Jul 10, 2013, 3:44 pm
Last edit by: aeneas3
Wiki to track data points for Variable load GC at various locations:
raghu455: Variable loads not ringing up at register on 7/9 at 3 south bay area locations.
topenga47: Sarasota FL OD is cash only at register on 7/10
townhurst: OD at Firestone in Norwalk, CA cash only and CC denied at register
fangtl: Register showing cash only message prompt at Sterling, VA OD.
Emma dog: atlanta OD (Cheshire bridge&piedmont) has a register lockout forcing cash only.
Mooper: Cash only @ OD in MT for variable, but $100/$200 Visa GCs ok w/ CC through Aug. UPDATE: Died in early Sept... cash only for all now.
aeneas3: cash only @OD in Buffalo, NY - popup at the register - 9/20
raghu455: Variable loads not ringing up at register on 7/9 at 3 south bay area locations.
topenga47: Sarasota FL OD is cash only at register on 7/10
townhurst: OD at Firestone in Norwalk, CA cash only and CC denied at register
fangtl: Register showing cash only message prompt at Sterling, VA OD.
Emma dog: atlanta OD (Cheshire bridge&piedmont) has a register lockout forcing cash only.
Mooper: Cash only @ OD in MT for variable, but $100/$200 Visa GCs ok w/ CC through Aug. UPDATE: Died in early Sept... cash only for all now.
aeneas3: cash only @OD in Buffalo, NY - popup at the register - 9/20
Office Depot accepting cash only for variable load gift cards
Jul 6, 2013, 8:24 pm
#151
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ORD, LAS
Programs: AA-EXP, BAEC Silver, Hyatt-Globalist, Hilton-gold, SPG-gold
Posts: 855
Called OD stores in Fort Lauderdale since I am headed there tomorrow. One of them said that they have them in stock. I am not sure that I will make it to the store, but if anyone is in the area you should go check it out.
Jul 6, 2013, 8:26 pm
#152
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 939
So having never really been in on the GC churn game, I decided to stop by our rural-ish OD today as I recently got in on the Chase Ink Plus deal. So this OD had the gc rack in a dark corner of the store, likely visited by about 1 person a month. Saw a bunch of My Vanilla Debit cards, silver-ish looking Visa gc's and some other kind. Didn't expect to find anything so wasn't really sure what I was looking for other than some kind of Visa gc. I went for the MVD as I thought these weren't sold anymore. Went for an initial $500 load but rang up in the system with tax (+$35). Manager came over and said the computer wouldn't let her take it off but mentioned nothing about checkout with CC. Any ideas as to why the system would ring it up that way? Oddly when it rang up the initial service charge (3.95) was not added at all, only the 500 + tax.
I'm willing to bet they would not have activated properly either.
Leave that one alone my friend.
Jul 6, 2013, 10:03 pm
#153
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 33
Stopped by my local OD to buy a couple more variable GCs. The manager asked me if I will be using a chase cc even before I had taken my wallet out. He then asked me if there was a chase promotion going on, since there were a *LOT* of people who purchased these GCs today with a chase CC 
. He let me purchase the GCs without any hassle though.
This particular OD has stocked out once and is about to stock out of the variable GCs a second time during this week. Safe to assume that a lot of PDX FT'ers are racing against time to rack in the UR points before Monday. I personally have reached my risk tolerance limit...good look to everyone else
. He let me purchase the GCs without any hassle though.This particular OD has stocked out once and is about to stock out of the variable GCs a second time during this week. Safe to assume that a lot of PDX FT'ers are racing against time to rack in the UR points before Monday. I personally have reached my risk tolerance limit...good look to everyone else
Jul 7, 2013, 12:58 am
#157
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: a hotel room, somewhere...
Posts: 962
that said, given the HUGE blow it would be to be blackballed by chase given their dominant position in airline and hotel cards, i don't think anyone wants to be the first! i've flown a bit too close to the sun at times and tempered my buys these last 3 days. that said, 6,000 is still probably aggressive. but, given my temptation was more like 6, or.... 10 times that amt.... i did show restraint. the manager calling chase and mentioning like 5 times that i was buying a 'ton' of gift card has me kinda spooked/nervous.
Jul 7, 2013, 7:14 am
#158
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: Mileage Plus, Rapid Rewards
Posts: 949
I wouldn't worry at the amount that you bought.
And to be fair it's not like Citi cancelled a ton of accounts for "perk abuse" either--more like they closed a handful of people down who were spending 20-30x ($160k plus) their credit limit in a single billing statement because it just seemed suspicious.
And to be fair it's not like Citi cancelled a ton of accounts for "perk abuse" either--more like they closed a handful of people down who were spending 20-30x ($160k plus) their credit limit in a single billing statement because it just seemed suspicious.
Jul 7, 2013, 9:09 am
#159
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SAN
Programs: Delta Gold. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Explorist.
Posts: 1,674
I haven't heard of anyone getting shut down for buying gift cards at OD with the ink cards, but Chase definitely has shut people down for perk abuse with other cards. And when they shut you down they cancel all of your cards and ban you from getting future Chase cards. I do think they would shut you down if you bought $30,000 of gift cards in one month. I try to spend no more than $3,000/month at office supply stores to stay under the radar.
Jul 7, 2013, 11:51 am
#161
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: MSP
Posts: 330
Office Depot will soon be accepting cash only for gift card purchases
Struck out today in MN. One store had VR and variable GCs but the VRs were declined by the register whenever any amount was entered and the mgr said GCs were cash only. Other store had nada.
Jul 7, 2013, 11:57 am
#162
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: CVG
Programs: AAdvantage, Delta Skymiles, CapOne Venture, Citi ThankYou
Posts: 486
Stopped yesterday at OD near CVG. Nothing on the rack. Manager came over to assist and I told him I was looking for $500 gift cards. He offered they are returning this week but would be cash only. He stated that cash only was a fraud requirement as they'd had fraud losses on the cards due to the use of stolen cards. He went on to speculate that the cards were being used to launder money.
Both the cash only and fraud statements echo prior reports. Seems they got a pretty thorough memo on the subject. If POS blocked it may be much ado about nothing.
Both the cash only and fraud statements echo prior reports. Seems they got a pretty thorough memo on the subject. If POS blocked it may be much ado about nothing.
Jul 7, 2013, 12:05 pm
#163
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 112
Stopped yesterday at OD near CVG. Nothing on the rack. Manager came over to assist and I told him I was looking for $500 gift cards. He offered they are returning this week but would be cash only. He stated that cash only was a fraud requirement as they'd had fraud losses on the cards due to the use of stolen cards. He went on to speculate that the cards were being used to launder money.
Both the cash only and fraud statements echo prior reports. Seems they got a pretty thorough memo on the subject. If POS blocked it may be much ado about nothing.
Both the cash only and fraud statements echo prior reports. Seems they got a pretty thorough memo on the subject. If POS blocked it may be much ado about nothing.
Jul 7, 2013, 12:16 pm
#164
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: MR,UR, UA, BA, AA, Hotels
Posts: 581
I wish they'd be smarter about this, say like other stores that simply have a daily limit to limit exposure.
Jul 7, 2013, 12:21 pm
#165
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
. "Hey, I would have used my own CC but you said cash only!"Yeah, it won't stop the money launderers but it would stop people stealing CCs and trying to buy GCs or things like that. Obviously they feel they are worth carrying for cash only, for whatever reason.