There’s some weirdness going on with Banana Republic’s store credit card website. Reader Bernard wrote us to say that a Banana Republic CSR told him that every 3-4 months Banana Republic’s credit card site would be “updated” and that everyone would have to re-register—including signing up for a new user name. Is this the case of an incompetent CSR, or is there something strange going on with Banana Republic’s credit card site? Has anyone else had trouble with it? Read Bernard’s email inside.

I went to bananarepublic.com to check and see if I had a balance on my card. The account that I’ve had for years wouldn’t let me access any of that information without “re-registering” my account.

I spent half an hour messing with the site. Each time I tried to re-register, it gave me the error that my account name was already in use. In frustration, I gave up and called the 800 number of the card. I explained the situation to the rep, who confirmed that every three to four months, the site would be updated and we would have to re-register. I told her I already tried that and it was telling me that my username was already in use. The rep confirmed that I would have to create a new user name.

I thought I misheard her and asked her to repeat. Yes, every three to four months, you will have to re-register your account and create a new username and password. I complained, stating that I didn’t mind changing my password every three to four months, but creating a whole new user name? Who would want to go through the hassle and use the site anymore??

I then asked for an email address to send a complaint. She didn’t have one. Only a snailmail address. I told her she was lying as this was the year 2007 and a website was sure to have an email address. To prove my point, I pulled up the BR site and found it immediately. I asked her if custserv@bananarepublic.com was the correct address. She told me to go ahead and write to that address. I thanked her for nothing and hung up. Instead of writing to that email address, I thought I’d write to you guys instead.

That’s just strange. —MEGHANN MARCO

(Photo: Matt Phillips)

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