Mamibear

have you tried loading with bank DC online? if you did and it went through, that's proof your account is in good standing. BUT if you get the dreaded message, it means game over for you.

by saying you can no longer load with VGCs anywhere, does that include WM register lanes and MC? and have you tried metaGCs that still work (I loaded TigerDirect rebate GC issued by MB yesterday so I know it's still working)? hopefully, you're able to load with VGCs again which is the main reason in maintaining am3x prepaids.

StartinSanDiego

You're right, of course, not all cards got shut down. You've got an edge having a fairly new card... early Dec would make the card just about 1 billing cycle old on January 8. I also had one new card that isn't shut down (yet). It will be interesting to see if we can figure out the shut down algorithms over the next few months.

runb4fun

Could someone give me a step by step on how to do it? Walmart is pretty far away from my home and I've to take public transport. I don't want to go that far just to be a clueless idiot. Any things I should know?

1) I've never used KATE and I don't even know how to do so.

2) I assume VGC bought from staples.com will load onto Serve for free?

3) When is Walmart usually empty so I can fool around with the machine? early in the morning will do, like 6 AM?

krazykanuck

Assuming Kate is working, which depending on where you are, might be a big IF. Walk up to it. Hit Bluebird reload on the screen (there is no Serve option; Bluebird works). Follow the step by step prompts. It's pretty idiot proof. Make sure you have a real debit card in your hand in case an employee gets curious. Personally I prefer hours when WM is busy because the employees are distracted with other customers. Kates are normally located in front of either the customer service or money center desk which are very often staffed. Of course every WM is different but that's just been my experience. If you have to do multiple gift cards, do 2 and walk away and wonder the store for a while. Be aware of the velocity limit and don't exceed it otherwise Kate breaks. I never did more than $1500 per session just to be safe.

In the couple years I've been in the game, I have only ONCE found a manager willing to fix kate. He happened to be standing around right near it, and I asked nicely, hey I'm trying to use this and it needs a login. He punched in his code and it woke up. Normally WM employees are like, it's always broken, *shrug shoulders*, walk away.

styxfire

Your quandary is easy to solve... put a $20 bill into the ATM and see if it's accepted.

One Kate in my town has denied all gc loads for at least 2 months (but it took my cash). So obviously gc acceptance can be programmed into the machine's software. The other Kate in my town took gc UNTIL she went "OUT OF ORDER" more than a week ago. All moneycenter employees claim ignorance about why it's broken and when it will be fixed. Seriously, they ALL seem very puzzled about it. Nobody even knows who put the sign up. Serious case of 'I know nuthin'.

A "bank" doesn't normally close for over a week. Good thing AmEx targets the "unbanked" who I guess don't deserve reliable service.

BananaPeppers

They just added 3 kates in my area so I would love to take advantage of it. I do have amex serve. Is there anything else I can do to take advantage of the machines? I heard gobank is a good one but that people get shut down quick.

Mamibear

if you know the mechanics, just do it

ChrisFlyer66

you could try buying money orders. Most kates don't allow it, but some do.

Hbax

Well that certainly goes against the tide of recent reports.

Curious to know, are these new stores or just new KATES added to existing stores ? I'd love to know if these are "new" KATES, with possibly updated software as opposed to the old ones, but unfortunately I guess you're probably not familiar enough with them to tell.

krazykanuck

Agreed. In my experience they don't seem to put KATEs into new stores. At least in Houston.

BananaPeppers

These Kates were broken previously and are now being fixed. In fact, one of them is right in front of the bathroom, and not in the money center area. After using serve, I just don't know what else to use KATE for. They don't have the money order option on them.

FlightNurse

I wont go nuts, I figured just my bill's alone, I can generate 5K a month, and all of my bills can be paid via serve, my mortgage went through with no issue so I'm happy. If I get shut down, then it has to be the $500 VGC that I'm loading to the account. I'll also leave about 150/m on the card too, and use it for the AMEX offers.

briang191

A handful of Kate's are still working in Northern California.

Hbax

Since they don't do MOs, loading Serve (or BB) is about it. Consider yourself fortunate you don't have to deal with WM employees. That's worth a lot by itself.

ericdabbs

There are really Kates that still allow buying MOs? I thought all Kates nationwide removed that option. Even the ones that I used to see with that option on the welcome screen, when you press on it..it will say "Please see a MC associate to help with this transaction" or something like that.