Here's a squirrelly question...

[RobertEG]

The OP does have a legit question regarding legal obligation under the FCBA that is totally separate from the responses that point to moral obligations.

Did you ever make payment in response to the first billing that posted the charge to your account and set a due date?

Are you asserting that the first bill was essentially negated by a subsequent bill that stated there is no amount due?

In that event, you may be able to require sending of a new, corrected bill, and prevent any negative actions, including credit reporting, until your dispute process has been concluded.

You have the right to file a formal dispute with the creditor under section 161 of the Fair Credit Billing Act within 60 days of the billing error.

That then requires their response and treatment under the procedure set forth in section 161 of the FCBA.

You can assert no legal obligation to pay until you have received a corrected and accurate bill.

[JVille]

You bought it, they shipped, you have it, you agreed to their terms and conditions at the time of purchase. Just because there was a book keeping error does not relieve you of the Legal obligation to pay for merchandise received.
They made an error and you can not legally benefit due to that error. In fact they discovered the error and rebilled your CC and your bank denied the charge due to your contact with them. So yes you owe the money. Does that answer your question?

[Billharrell]

No, it doesn't. They attempted to double-bill me prior to any further contact on my end. The cc company declined the second billing on their own.

The comment above yours answer my question, though.

[Pikaboo-icu]

OP seriously...

You placed an order, rather expensive.

They submitted the charge as pending until they shipped.

They likely mistakenly submitted a new charge rather than updating the pending charge.

Your CC blocked the second submission and the pending charge timed out.

Do YOU believe you're not legally obligated to pay?

You received goods, you ordered, you gotta pay up.

If they sent you goods you did not order, you have some legal ground to keep without returning.

[JVille]

Gotta love it when it’s always someone else’s fault!

[Revelate]

As you have alluded to, this site has credit experts.

We don't have legal ones, or if they are, they're here in an unofficial capacity and all that entails.

Even ignoring the ethical question, I think Jamie stated it correctly: this is unlikely to go away, and ultimately you are likely have to wind up paying for or returning the item... why go down the road of opening yourself up to legal challenge and what that entails both in the time domain as well as the financial one?

If you want real advice, go talk to a lawyer, this isn't a credit issue.

[Billharrell]

Thanks, all. I've decided to request that they resubmit a bill/invoice via snail mail, and make the payment once that's in hand.

edit: Called in and talked to a CSR today, and that is agreeable to them. STILL showed as paid on her computer, though. I asked her not to attempt any runs on my CC but that I would pay via check once I recieved the bill.

[Anonymous]

Good decision.