Buyer Beware: Atari/Digital River Issues

I just wanted to through something out there.  This morning I decided to take the plunge and purchase a license for 'Champions Online'.  After playing the unlimited demo and really liking my character and the initial gameplay was pretty fun for me.  And from what I hear the game 'post-starting area' is pretty good too.  I figured if I could pick it up for a decent price with the additional 30-Days free after purchase, if I didn't end up liking the game I could drop it.

So I compared prices between Best Buy, Walmart, Steam, and Direct2Drive.  I found a forum post on the Champions forum mentioning Atari running a special on the game for 50% off the retail ($29.99).  So I went over to Atari's website and proceeded to purchase the game.  All seemed well.

After waiting several hours with no email for further information on my purchase I decided to do some digging around.  I found that others had encountered the same issue.  Turns out, the company that handles Atari's digital downloads is called Digital River.  According to several other forum posts others had experienced a similar issue in which they put the order in a 'Review' status which often takes up to 24 hours to clear the order.  This is not what I expected it to be.

My previous experience with Digital Download services has been great.  It's easy, quick, and convenient.  Why?  Simple, you click 'Purchase' (assuming you have an account already setup), and the game is unlocked for you.  If not instantly, then within a few minutes.  With the Atari/Digital River setup, not so much.

A little agitated, I decided to call the Atari's Online Store Customer Support and just inquire as to why my order was in a 'Review' status for a couple hours.  *Note: I used the correct info for my billing, this was confirmed by me.*  After speaking with a lady from their customer service, she verified the info I found on the forums (probably was reading the forum back to me, that's how close it was to what I read), she said if my info was correct than I should get an email with further details within 24 hours.

I asked her whether or not this service was considered a 'digital download service' and she confirmed that my purchase was in fact considered this type of service (they also sell hard copy games as well).  I ended up requesting her to cancel my account because I can purchase it through their competitors with less hassle, get the product faster, and be playing in a fraction of the time as opposed to using their service.  I am now eagerly awaiting my cancellation email (which she said will arrive shortly).  That was 2 hours ago.  I only assume it will arrive within 24 hours.  :)

I thought I would inform someone who may decide to use this service.  Personally, I feel that they have overlooked a sale.  And if that is how they conduct business, I will not be one of their customers (directly).  I will not let this experience cloud my opinion of the great game that Cryptic has put together.  But if Digital River is associated with an online store, I will not use the services.  Buyer Beware.