Top gadget shop Newegg.com is holding a woman's account hostage until she gets her brother to reverse a chargeback. From The Consumerist:

When she tried to place an order using her own name and credit card number, but with the same shipping address as her brother, her account was suspended. Jenn figured she could resolve the problem with a conversation or two with Newegg's customer service department, but as you'll see from the transcript below, Newegg's CSR blatantly says Jenn's account won't be approved until her brother reverses his chargeback.

Who needs a collection agency when you can put the screw on family members? It even told her his account number and other personal details when she contacted them. The plot thickened, however, when she filed a Better Business Bureau complaint. Newegg blew it off—a stunning act for an online retailer—now asserting that her address is blacklisted in perpetuity.

Perhaps Newegg suspected a scam was afoot, given the same last name and the same address. But what kind of fraudster files reports with the BB? If the address had been blacklisted years earlier, as Newegg claimed, how was her brother able to order something to later issue a chargeback on?

It's particularly interesting because of Newegg's halo of propriety: it built a reputation on not behaving like other thin-marging online catalog stores. It's been my main gadget-supplier for years. Is there a word for when a retailer Jumps the Shark? Overstocked, perhaps?

Newegg.com Holds Woman's Account Hostage Until She Gets Her Brother To Reverse Chargeback [Consumerist]