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Some of us did and YES, this happened to us:

If you shopped at Macy’s on the Saturday before Christmas – one of the season’s busiest shopping days – and paid with a debit card, carefully check your bank statement because a computer glitch may have caused your account to be debited twice.

Macy’s Inc. spokesman Ed Smith said a “very small number” of customers were affected, but he didn’t know exact figures.

“Macy’s had a system issue on Saturday, Dec. 20, from 1 to 2:45 p.m. at stores in Macy’s Central and East divisions, which may have caused multiple debits to some customers’ checking accounts,” he said. “The problem has been identified and corrected.”

Macy’s Central division, which includes Texas, has 236 stores in 18 states in the South and Midwest. The East division operates 253 stores in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

Smith said Macy’s “has communicated with customers’ banks. The banks will credit customers’ checking accounts.”

The glitch affected only debit cards and not credit cards, Smith said.

Smith said Macy’s needs the bank statements to verify that the computer system glitch caused the bank accounts to be overdrawn.

“We will have the charges removed,” he said.

Consumers affected by the glitch should send a fax of their bank statements to 513-573-2433 and label it “Attention: Third Party Credit.”

Consumers should closely monitor their bank accounts to ensure that other checks they’ve written didn’t bounce, said attorney Mary Spector, who teaches consumer law at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law.

“Monitor the checks and recipients of any checks or other payments that they might have paid in the interim to make sure that there are no problems caused by checks and debits attempted to be made in the period before Macy’s discovered the problem,” she said.

Editor’s Note:

Interesting story. I was at the NorthPark location that Saturday buying a gift and used my debit card. It was scanned, I entered my pin, waited a couple minutes and was told to rescan it as they would run it as a credit card. When I checked my online account later, BOTH transactions had posted and I promptly called Macy’s. The woman who identified herself as the manager overseeing the men’s fragrance section said for me to call back on Tuesday if both transactions had indeed gone through and she would hand process my refund. I called back last Tuesday, left her all the info and there’s been no follow up.

I would NOT fax my banking information to some unknown 3rd party. I called my bank and have already filled out the dispute claim and MY bank will deal with it since obviously even Macy’s upper management can’t even return a phone call to address this situation.

The Dallas Museum of Art is offering discounts for the exhibition “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs.”

The special pricing for off-peak times, as well as family discounts and holiday packages, is “a response to economic conditions”.

Discounts include:

•The Holiday Family 4-Pack offers savings of more than $30: two adult tickets and two youth tickets for $56 Mondays through Thursdays and $76 Fridays through Sundays. The offer, which expires Jan. 18, is limited to four tickets.

•The New Year’s Day Discount offers $10 off adult admission. Tickets can be booked online at Ticketmaster.com by using the promotional code NEWYEARS, or buy them at the box office.

•See the show in the morning (8, 8:30 or 9 a.m.) today or Wednesday and get $10 off an adult ticket, which normally sells for $17.50.

See the exhibition in the afternoon (1 p.m. to closing) today or Wednesday for $5 less than the regular price of $22.50. The offer is limited to eight tickets.

•Active-duty members of the military can purchase adult tickets at the box office for $15 apiece when a valid military identification is presented. Limit four tickets per military ID. The offer is good Mondays through Thursdays and expires May 17.

For further information: 214-922-1200 or www.kingtutoffers.com.

That daring dancing boy wonder, Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and co-owner of the Landmark Theaters cinema chain, has acquired a 9.4 percent stake in Carmike Cinemas Inc., according to an SEC filing today.

In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Cuban reported buying 1.2 million Carmike shares on the open market for roughly $2.8 million of his own funds. According to the filing, Cuban has been acquiring the shares through his personal investment account since mid-October.

If you want to jump on this bandwagon, fire up your E*Trade account and the stock symbol is CKEC.

Carmike has 252 theaters in 36 states, most of which are equipped for digital projection.

In Monday’s SEC filing, Cuban said he acquired his stake in Columbus, Ga.-based Carmike for investment purposes. He reserved his right to discuss the company’s performance and strategic direction with Carmike’s stockholders, officers or directors.

Cuban co-owns movie theater chain Landmark Theatres with Todd Wagner, who was his co-founder of the pioneering online audio streamer Audionet. The service, later named Broadcast.com, was sold by Cuban and Wagner to Yahoo! in 1999.

The Wagner/Cuban Cos. also include distribution company Magnolia Pictures, production company 2929 Productions, and high definition cable networks HDNet and HDNet Movies.

Carmike shares fell 4 cents to $1.99 in morning trading. The stock has traded between $1.37 and $11.37 during the past 52 weeks.

In a sad state of affairs, the Dallas Cowboys got bitch slapped by the Philadelphia Eagles and any possible shred of hope at making it to the Super Bowl has been effectively quashed.

After a disappointing loss to the Eagles, Jessica Simpson’s unfortunate boyfriend, Tony Romo, collapsed in the shower after the game on Sunday.

The quarterback did not live up to expectations in the Cowboys’ game against the Eagles, with Romo receiving a triple sacking. We guess it was a little much, because he fell in the locker room!

Medical staff rushed to his aid, but he ended up walking out on his own, though he required some assistance leaving the podium at the following media conference.

No word yet on how Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones‘ surgically modified facial features held up during the ensuing melt down.

So what gives? And of course, many are already blaming Jessica for this latest fiasco.

Financially pressed homeowners unhappy with their insurance rates will find that while there are few bargains in the Dallas area, the premiums charged in their neighborhoods can vary widely depending on the company and the type of policy being sold.

And now, consumers can shop for a better rate for both homeowners and auto insurance at a new state Web site, www.helpinsure.com. The site, run by the state Department of Insurance, offers a breakdown of premiums for areas around the state.

Rate comparisons recently compiled by the department showed that the cost of homeowner policies can differ by hundreds of dollars a year for houses of similar value in the same ZIP code.

For example, sample rates filed with the state by the 27 largest home insurance companies in Texas indicated that policies on a typical $150,000 home in Dallas County ranged from $704 to more than $2,200. Those rates were for a 10-year-old brick home where the owner had an average credit rating and no insurance claims for five years.

Consumer groups contend the rates are too high, noting that Texas has had the highest homeowner rates in the nation for several years. Insurance industry representatives said the wide range of rates and products available to homeowners indicates that the current market is good for both insurers and consumers.

Legislature’s plans

The debate comes as the Legislature prepares to take a hard look at regulation of the insurance industry next year. Insurers can now increase rates at any time by notifying the Insurance Department – which can then reject the changes if they’re deemed excessive.

Allen homeowner Leonard Strub said he doesn’t buy the industry’s argument that the current file-and-use system for insurance rates has stabilized or lowered rates for most homeowners.

“I haven’t seen it,” he said, noting that the premium on his 2,100-square-foot brick-veneer home increased by nearly $200 this year to about $1,400. And that premium is based on a higher deductible, he noted.

“My company’s charging me more, and I’m getting less coverage,” he said of his policy with Travelers, a company that is one of the five largest in the state.

Mr. Strub, a retiree who has filed no claims with his insurer over the last five years, said he believes the regulatory system is unfair to homeowners and should be overhauled by the next Legislature. “It doesn’t seem like anyone now is holding the line against higher premiums,” he added.

Industry spokesman Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, said the rate comparisons on the Insurance Department’s Web site offer strong evidence that the system – approved as part of an insurance reform law in 2003 – is working.

“Rates can vary dramatically,” he said. “It pays for people to shop around for insurance even if they are not unhappy with rates they are paying.”

6 ZIP codes

Mr. Johns said many consumers are not taking advantage of the competition for business among insurers.

“Too many people don’t treat buying insurance the same way as buying a car,” he said. “In both cases, if you shop around, you can usually save money.”

He also contended that putting “artificial controls” on the industry, such as requiring prior state approval for all rate hikes, would backfire by removing the incentive for companies to offer competitive prices. “Consumers will end up paying higher premiums and have fewer choices of insurance products,” he said.

A review of rates in six ZIP codes around Dallas County found that the state’s three largest insurers – Allstate, Farmers and State Farm – charge close to the average. Those three companies hold 58 percent of the homeowners market in Texas.

In all six areas – in North Dallas, South Dallas, Duncanville, Garland, Irving and Richardson – Allstate had the same basic rate for a $150,000 home, $1,151. State Farm’s rates were $1,255 in four of the ZIP codes and at least $100 more in the other two.

Farmers had the biggest variation, from a low of $1,184 in four areas to a high of $1,568 in South Dallas. That’s 32 percent extra.

Insurers are generally supposed to keep the rate variations in a county to no more than 15 percent. If they have higher variations, they must justify the difference to state insurance regulators.

Alex Winslow of Texas Watch, a consumer group, said one of the restrictions his organization will be seeking next year is to strictly limit rate differences within a county to 15 percent for both homeowners and auto insurance.

“We need a firm limit so we can keep the rate variations in check,” said Mr. Winslow, adding that differences within counties are most pronounced in auto insurance.

In 2007, the industry marked its fifth straight year of beating a standard benchmark for reasonable profits, financial reports compiled by the state indicate. Companies paid out 36.5 percent of premiums to cover property losses.

Mark Hanna of the Insurance Council of Texas, an industry group, said studies have shown that during those profitable years, most rates held steady or went down.

“Insurers want to be free to run their businesses and price their products accordingly,” he said. “That’s why homeowners are now seeing a variety of prices for insurance.”

FACTORS IN SETTING PREMIUMS

Claims history: The fewer claims a homeowner has had, the less he or she pays for insurance. Insurers typically look at the claims history for a home over the previous five years.

Credit rating: Studies have shown that people with a good credit history tend to file fewer insurance claims. Insurers typically rely on credit scores compiled by one or more of the nation’s three main credit-reporting agencies.

Home maintenance: Good maintenance practices can prevent unnecessary and costly claims. Good maintenance – such as early detection of water leaks – is reflected in the frequency of claims.

Home construction: Brick and masonry homes, which are more resistant to fire, usually cost less to insure than wood homes. Other construction factors also are important, such as the cost of building materials and labor in a given area.

Location of the home: If a home is in an area that is more susceptible to natural disasters, such as hurricanes or hail storms, the premiums paid will be greater. Similarly, homeowners in high-crime areas typically pay more.

SOURCE: USAA Educational Foundation

Need to find out when the jolly Saint Nick is going to be visiting you tonite?

Keep track of his progress here with NORAD’s Santa Tracker!

When Sandy Hampton won a shopping spree at J.C. Penny, she knew exactly how she was going to spend it. She decided to give most of it away to U.S. troops overseas and to needy families at home.

After receiving a $5,000 gift card from the department store chain Hampton said, “It’s such a blessing to be able to receive a gift like that and give it back.”

Hampton’s caring for the troops started in 2003, when her brother-in-law’s military unit was shipped to Iraq. She started sending care packages full of candy and snacks. Eventually the effort grew, with volunteers supporting five military units with regular shipments.

But in tough economic times, this year’s donations were running low, and Hampton turned to an essay contest sponsored by J.C. Penny’s, through NBC 5. She wrote about her efforts to help the troops and explained she wanted to spend some money on them.

She’s used $4,000 of the money to send them bigger and better care packages this winter, and then turned the rest of the money to helping some needy families in the DFW area, leaving just a few hundred dollars for her own family this Christmas.

“She’s not just doing one thing, Frisco J.C. Penny store manager Mario Sciarra said, she’s trying to divvy it up and give back in so many places, which is absolutely amazing.”