I wanna expand on that since I don't completely agree with it. It is difficult for newbies to enter the hosting market. A company thats been around for years, like us, has a lot less of a problem since we are known for our quality service. Most compete on price, we compete on quality, thus we gain new customers much quicker then our competition.
Sorry to see that happen, I've been using hostgator for 2 years now and have never had any problems with them (even when I closed 1 account, opened another, added SSL certificates, and a bunch of other account/billing modifications). Best thing to do is a chargeback, then it's up to them to PROVE to the banks that you didn't cancel your account.
Has the OP perhaps posted at webhostingtalk since their CEO is active there? I'd certainly like to see as many details as possible from both sides.