Configure a truly custom rig from smaller computer vendors, and you just might find yourself paying for the machine before it's even built.

When you click up a stack of CDs from Amazon.com, your credit card isn't charged until the order ships. When buying a PC online, shouldn't you expect the same? As John Qin found out, that all depends on the merchant. Qin configured a slick new Area 51m notebook from Alienware on December 7. He noticed that the $2,910 machine was billed to his MasterCard the next day, yet as of January 5, customer-support reps could not tell him when his notebook would ship.

As it turns out, Alienware, like other shops that sell highly customized PCs for hotshot gamers, charges when the Buy button is clicked. In fact, the company states on its site that "unless otherwise agreed to in writing, payment must be received before acceptance of an order." To further emphasize this policy, a sales rep is supposed to call each customer to discuss the order--and payment--before production begins, according to Brian Joyce, Alienware's director of marketing. The purpose of that call was apparently unclear to Qin, however.

"I did receive a call from their sales rep the day after I ordered my laptop," he says. "The call, they told me, was for security reasons to ensure that the order wasn't fraudulent. I thought my card wasn't going to be charged yet."

After several exasperating dialogues with Alienware's clueless customer-service reps, Qin canceled the order on January 9, an action that the company apparently ignored. "They never e-mailed me a confirmation [that I canceled the order]," he says. "After one call, a rep put me on hold for 30 minutes, then came back and told me that they would ship the system the following week and was wondering if I still wanted it, even though I told him at the beginning [of the call] that I had canceled it the day before." By now totally alienated by Alienware, Qin dialed his MasterCard company on January 9 to file a credit dispute, in part because he was still receiving updates on his order status from the PC maker.

While Alienware's up-front-payment requirement is a bit alienating, the policy is perfectly legal. But the PC maker failed to follow a few fundamental rules of good service.

Alienware maintains that its payment policies are designed to protect itself from customer cancellations and fraudulent credit-card use. "When you're a small company, cancellations will kill you," Joyce says. "We need to be sure that people are certain about their orders, because every single system is unique. It's all about custom work--you couldn't get a carpenter to build an addition to your house without a deposit."

While Alienware's policy is acceptable, the company should keep its customers notified as to when orders will ship. And it's worth noting that a FAQ on the company's Web site states that orders ship within 30 calendar days from the time payment is received. The fact that Qin's didn't--and that customer-service reps couldn't seem to provide accurate information about the order status--is simply shoddy service.

The Dell difference
Meanwhile, after grounding the Area 51m, Qin ordered a Dell Inspiron 8600 on January 12 and received an estimated shipping date before he completed the order. Last time we communicated, he said the $2,433 notebook had been built and was being packed for shipping, but his card had not yet been charged.

That's because Dell, like most mainstream vendors, obtains credit-card authorization at purchase but doesn't actually make the charge until the PC goes postal. When you take the truly custom route, however, you will almost always have to pay up front.

High-end-gaming specialist Falcon Northwest requires a 50 percent down payment on built-from-the-motherboard-up computers; for stock PCs, the vendor charges at order. "We get several fraudulent charge attempts per day, and I'm sure high-volume vendors get it even worse," says Kelt Reeves, president of Falcon. "The only way to even see if a customer who just ordered a $5,000 system with custom paintwork is some kid playing a joke is to run the card."

And these payment policies are perfectly legal. While most credit-card issuers have policies against merchants charging a credit card before shipment, they do allow a preshipment charge for custom merchandise, according to a Visa spokesman. But this prepayment must be communicated to the customer, he adds.

It's also worth noting that the Fair Credit Billing Act states that a merchant should ship an order within the time stated in an ad or at the time of purchase. If no time frame is communicated, the law states you should expect the order within 30 days.

And that's where Alienware entered a very bad space: The company should have been more proactive in advising Qin of his notebook's ship date. What's more, the company should be explicitly clear with its up-front charge policy. While it's understandable that smaller shops can't take on the risk of fraudulent orders or indecisive shoppers, the customer has the right to know that an order will be immediately charged to his or her credit card. After all, vendors should ease the sting of opening that MasterCard statement by ensuring that you get to unbox your new PC before the bill arrives.