Online accounts cannot be closed

I've been trying to ensure that my account with Comet auctions could not be used by anybody else. Amongst the ways of doing this, the following possibilities occured to me:-

a) Close the account - cannot be done. b) Remove the record of my credit card details from the account - cannot be done. c) Move the expity date of the CC to last month :-) - cannot be done. d) Complain to them about this - cannot be done.

Another thing which cannot be done is to log out of their site once one has logged in. DABS.com is another site where the above apply. No doubt there are many others.

Reply to
gordon
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IIRC with dabs its possible to delete the individul credit card numbers held against your account Again, IIRC you can have several) so if you deleted them all you'd be OK. Or have they changed it? Its a few months since I've used them.

Reply to
Tumbleweed

Well, it is true that I didn't try this with Dabs today. However, an even move fantastic situation arose with Dabs a few months ago. I got myself a new free freeserve account, because my current one attracts so much spam. Lo, immediate spam to this new address, addressed to 'george'. Obviously, freeserve accounts get recycled (oh dear!!!).

Anyway, I got an email addressed to 'george' from Dabs.com. So, I logged into Dabs and asked them to send 'george' his password, which they kindly did. Now I can read all about 'george', including his CC details (tho' the expiry date is long since past). OH DEAR !!! I try to get "george's" account closed. Some hope - no response from DABS.

Perhaps I should write to 'george' - I know his address, too :-)

Great security on the part of both Freeserve and DABS, don't you think?

Reply to
gordon

You can hardly blame dabs for that (maybe they could ask for a security question or a postcode too I suppose), they aren't to know that "george" closed or simply let his freeserve account lapse and that I was reallocated. I suspect this maybe something that wasn't thought about, as far as I can see the only totally safe solution is for ISPs never to reallocate usernames (I ensure this by making sure I keep old ISP accounts "active" once every couple of months).

I suspect you might be on dodgy ground here though.... the Computer Misuse Act etc come to mind, you basically deliberately obtained details of the persons security details and then proceeded to obtain personal information about them. The correct thing to do would have been to have written to their head office at dabs.com, Direct House, Wingates Industrial Park, Westhoughton Bolton, Lancs, BL5 3XD

Reply to
Chris

Having gone back to DABS, I see that you can actually log out (now, anyway). How more secure than Comet!

However, you cannot delete ALL your CCs - at least one must remain. And there is no way to remove the account. Personally, I don't want to remove the account, but I'd prefer that they did not keep my CC details in case someone should manage to get into the account.

Reply to
gordon

Well the obvious way round that is to enter a dummy set of cc (or all) details, however you are right it shouldnt be necessary to have to jump through these hoops and it should be possible to simply delete the account. In fact, I cant recall that any internet sites I can think of have a 'delete account' option!

Reply to
Tumbleweed

Direct from the horse mouth as they say (well dabs.com anyway)

Why won't you erase my details? ======================== When you place an order with dabs.com, we have to record your name, address(es) and payment details, so we can fulfil your order request.

These form a permanent accounting record and cannot be removed as they may be required under the 'Companies Act audit' or some other legal compliance. A minority of customers have objected to the fact that we store payment card numbers and have asked if we can run our site so that you have to 'start again' and re-enter your card information each time.

We can't do this because our entire database management system relies on the 'customer account' information. What we can do is assure you that our system is secure, and that your payment card details are perfectly safe. Even when you access your account via your password, you're only shown part of the payment card number.

If you make the decision that you don't want to deal with dabs.com again and want to make absolutely sure there is no chance of your details being available, we suggest you do the following:

a.. Login to your dabs.com account (for the last time). b.. Remove all payment methods. c.. Remove all addresses. d.. Set all mailing preferences to 'None' (via the edit your communication preferences section). e.. Change your password to something no-one would ever guess ie,

*%()*&$$$ and no-one will ever see your account again. f.. You may also want to read the dabs.com privacy policy.
Reply to
Chris

LOL, the statement from DABS can only be described as 'risible', to use palace parlance.

Firstly it states that they must keep these records for legal/accounting purposes, but later on it suggests that the customer completely corrupt the record. Well, pull the other one, I'd say. If they are correct, M&S are master criminals, since I have never supplied them with all these details. Nor did I have to open an account with them in order to buy a pair of socks.

Secondly, we have the suggestion that the customer should remove all payment methods. I invite the functionary who wrote this nonsense to try doing so. Use a rubber?

Thirdly, as to entering an unguessable password; I split my sides in unsuppressed mirth. The whole point of the password which is already there is that it is 'unguessable'. What an unbelievable thing to say. Anyway, the original point was that you can get them to send the password to you.

Now, as to the CC details entry which, incidentally, one is invited to 'EDIT' - the CC number is an uneditable field. But worse, much worse, the security code is DISPLAYED, and it cannot be edited either. The expiry date can be edited, a pointless thing to be able to do since you get a new security code whenever you get a new card. One cannot but laugh. I suppose that they pay their programmers so little that they cannot get CCs of their own and would not pick this up :-) Either that or the programming-cum-testing team which let this through need a good spanking.

I do admit that DABS do only show the last 4 digits of the CC number now - I'm sure that that was not so in the past. Still, if someone knew my number, they can now get my security code :-( All bits of the jig-saw.

Reply to
gordon

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