Illustration: Harry Campbell

After buying my daughter an Archos 605 Wi-Fi portable video player online, I tried to purchase the $29.99 Web browser required to access Internet content. In two attempts to enter my debit card's three-digit security code, I got an error message, so I finally purchased the browser using a different debit card from the same bank. A few days later, I saw what looked like two $29.99 charges on the first card and $43.10 on the second card, all from Archos. When I called the company to complain, a customer service rep promised refunds for the extra charges (and explained that the higher price on the second card was because I had wandered to Archos's British site and had been billed in euros). When the refunds didn't materialize after four days, I called my bank to dispute the extra charges. The next day I saw that both $29.99 charges and the $43.10 charge had been refunded--but another $43.10 Archos charge appeared on the second card. When I contacted Archos again, the rep said Archos did not give refunds for add-ons. Can you help straighten this out?

Chris Robertson, Grandfield, Oklahoma

OYS Responds: We contacted Archos, and the company's new Web store manager sent Robertson a check for the difference between the correct price and the remaining $43.10 debit. Apparently, part of the confusion stemmed from the fact that two of the apparent charges weren't charges at all. Robertson inadvertently entered an incorrect security code for the first card, and the bank put holds on both transactions. The holds took a few days to clear, but were not actual charges.