BOULDER, Colo. — Megan Carlson is a teacher who loves good design.
"I love it. I teach high school art. It's a really great job," said Carlson, who teaches at New Vista High School in Boulder.
A few years ago, she bought a new Mac computer for her master's program and opened an Apple credit card to finance it. She liked the card immediately.
"It doesn't have a number on it, and it's like a beautiful object," she said.
But good design only goes so far.
In February, Carlson noticed her email was flooded with hundreds of spam messages, including confirmation of an online iPhone purchase using her Apple card. She immediately disputed the charge, but in April, the $800 fee was back on her card. She also received a letter from Apple dismissing her claim, leaving her on the hook for that cost.
"I really did think when I hit the dispute button and chatted with a woman, and they put it back on my account that I was taking care of it," she said.
The notice from Apple stated that someone had picked up the iPhone at the 29th Street store in Boulder and a photo ID was checked.
"They went to my store," Carlson said. "I was terrified, honestly, that someone has a fake ID with my name on it."
At that point, Carlson filed a police report, re-disputed the credit card charge with Apple and reached out to Contact Denver7 for help.
"I don't have the money. I'm already working a second job this summer," said Carlson.
The teacher told Contact Denver7 she couldn't afford to pay the charge or the interest during a long investigation.
"It was the end of the school year, and I was really just trying to end the year on a positive note with my students. And to be going back and forth between that and trying to sit on the phone with them for hours asking for someone to believe me, it just was exhausting. It is exhausting," Carlson said.
Contact Denver7 found that Carlson is not alone, according to similarcomplaintsand "Me Too" votes on Apple's customer support page.
After Contact Denver7 reached out to Apple, Carlson said she got a phone call from an Apple customer service representative telling her the charge would be removed from her account within 24 hours. The company has yet to confirm this to Contact Denver7.
"For the first time in this whole process, someone from Apple reached out to me," Carlson said. "I am so relieved and so, so grateful and kind of can't believe it took all of this to get to this point, but thank goodness for the Denver7 team and Jaclyn, in particular, for all of your help. I'm so glad that this is taken care of."
Editor's note: Denver7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need we can address or have a story idea for our consumer investigates team to pursue, please email us at contact7@denver7.com or or call (303) 832-7777. Find more Contact Denver7 stories here. You can also use the form below to request help from Jaclyn Allen and the Contact Denver7 Team.
