WHEN IS SECURITY, TOO SECURE?

Over the last 24 hours, I have been trying to purchase a 12 inch Apple Powerbook from MacMall over the internet. MacMall is a generally good site to order from - they have a decent selection of software/hardware at decent prices. They are never the cheapest, but they are always fair. I have bought two of my other past computers from them, and a lot of software. Well, I placed the order and charged it to my BankOne card (actually a SchoolPop BankOne card, so X% of my purchases go to my alma mater as a pain-free donation). BankOne, unlike some of my other cards, has a pretty good security system in place for tracking unusual purchases. They (ie. the computer) noticed that I had a recent charge in Seattle (hotel cost for Sean's wedding) and now was attempting a large computer purchase. They stopped the transaction as suspicious (good) and placed an automated call to me to ask about the charges. While I was a bit annoyed at the computerized voice instead of a human being, it was okay with me. I approved all of the "suspicious" charges and assumed that the charge in question would be allowed to go thru.



No such luck. It turns out that I would have to put the charge through AGAIN in order to make it work. Okay. I called MacMall, let them know the score, and they assured me the computer would ship overnight for delivery on Tuesday (today). I checked back in a few hours to make sure everything was good. Nope. Refused again. I called back BankOne. Oops, you see it was sent to my work address instead of the billing address (silly me, for wanting to be able to work on the day I recieved a computer). Reauthorize, recall MacMall, reassured that it would ship overnight. Nope. I called MacMall last night to get a final okay on the transaction. Nope. Failure. Refused. (By this point, I realize I should have just changed the card I was charging it to.) So I called back BankOne and this time reached the security department. I personally, explicitly authorized the charge including the EXACT AMOUNT, the BILLING COMPANY, and the EXACT ADDRESS. They told me EXPLICITLY that "all security flags are lifted for the next 24 hours." They confirmed I could charge anything "right away." I called back MacMall. No dice. Refused, and oh-by-the-way-did-I-mention it is now too late to ship anything anyway.



Ultimately, I cancelled the order. It'll be simpler to go up to the local Apple store and buy it directly from them, using a different credit card, where security forces are less stringent (because they know if I am stealing, they have my face on the store cameras and my fingerprints on the reciept). I also learned that BankOne is currently (for the next two weeks) upgrading their systems... ALL OF THEM. So this means I CAN NOT check my account activity online, it means that I get hung up on when I call any automated line, and it means (apparently) that it is IMPOSSIBLE to lift a security hold. BankOne, take it from me. Security is all well and good. But security is supposed to make business SAFER. Not stop business altogether.



Though perhaps there is a lesson for the War on Terror, too.