buying from an american website from the UK

[EmEd1984]

i found a bracelet I wanted to buy for my mum online from america. when i've tried to process my debit card details its says it has 'declined', which i know isn't down to my funds. i tried my credit card, which said the same thing, and thats DEFINITELY not down to funds!! theres no google checkout or paypal anyway. i've emailed the shop, who suggested the only thing i can do is post a cheque or make a 'money transfer' (i assume she means BACS or CHAPS). i'm reluctant as i know with my credit card they'll 'fight my case' if something was wrong or if it didn't turn up. the shop have also said the manual card machine they use is the same system as the online one, and only the same thing will happen.

its not a huge amount of money, and i don't doubt the item won't be sent (who knows?), but i've not bought anything like this before!

can anyone tell me if this way of doing it is ok? any past experiences?
if its perfectly ok then i'm sorry for such a daft question :)

thank you loooads x

[daffy654]

The easier way to do it would be to get a friend to pay with a card that is accepted on the shop's website.You give the friend the cash to cover the charge.

You must be aware that you are liable for import tax on certain items such as jewellery ,perfume etc and will have to pay this at the post office or they will return the goods to the seller after a certain time. I bought some perfume from the US a couple of weeks ago,the cost was �23.00 for the perfume.I had to pay �12.02 to be able to get it delivered though(�4.02 inport duty and �8.00 post office handling fee)

[Bohne]

I often order stuff from the States and sometimes they just do not accept foreign debit or credit cards.
Ususally this is just do to programming in the software, since credit cards are universally accepted.

A few times I solved the problem by calling the company and giving them my credit card details over the phone.
If your company is not willing (or able) to do this, I would go ahead and send a cheque.
I have not done that personally, but my husband occassionally pays items from the States by cheque and never had a problem.