wetsand

The wm I use has a sign posted on kate "no money orders - sorry for the inconvenience"

Churnman

Those of you trying to load a 500 VGC at Kate by swiping it 10 times are locking up the machine for others. Many WM are just shutting down their Kates because of you after you leave. Please stop this nonsense. Just buy an MO somewhere else (find a store, they hopefully exist in your area). Consider OVs dead to Kate for the sake of all of us. You are getting close to killing Kate in some locations and that will stop your activity and everyone else's. WM staff and customers are getting fed up with this.

200s don't take as long. In fact, OVs are taking more than 10 swipes because many times it denies any amount from OVs and eventually stalls out and then no one can use it. I've experimented with this and know it's no good for anyone. OV is dead to Kate and it should be dead to all ms'ers when it comes to loading at Kate. Just stop it.

They already stopped MO's from Kate at most locations because of headaches. Don't cause more problems.

hamokmonky

Proof? I dont do this, but I dont see any difference between 10x$50 and 10x$200 in the eyes of cashiers. Its almost the same amount of time, and actually less likely to lock up the machine than other things (like 4x$500). Outside of your likely limited experience, who are you to tell someone else they are going to "ruin their walmart" with this when you dont have any experience with their walmart? Why dont people just concern themselves with what they are doing and how it affects them, unless you want to say "hey, people in <city,state> will you please stop doing this you are breaking our nearby walmarts". Thats at least understandable because you maybe have actually seen an employee shut down a machine after someone loaded $50x10 with an OV. Personally, Ive never seen an employee shut down a machine after someone was msing at it correctly, OV or otherwise. I HAVE seen it shut down because of going over the velocity limit, but this wont happen with OV $50. If people want to waste their time unloading in $50 I say let them. Personally, Id rather be paid more than $20 for half an hour of time + gas.

Mamibear

valid points mentioned.

I'd like to reiterate that NOT ALL WMs are the same and there are plenty of WMs in different regions with few MSers and few patrons who use their kiosk for ATM purposes. I don't see why that would pose a problem for others except that they are frustrated with THEIR WMs? too bad, so sad. I have grocery stores that accept OVs for MOs for similar fee that WM charges so I prefer that route to drain my OVs, if there are store promos.

therefore, to say OVs are dead at WM is misinformation because they can still be loaded for less than $50 at a time whether at the kiosk or regular registers (with workaround). It should be no one's else's problem because it is not their time that's wasted. And if it's the only way a person can drain their OV w/o add'l expense, why stop them? sometimes, people do what they got to do.

PaulMSN

You're both assuming there is a line. At the one WM in my area that has a machine, I've never seen a line. In fact I've only seen it in use at all a couple times. I think I've used it twice for BB in the last 2 years.

PaulMSN

You are presenting your assumptions and speculations as fact, and frankly I think both are off.

Churnman

Clarification to satisfy y'all: These are the facts as it pertains to what I have witnessed. What I see happening is machines in a variety of locations in Ohio having major issues with OVs even at the smaller under $50 level. Machines are denying over and over and over with only a few successful loads (some Kates not accepting any amount from OVs). This means what might take 10 swipes for such a low amount (if someone values their time that little so be it) actually is taking 20. This simply isn't sustainable in my experience in NE Ohio. Furthermore, I've witnessed this activity causing the system to freeze and not even prompt for assistance. It locks up and you must find someone to reboot. So yes, this is from my experience and witnessing others. Now, in this area many stores are ignoring the machines and once it locks up they don't bother taking the time to reboot if need be they just stick a paper over it. Some locations have removed Kates! They work much better when there's been no attempts by someone trying to load a OV. Some Kates I've tried will not take OVs at all no matter how small nor how many swipes. I don't suggest to others something is now a bad idea without telling myself that first. I realized it was rediculous of me to stand there attempting a multitude of swipes and hindering ,myself, customers (otehr ms'ers) and the staff. If you're successful loading a single OV with 10 swipes and in an area that tolerates it then good for you if you have the time and no one behind you, but I plead with any NE Ohioans to refrain OV attempts here.

Mamibear

fair enough.

hopefully, people in your area will be considerate of your reasonable request.

sosamo

Yah, never really a line at Kate. The most I have seen is 1 person in front or behind me.

I stopped loading OV for awhile now. But I do still lock up Kate sometimes. And Kate is locking me up at 3 x 500. So Now I only do 2 x 500 per 10mins spand.

cbn42

My experience in California has been the same. Walmart staff are not the most motivated, and tend to take the easy way out. If the machine locks up, it's easier to just put an "out of order" sign on it than to look into the problem. If this happens several days in a row, then they assume it's broken and either shut it down permanently or get rid of it. If they see someone doing something they find suspicious, it's easier to just kick them out than to investigate.

Of course, we can never have "proof" that lots of failed swipes are resulting in loss of opportunities, unless someone here works for Walmart and explicitly says so. However, based on my observations, it seems very likely.

jimbo18

This is slightly off topic. So I found a place that will sell MO for OV, but they take the card and swipe it on their terminal and thus I only feel comfortable purchasing one at a time. Anyone have any ideas for how to ask for more at a time without drawing scrutiny by handing the cashier 5 OVs?

Mamibear

if I were you and I'm sure they approve prepaid/GC debit cards as payment for MOs, just tell them casually the amount of MO you want to buy at one time. If they require that you give personal info beyond a certain amount, be prepared for that as well. If everything has been clarified, tell them I want to buy $249x.xx worth of MO (make sure the last card will pay for the fees) so your total will be $2500. Then tell cashier you're doing split payment of $500 each (most cashiers know how to do this but if not, they may have to call a manager).

The BIG IF is whether they allow prepaid/GC debit because although most stores allow debit, most of them mean DC issued by your bank attached to a checking acct, instead of a Visa/MC GC.

For stores where it doesn't matter as long as you're paying with DC, you'll not have a problem. There are some stores I've been to where they do a DC/DL inspection before allowing customers to swipe their cards. If you don't intend to pay with a bank issued DC, just move on.

jimbo18

Thanks for the reply, I have tried the $2500 at once plan, but once they realized the cards had no name on them they refused the transaction. Since then I do only 1 per trip since I can't figure out a way to avoid scrutiny...now I'm at the point though that they recognize me and I'm afraid they will start questioning why I show up every other day and buy 1 MO.

Mamibear

I agree, you can't avoid scrutiny if you're going there everyday buying MO. If there are other branches you can go to, it is best to do alternate stores so they see you less often or else, don't be surprise if you get questioned by their risk dept.

BigB985

Just got back from reloading BB at a Kate with non-OV gift cards. I only did 4 transactions. The money order attendant came up to me after my 4th transaction and told me she would need to see my Bluebird card and Driver's license. She said they just received a memo to I.D. people who do multiple loads on the machine. Total in 4 swipes was $1900.