I object to the practice of many vendors to charge a customer's credit card at the time of a purchase, even though delivery may be delayed by month or more. I placed an order with BuyItNow.com on 02/17/00 for goods totaling $600. On 03/10/00, I discovered that the order may not be shipped until 03/17/00 and that another 5 to 7 days would be required for shipping. Yet, my credit card was billed for the order on 02/17/00.

This practice is not illegal, but in my view it is unethical, inappropriate, and unacceptable. I would like to see legal changes made to preclude the practice. Moreover, the public should be made aware of this kind of problem and which companies abuse consumers by not delaying billing to correspond to shipping schedules.

Tools with which consumers can broadcast their complaints need to be widely publicized, so that the problems and the perpetrators can be readily identified.