I tried to log on to my credit card account today, and it refused to let me log in, saying I had to call the 1-800 number. When I spoke with the customer service rep, she told me that my credit card number was among those exposed by a vendor.
The vendor? TJX, the parent company to Marshall's, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and Bob's Stores.
I had heard about the initial issue - they had been hacked in December 2006 - it's been called "the world's largest data breach". I assumed that since I hadn't heard anything, that I wasn't affected. (Read their February press release here)
Well, it turns out that even that wasn't a complete listing. They've found even more accounts that were at risk, and mine was apparently included.
The 1-800 number for TJX doesn't seem equipped to answer questions about this, either, or really, provide any help. I called, got poor customer service, and askedc for a supervisor. The answer was "they're on break for an hour or two". When I said "this seems like a bad day to take a two hour lunch break" they responded "Well, they are a supervisor, they can do that".
Way to make the customer feel unimportant!
They've lost me as a customer, regardless of how they fix this in the future.
For the record, MasterCard handled this properly, issuing me a new card as soon as they found out my card had been exposed.
