Risk of Loss in MS [Consolidated]
Sep 10, 2013, 1:26 pm
#61
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Boston
Programs: UA, AA, USairways, HH, Marriott
Posts: 57
You should always check that the cards you left with matched the activated ones on the receipt, especially so if there has been a switch. You should get your money back since you have the receipt. Someone posted on another thread that CVS refunded the money after he lost his VR and he brought them the receipt.
The other possibility is that the cashier purposefully switched the cards and then withdrew the money already. That is unlikely, but it is possible. I don't know how that would play out, but you will still most likely get a refund.
Bottom line is people need to be more careful. If people keep losing VRs and hassling CVS, they might decide that it is not worth it to sell them anymore. And I'm sure somebody will try to do a chargeback on their credit cards if they can't get a refund somehow.
The other possibility is that the cashier purposefully switched the cards and then withdrew the money already. That is unlikely, but it is possible. I don't know how that would play out, but you will still most likely get a refund.
Bottom line is people need to be more careful. If people keep losing VRs and hassling CVS, they might decide that it is not worth it to sell them anymore. And I'm sure somebody will try to do a chargeback on their credit cards if they can't get a refund somehow.
I don't think that cashier did that on purpose. I did transactions with her several times. Nothing wrong before. I think it is also too risky for her to do that. The receipt has her name and there is a in-store video near the counter. Anyway, I just like a quick and easy end.
Sep 10, 2013, 2:36 pm
#62
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 939
I don't think that cashier did that on purpose. I did transactions with her several times. Nothing wrong before. I think it is also too risky for her to do that. The receipt has her name and there is a in-store video near the counter. Anyway, I just like a quick and easy end.
Its tough keeping track of these cards and receipts especially when you you are buying a dozen at a time but we must stay vigilant. Keep your eyes on the card dealer's hands. Ask to keep any card that doesn't go through if there is an error (instead of throwing them away). Should not be a problem if you are a regular plus the card has no value if unactivated.
Sep 10, 2013, 11:21 pm
#64
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 194
You should always check that the cards you left with matched the activated ones on the receipt, especially so if there has been a switch. You should get your money back since you have the receipt. Someone posted on another thread that CVS refunded the money after he lost his VR and he brought them the receipt.
The other possibility is that the cashier purposefully switched the cards and then withdrew the money already. That is unlikely, but it is possible. I don't know how that would play out, but you will still most likely get a refund. I hope you remember what the cashier looks like in case you need to provide a description.
Bottom line is people need to be more careful. If people keep losing VRs and hassling CVS, they might decide that it is not worth it to sell them anymore. And I'm sure somebody will try to do a chargeback on their credit cards if they can't get a refund somehow, which can be bad for everybody involved.
The other possibility is that the cashier purposefully switched the cards and then withdrew the money already. That is unlikely, but it is possible. I don't know how that would play out, but you will still most likely get a refund. I hope you remember what the cashier looks like in case you need to provide a description.
Bottom line is people need to be more careful. If people keep losing VRs and hassling CVS, they might decide that it is not worth it to sell them anymore. And I'm sure somebody will try to do a chargeback on their credit cards if they can't get a refund somehow, which can be bad for everybody involved.
Sep 11, 2013, 12:09 pm
#65
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Boston
Programs: UA, AA, USairways, HH, Marriott
Posts: 57
I just visited my local CVS again. The manager told me they were able to see the transaction. So they have sent a request to the Incomm to deactivate the missing card. Once that was confirmed, the credit will go "back to the store". The whole process may take about a week. So the manager will call me when the credit is "back to the store" and I will need to swipe the same credit card to get the refund. A little hassle but at least no worry.
I will update again after a week once everything is done. Thank you for your attention.
Sep 11, 2013, 1:46 pm
#66
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Boston
Programs: UA, AA, USairways, HH, Marriott
Posts: 57
Thanks for all the responds! I'm particularly glad to see how Wagon's case ended. I guess mine will end the same.
I just visited my local CVS again. The manager told me they were able to see the transaction. So they have sent a request to the Incomm to deactivate the missing card. Once that was confirmed, the credit will go "back to the store". The whole process may take about a week. So the manager will call me when the credit is "back to the store" and I will need to swipe the same credit card to get the refund. A little hassle but at least no worry.
I will update again after a week once everything is done. Thank you for your attention.
I just visited my local CVS again. The manager told me they were able to see the transaction. So they have sent a request to the Incomm to deactivate the missing card. Once that was confirmed, the credit will go "back to the store". The whole process may take about a week. So the manager will call me when the credit is "back to the store" and I will need to swipe the same credit card to get the refund. A little hassle but at least no worry.
I will update again after a week once everything is done. Thank you for your attention.
I just received a call from my local CVS manager. he told me that everything is set. He wants me to stop by and pick up another VR card. Look like it didn't take Incomm and CVS long to solve this (wonder if it helps that I reported the issue to both so they can figure out why quickly). It overall took me three days. Thanks all for your inputs suth that I am not in a panic during the three days.
Oct 17, 2013, 2:54 pm
#67
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 97
Need Help! lost my MC GC
Hey everyone,
I know this must been posted somewhere. But I just want to get the answer asap since anyone who can cash the GC out easily.
I bought a MGC at staple yesterday and I registered it. Some how I lost the physical card. Is there anyway to get the $100 in there? or have them mail a new one to me?
Thanks for the help
I know this must been posted somewhere. But I just want to get the answer asap since anyone who can cash the GC out easily.
I bought a MGC at staple yesterday and I registered it. Some how I lost the physical card. Is there anyway to get the $100 in there? or have them mail a new one to me?
Thanks for the help
Oct 17, 2013, 3:28 pm
#68
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHL
Programs: UA, DL, AA, ANA
Posts: 226
Hey everyone,
I know this must been posted somewhere. But I just want to get the answer asap since anyone who can cash the GC out easily.
I bought a MGC at staple yesterday and I registered it. Some how I lost the physical card. Is there anyway to get the $100 in there? or have them mail a new one to me?
Thanks for the help
I know this must been posted somewhere. But I just want to get the answer asap since anyone who can cash the GC out easily.
I bought a MGC at staple yesterday and I registered it. Some how I lost the physical card. Is there anyway to get the $100 in there? or have them mail a new one to me?
Thanks for the help
866-952-5633
Nov 7, 2013, 7:16 am
#70
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 15
2+ year lurker … and embarrassingly my first post is about losing a VR card. I really felt like I should add another data point – just in case it encourages even one person to not give up after doing the same. (Yeah, we all know you should load the cards immediately, but we also all make mistakes, even amazingly stupid ones.)
Basically what I learned from my experience is that (1) you can eventually get your money back – I did – but (2) it may take numerous calls and many “Nos” before you get there. Just be persistent.
I was told by several CSR reps on the Vanilla side that the cards are treated like cash, and there’s absolutely nothing they can do to help – no surprise there. I asked to speak to a supervisor after hearing this a few times and apparently got lucky, because she recited the same thing but then said she’d try to help me out because of how much money I’d lost ($500). I also did not have my receipt (yeah, really smart, right? In my defense - barely - I thought I’d successfully loaded the card and then threw it out, so the other – yes, obvious – lesson I learned is to always check my Bluebird balance to ensure the money actually showed up). The supervisor from VR told me to visit the CVS and get an electronic journal, which I was able to do by visiting the store at which I'd purchased the card and giving them an estimate of the time and amount of the purchase. I emailed this in to VR, called to confirm receipt, and was told to wait for a resolution.
The next day I got a call from someone telling me they were unable to do anything – the cards are treated like cash. I called back and tried to get to the original supervisor w/ whom I’d been speaking, but she was going to be out until the following week. I spoke with another supervisor who again told me there was absolutely nothing he could do. The next day, I called again (I’d just been furloughed from my job, so the relative value of that $500 card quickly shot up), got another supervisor, and this guy seemed interested in helping. It took him about a minute to pull up whatever he needed on his end and then load the $500 back onto my Bluebird. Apparently the only thing they needed in order to do this was the electronic journal (and obviously my BB #).
So the point is they are able to help you out; the challenge is just finding someone who is willing to do so. I can attest to the fact that at least 2 such people exist in the VR CS department.
As someone already reported, CVS can open an investigation. I started this process but was able to resolve things on the VR side before ever hearing back from CVS. I’d made the purchase with my rewards card, so they were able to quickly pull it up; I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t used the extracare card. I guess I did have the electronic journal, so presumably they’d be able to find it with the info. on that. Anyway, from the earlier comment, it sounds like going through CVS may be the best way to go, although my experience obviously demonstrates that it’s also possible to get a resolution from the Vanilla people.
Basically what I learned from my experience is that (1) you can eventually get your money back – I did – but (2) it may take numerous calls and many “Nos” before you get there. Just be persistent.
I was told by several CSR reps on the Vanilla side that the cards are treated like cash, and there’s absolutely nothing they can do to help – no surprise there. I asked to speak to a supervisor after hearing this a few times and apparently got lucky, because she recited the same thing but then said she’d try to help me out because of how much money I’d lost ($500). I also did not have my receipt (yeah, really smart, right? In my defense - barely - I thought I’d successfully loaded the card and then threw it out, so the other – yes, obvious – lesson I learned is to always check my Bluebird balance to ensure the money actually showed up). The supervisor from VR told me to visit the CVS and get an electronic journal, which I was able to do by visiting the store at which I'd purchased the card and giving them an estimate of the time and amount of the purchase. I emailed this in to VR, called to confirm receipt, and was told to wait for a resolution.
The next day I got a call from someone telling me they were unable to do anything – the cards are treated like cash. I called back and tried to get to the original supervisor w/ whom I’d been speaking, but she was going to be out until the following week. I spoke with another supervisor who again told me there was absolutely nothing he could do. The next day, I called again (I’d just been furloughed from my job, so the relative value of that $500 card quickly shot up), got another supervisor, and this guy seemed interested in helping. It took him about a minute to pull up whatever he needed on his end and then load the $500 back onto my Bluebird. Apparently the only thing they needed in order to do this was the electronic journal (and obviously my BB #).
So the point is they are able to help you out; the challenge is just finding someone who is willing to do so. I can attest to the fact that at least 2 such people exist in the VR CS department.
As someone already reported, CVS can open an investigation. I started this process but was able to resolve things on the VR side before ever hearing back from CVS. I’d made the purchase with my rewards card, so they were able to quickly pull it up; I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t used the extracare card. I guess I did have the electronic journal, so presumably they’d be able to find it with the info. on that. Anyway, from the earlier comment, it sounds like going through CVS may be the best way to go, although my experience obviously demonstrates that it’s also possible to get a resolution from the Vanilla people.
Nov 7, 2013, 9:21 am
#71
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
2+ year lurker … and embarrassingly my first post is about losing a VR card. I really felt like I should add another data point – just in case it encourages even one person to not give up after doing the same. (Yeah, we all know you should load the cards immediately, but we also all make mistakes, even amazingly stupid ones.)
Basically what I learned from my experience is that (1) you can eventually get your money back – I did – but (2) it may take numerous calls and many “Nos” before you get there. Just be persistent.
I was told by several CSR reps on the Vanilla side that the cards are treated like cash, and there’s absolutely nothing they can do to help – no surprise there. I asked to speak to a supervisor after hearing this a few times and apparently got lucky, because she recited the same thing but then said she’d try to help me out because of how much money I’d lost ($500). I also did not have my receipt (yeah, really smart, right? In my defense - barely - I thought I’d successfully loaded the card and then threw it out, so the other – yes, obvious – lesson I learned is to always check my Bluebird balance to ensure the money actually showed up). The supervisor from VR told me to visit the CVS and get an electronic journal, which I was able to do by visiting the store at which I'd purchased the card and giving them an estimate of the time and amount of the purchase. I emailed this in to VR, called to confirm receipt, and was told to wait for a resolution.
The next day I got a call from someone telling me they were unable to do anything – the cards are treated like cash. I called back and tried to get to the original supervisor w/ whom I’d been speaking, but she was going to be out until the following week. I spoke with another supervisor who again told me there was absolutely nothing he could do. The next day, I called again (I’d just been furloughed from my job, so the relative value of that $500 card quickly shot up), got another supervisor, and this guy seemed interested in helping. It took him about a minute to pull up whatever he needed on his end and then load the $500 back onto my Bluebird. Apparently the only thing they needed in order to do this was the electronic journal (and obviously my BB #).
So the point is they are able to help you out; the challenge is just finding someone who is willing to do so. I can attest to the fact that at least 2 such people exist in the VR CS department.
As someone already reported, CVS can open an investigation. I started this process but was able to resolve things on the VR side before ever hearing back from CVS. I’d made the purchase with my rewards card, so they were able to quickly pull it up; I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t used the extracare card. I guess I did have the electronic journal, so presumably they’d be able to find it with the info. on that. Anyway, from the earlier comment, it sounds like going through CVS may be the best way to go, although my experience obviously demonstrates that it’s also possible to get a resolution from the Vanilla people.
Basically what I learned from my experience is that (1) you can eventually get your money back – I did – but (2) it may take numerous calls and many “Nos” before you get there. Just be persistent.
I was told by several CSR reps on the Vanilla side that the cards are treated like cash, and there’s absolutely nothing they can do to help – no surprise there. I asked to speak to a supervisor after hearing this a few times and apparently got lucky, because she recited the same thing but then said she’d try to help me out because of how much money I’d lost ($500). I also did not have my receipt (yeah, really smart, right? In my defense - barely - I thought I’d successfully loaded the card and then threw it out, so the other – yes, obvious – lesson I learned is to always check my Bluebird balance to ensure the money actually showed up). The supervisor from VR told me to visit the CVS and get an electronic journal, which I was able to do by visiting the store at which I'd purchased the card and giving them an estimate of the time and amount of the purchase. I emailed this in to VR, called to confirm receipt, and was told to wait for a resolution.
The next day I got a call from someone telling me they were unable to do anything – the cards are treated like cash. I called back and tried to get to the original supervisor w/ whom I’d been speaking, but she was going to be out until the following week. I spoke with another supervisor who again told me there was absolutely nothing he could do. The next day, I called again (I’d just been furloughed from my job, so the relative value of that $500 card quickly shot up), got another supervisor, and this guy seemed interested in helping. It took him about a minute to pull up whatever he needed on his end and then load the $500 back onto my Bluebird. Apparently the only thing they needed in order to do this was the electronic journal (and obviously my BB #).
So the point is they are able to help you out; the challenge is just finding someone who is willing to do so. I can attest to the fact that at least 2 such people exist in the VR CS department.
As someone already reported, CVS can open an investigation. I started this process but was able to resolve things on the VR side before ever hearing back from CVS. I’d made the purchase with my rewards card, so they were able to quickly pull it up; I’m not sure what would have happened if I hadn’t used the extracare card. I guess I did have the electronic journal, so presumably they’d be able to find it with the info. on that. Anyway, from the earlier comment, it sounds like going through CVS may be the best way to go, although my experience obviously demonstrates that it’s also possible to get a resolution from the Vanilla people.
Everyone should appreciate your post - not just the important lesson learned about always check the success of load, AND to keep the receipts as a good paper trail should you need it (not just for this incident but many other things.)
The most important things I learn from your post is:
1) Always present the ExtraCare card so it helps to facilitate the assistance needed. (though the trade off is they have data on what you purchase but that is a necessary trade off in my book.)
2) Dont take No for answer and keep trying. Eventually you would reach some kind souls who are willing to help and that is all it takes. They can help even though by the book VR is truly like cash and it should be treated that way at all time.
Thank you again for taking the time to post your experience in details.
Nov 27, 2013, 8:37 am
#72
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 510
Risk of Loss in MS
I wonder if we account for operational risk in MS. Operational risk is the risk of loss due to human error. With so many MS opportunities, it is so easy to lose that one gift card, so easy to mix an unused GC with the bundle of used cards. Although the frequency of loss is not high but since we're talking in hundreds here (500 VRs and GC very common), the severity of loss can be high.
Apart from keeping track of your MS transactions, what methods do you people employ in order to reduce this risk?
Apart from keeping track of your MS transactions, what methods do you people employ in order to reduce this risk?
Nov 27, 2013, 9:09 am
#73
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Midland
Posts: 55
Establish a set routine for MS.. set aside a single day, weekend, or couple of days each month for MS. Even better, do your bill paying during the same period.
Organize your MS information into a spreadsheet.. also register your accounts in Mint.com so you get updates all in one place.
Organize your MS information into a spreadsheet.. also register your accounts in Mint.com so you get updates all in one place.
Nov 27, 2013, 9:22 am
#74
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 42
Uniformity is important. I keep all of my prepaid cards in the same place. I almost lost a VR when it slipped out of my jacket pocket and into the side of my car door. I thought I lost a GC when I left it in my jeans pocket instead of putting it back where it belongs. Both of these near-misses would have been avoided if I practiced better uniformity.
Nov 27, 2013, 9:27 am
#75
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,954
Moderator action
Previous discussions of lost instruments have been merged into cowboyguy's thread to demonstrate that the risk is real.