and that has been spot on.
Oddly enough when I make what I consider odd purchase they never stop me but, when I go to get gas they are all over me making sure I want to buy that gas. I go out for dinner I get a phone call.
The advice to call your card issuer is a must do, more so if you never order overseas and are in the US. I have found that most US based companies take a hyper risk mitigation position across the board so as to not incur a loss that may never be recoverable. Luckily I have not yet had a charge declined, even when ordering from outside the US through a non-US firm.
Your credit card might cover any fraud that actually happens on your card, so while it appears they are protecting you, they are really just protecting themselves.
@IMakeBacon: If you think you’re frustrated now, wait 'til you see the new shipping theft, er, costs.
@chefdaniel The shipping costs don’t bother me too much. I figure that, unfortunately, that is the cost of doing business. I just ordered enough to make sure that the shipping cost was justified. I understand my bank denying the charge originally, even though I order from the UK occasionally, but to block it even after I’ve confirmed that it is a valid purchase seems a little strange. They didn’t decline my charge to Toque a few weeks before. Hopefully it will all get sorted out soon. Everyone at Mr Snuff has been very helpful.
@IMakeBacon, Andrea and Dave are great people, so don’t misunderstand; this isn’t personal, it’s business. Paying $1.50 per gram of snuff isn’t an intelligent decision, and it’s odd that 150 grams of the same snuff is $0.53 per gram. I understand business, I owned three successful restaurants for almost ten years that I sold at a profit when I became disabled; 95% of new restaurants go broke in the first year. I ‘get’ the cost of doing business, but that’s a two way street. If you don’t take care of your customers, they become former customers. Mr. Snuff’s service is outstanding, I just can’t wrap my head around the pricing. Actually the prices are fair, the specials are great and the inventory is awe inspiring; it’s the shipping cost that is curious Cheers