More Credit Card Woe

Hello Readers and thanks for coming down to the police station yesterday to bail me out. Much appreciated.

Thinking a little bit more about my recent credit card fiasco and those fools collectively known as the HSBC. They rather considerately elected to post me a nice letter stating that their competent fraud prevention squad detected suspicious activities and blocked my credit card. Then I thought...hang on a minute, is this the same incident that I reported to them only 24 hours earlier? Yes...now I remember because at the time it was extremely inconvenient, embarrassing, frustrating and annoying. Being a curious type of person (but not bi-curious) I did some further research into this incident of fraud. I found that DABS.com have increased the sucurity on their website so high that just logging in is likey to flag you as an active fraudster.

So, if you have a DABS.com account (not recommended) and you enter you credit card details into their database (not recommended) you are at risk of the same thing happening to you. I'm advising you to remove your card details from their website and other similar websites. If your card expires you will not be able to log in to update the details. Instead your attempt to do so will result in your credit card being blocked by your bank or card provider. I think that this type of high security is rather excessive. How do they know that I was not logging in to update or change my credit card details or wanted to add a new card?

Also be aware that DABS.com have been bought by BT and now trade as BT Shop.

Somehow, I can turn the most simple task into a gigantic life threatening disaster. It is little wonder that I am an anxious and nervous wreck, spending my time writing useless posts to a blog that nobody reads. My dream of becoming rich, famous and successful is rapidly starting to fade. I will not be plucked from obscurity and launched into the limelight as the funny man from the internet with the hilarious eyebrows. I won't appear on post watershed scripted quiz shows with other fat middle aged men. There will never be an opportunity for people to be slightly disappointed that Keith Doughnut was not as funny as they thought he was going to be. If only they had seen the mobile phone footage of me trapped in the phone box (shown on BBC local news in the summer).

Keith Doughnut

Knowing things about other things!

HSBC Blocked My Credit Card

Hello Readers and thanks for piling round at short notice!

As my title suggests the HSBC blocked my credit card as part of their fraud prevention. I had not used my card for an entire week or more. I used it to buy a new bike, and yes it did finally arrive. So I decided to do my Christmas shopping on-line and also buy a new computer because mine is 6 years old, sounds like a tractor and is held together with chewing gum and gaffer tape. My monitor descends into a world of it's own that consists of only blackness seperated by a long central white line. I hate shopping, even on the internet. It just seems wrong to be careful with money all year and then suddenly buy 10 tonnes of absolute junk. The HSBC appear to share my point of view and they soon sprang into action.

The first item on my list was a laptop computer for the missus/girlfriend/partner (whatever you would like to call her). This is a birthday and christmas present all rolled into one, I'm not usually this extravagant! She had found the make and model of her choice and navigated to DABS website. I liked DABS and have been a customer for as long as I can remember. Sadly, I was unable to get into the website on this occasion. I was quite annoyed, but didn't have time to mess about and just bought the laptop from another website for the exact same price. Next stop Amazon, where I have also been a long term customer. Both of these websites keep your card details on record. I needed a lot of equipment for the new laptop including a decent wireless modem (£70.00) and some software (£58.00), a USB flash memory drive and a load of other stuff costing in fair amount in total. Placed the order and moved on to another website.

Later when checking my email discovered that my transaction for Amazon had failed. This was a first so I checked that my details were correct and tried again. Same thing happened. My card was refused on other websites later in the day. This was a real pain in the bottom on a day that I had decided to finally knuckle down and buy some stuff. Luckily I had another card that did work and I re-ordered all the Amazon items from another retailer. (Overclockers)

Later I sent a message to my bank on-line and they said that they had blocked my card. I was livid. I had to ring their fraud investigation team. The interesting point to note is that the HSBC knew that I had been trying to log into DABS website (even though I never logged in). The HSBC put a block on my card and this prevented me even logging in. Did you know that they can do this? That is the last time I use DABS website.

I am also annoyed that my card has been flagged when being used on sites that I am registered with, using the correct card details and verification protocols set out by Visa. In the end I managed to make my purchases but both Dabs and Amazon have lost out here. Particularly Dabs because they will never see the colour of my money again. Amazon...might, they didn't lock me out of the website.

The HSBC say you can now use your card. I don't want to. When I make a transaction I want it to go through without any fuss, bother or trouble. I have no confidence in their credit card and will never use it again.

Paid the balance and chopped up the card.

There is a moral to this story I think, although nobody is likely to read it!

Keith Doughnut
Struggling along...

I Know Nothing About SEO

Hello Readers and thanks for meeting me here in this abandoned car park. Did you bring the...oh hang on...your not the...

So, I write like a man who holds his pencil with his left nostril, so what! Now, quite obviously I am a man who knows absolutely nothing about SEO. Join the club? It stands for Search Engine Optimization or to put it another way how to get on top. You see there are some people who spend a lot of time thinking about ranking. No...you misheard me, I said RANKING, it is how Google sorts the wheat from the chaff, the bright from the dim, the righteous from the rotters. Sadly it has yet to sort the spammers from the bloggers but they are probably working on it as we speak.

I have dabbled in SEO once or twice, not with this blog, you must be joking. I have other websites that are much more ambitious than this pile of old trousers. I have social anxiety, so it makes sense that I want to be writer. I write things...OH OH OH that's it! I remember what this post is meant to be about...article directories.

Do you remember a few months back (I know, its the medication never mind just nod and read on) when Google said that the internet was a cesspool? I thought yes it is, and it's because all the good writers who should be writing brilliant articles for their own websites are instead churning out 100's of keyword stuffed mumbo jumbo for free article directories instead.

I've just read that article directories are going to be down graded by Google in future so this might see an end to this ridiculous practice. It's about time...

I'm sick and tired of the free article directory SEO talk that litters the entire internet. I have no backlinks, I have no pagerank and I have no visitors and I really could not care less. Stop trying to milk the internet like a giant udder into your gaping mouths.

Keith Doughnut
I've accidentally strayed into an area where I simply do not belong...

My Bicycle Debacle Continues...

Hello Readers and thanks for saving my bacon last night. I'm in too much of rage to go into further details please allow me to fill you in (so to speak).

It really should not be too difficult to purchase a bicycle these days. I have a wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket...either that or one of my gonads is on fire! I revoke my previous comments about on-line bicycle retailers. Sorry about that Winstanley bikes! Maybe I should not have taken my frustration out on these people. I suppose that it is not entirely their fault that a country we import all our products from over seas via container ships. When you see "out of stock" on a webpage that is the image that should enter your mind. A container ship in the middle of the sea, somewhere deep within, the product of your dreams is hidden. Whilst we are on or off the subject those guys who hang out in a disused workshop behind wigan train station did eventually respond to my emails.

My local bike shop (LBS) has let me down. I feel angry and anxious about this matter. Cyclists are contantly reminded by internet discussion forums to support their local bike shops, but what happens if your local bike shop is run by an ecentric buffoon with jellied eels for brains? I would dearly love to post the name of this chap and his fruitless bike shop...but I will resist the temptation. First they told me that the bike I wanted was out of stock, but they would ring the supplier...and it would definately arrive by the 7th. I rang to confirm that this was still the case, but hold on it was now in stock, oh hang on that is a different bicycle altogether, sorry about that! It will not arrive until the 12th. They don't deliver though so I'm told to call at the shop to collect the bike. Also they refused to discuss methods of payment which left me dazed, confused and indifferent. On the 11th, I felt pessemistic about the arrival of this bicycle and gave the shop a quick ring just to make absolutely sure they had actually taken order of the product. Low and behold, it had not arrived. I wanted to discuss the matter, but they were too busy with christmas orders and a shop bustling with customers. They said that they would call me back first thing in the morning! I felt shattered...I've drooled about getting my hands on that particular bike for months...my hopes had been raised and then dashed.

I'm not really sure what criteria is required to define first thing in the morning, but I've done a full mornings work and had my lunch and nobody from the friendly local bike shop has called. I took this matter into my own hands and wrang the manufacturer of the bikes. They gave me the name of a reputable online retailer and I ordered a bike online later the same day. It was over £20.00 cheaper than my local bike shop with free delivery. I just have to wait and see if it actually arrives this time...let hope so because this is the third time I've ordered this item.

All this just ot buy a bicycle...I'm a nervous wreck!

Keith Doughnut

Latest update: my order has changed from pending to processing. That is a very exciting development for an impatient geek like myself.