Dear ABC News Fixer: Sensitive Info Revealed on Totsy.com?
Dear Mara: Totsy's new owners say it won't happen again…
July 16, 2013 — -- Dear ABC News Fixer: I was using the mobile version of Totsy.com to do some shopping when I discovered what seems to be a security breach.
I added three items to my cart. After the third item, the page refreshed and brought up another user's account information.
I immediately called Totsy. The first representative barely reacted. She told me she would "elevate my call to the IT department." She put me on hold for four minutes, then hung up.
I called again, and a second rep declined to notify the third party whose sensitive information I had unwittingly become privy to. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and the rep informed me that her supervisor went home early. Once again, I was told my call would be elevated to the IT department -- but this time, the employee didn't even bother to put me on hold. She just hung up on me.
I ended up losing my transaction because I took the time to call about the security breach. They said no items were in my cart and they couldn't help me process an order unless I had items. Well, I did have them -- until I got rerouted to another user's account!
So not only did I lose my order, Totsy doesn't care that they are giving me access to sensitive third party information. Please help me resolve this.
- Mara Mason, Phoenix, Ariz.
Dear Mara: You told us that when you shopped on this "flash sale" site for fancy kids' products, another customer's name, email address and part of their credit card number popped up. You said the same thing happened one more time shortly after you wrote this letter. And then there were the seemingly phone-challenged customer service reps.
It turns out that around the same time, Totsy was getting tipsy, in a financial sense. First, it filed notice with the State of New York in May that it would need to lay off all 83 of its employees for "economic" reasons. In June, the business was purchased by Modnique.com.
We reached out to Modnique with your concerns, and Ivka Adam, VP of marketing, said the privacy breach you encountered won't happen again because Modnique uses a different platform. She said that as part of the acquisition, Modnique got Totsy's customer files but no credit card information or actual passwords.
Adam is giving you a $20 store credit to use on the site, to make up for your emptied shopping cart at Totsy.
As for other former Totsy customers, Adam said Modnique will honor all store credits and Totsy returns.
- The ABC News Fixer
Got a consumer problem? The ABC News Fixer may be able to help. Click here to submit your problem online. Letters are edited for length and clarity.
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