Worm in the Apple

It was brought to my attention by a credit/debit card monitoring company this morning that some unusual activity had appeared on my bank debit card in the last couple days. Indeed, eight charges at three different companies: Yahoo, HostGator.com, and Apple's MobileMe -- somebody registering a bunch of domain names and setting up web sites, etc. Between my bank and the three companies, three of the four provided excellent responses to the situation. In the spirit of noting great customer service, my public thanks go to:

Citizens South Bank—my small, community based bank in Stallings, NC (cited on NBC Nightly News a few months ago as one of the most financially sound banks in the country). They immediately cancelled my card and requested a new one along with guidance on "what to do next."

Yahoo—in a matter of minutes by phone they found the bogus charges, cancelled them, and promised immediate reimbursement to my debit card.

HostGator.com—a web hosting company in Houston. Likewise, they found the bogus charge and promised an immediate refund.

But there was a worm in the Apple. Granted, this is a gazillion-dollar company, but still. There was no indication of who to call for such help on their Contact Us page. A call to Customer Service directed me to a web page where I entered into a live chat with a MobileMe agent who concluded they couldn't do anything to help. "You need to file a charge dispute form through your bank", etc etc.

Since the Apple charge was only $1.13 I'll probably not invest the time pursuing it. (The charges at the other companies amounted to hundreds of dollars.)

Kudos to my bank, Yahoo, and HostGator.com for excellent customer service. Apple—you should treat your lifelong customers more intelligently.

(Oh—and for the guy with the different accent who called early this morning to tell me about the activity on my card, sorry for not taking the call. I thought it was a telemarketer—"Hello . . . followed by 10 seconds of silence" until he mispronounced my name -- typical telemarketer signals. But I heard enough to call my bank to verify the activity. So—sorry, guy! And thanks for calling. I'll listen longer next time.)