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Safeway/Vons- buy $100 to $500 Visa Gift card, get $10 back in groceries

Safeway/Vons- buy $100 to $500 Visa Gift card, get $10 back in groceries

Old Jul 19, 2012, 5:00 pm
  #76  
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Thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by liaozhongchao
...

I did this just now and paid $105.95 for a $100 Mastercard gift card. I also found something different from the former VISA/Mastercard deals:
...
2. The coupon will be good for any purchase NOT JUST GROCERIES (at least it doesn't mention any restriction except for gift card purchases);
...
FWIW, the previous offer on the Visa cards had no restrictions listed at all, other than sentence that said 'usage restrictions may apply'.

Of course no where do they ever list an restrictions.

At any rate, every time I use these to buy beer/wine/booze (Vons does have some great deals on beer, especially if you use the 'Just for U' offers) the coupon is rejected. Sometimes the store manager is quick to override and allow the coupon, other store managers are a PITA, saying that 'these don't include alcohol'.

To which I have to argue 'tell me where it says alcohol is excluded, show me anything where it says alcohol is excluded and I will drop this argument'.

Then they might say 'these are for groceries only'

To which I would say 'No, it says right here, on the coupon; $10 off your next shopping order', 'it does not say $10 off your next grocery order'.

Some times they reply with 'well, others excluded alcohol in the past, so, so should these, and the computer doesn't take them, and the computer is always right'.

blah blah...Back and forth back and forth.

Ultimately, all store managers have been capitulating on these (my experience anyway). They goofed up with the stock these are printed on, as well as the coupon itself.

Of course, none of this means anything to anyone who's not interested in using these on booze, but, being that it's summer, and I'm having plenty of BBQ's, booze and beef is about the only thing I'm using these on.

So, long story short, if they're not accepting them for all purchases, don't accept the 'undisclosed exclusions' argument they're trying to use. Speak to the store manager and be polite and insistent to your 'valid' point, they will un-enthusiastically honor the coupon for all purchases over $10.

Of course, I was speaking of the coupons issued for the Visa promo, the coupon may have changed for this one.
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Old Jul 19, 2012, 9:13 pm
  #77  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Cary, NC
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Originally Posted by thehawk75
Thanks for sharing!



FWIW, the previous offer on the Visa cards had no restrictions listed at all, other than sentence that said 'usage restrictions may apply'.

Of course no where do they ever list an restrictions.

At any rate, every time I use these to buy beer/wine/booze (Vons does have some great deals on beer, especially if you use the 'Just for U' offers) the coupon is rejected. Sometimes the store manager is quick to override and allow the coupon, other store managers are a PITA, saying that 'these don't include alcohol'.

To which I have to argue 'tell me where it says alcohol is excluded, show me anything where it says alcohol is excluded and I will drop this argument'.

Then they might say 'these are for groceries only'

To which I would say 'No, it says right here, on the coupon; $10 off your next shopping order', 'it does not say $10 off your next grocery order'.

Some times they reply with 'well, others excluded alcohol in the past, so, so should these, and the computer doesn't take them, and the computer is always right'.

blah blah...Back and forth back and forth.

Ultimately, all store managers have been capitulating on these (my experience anyway). They goofed up with the stock these are printed on, as well as the coupon itself.

Of course, none of this means anything to anyone who's not interested in using these on booze, but, being that it's summer, and I'm having plenty of BBQ's, booze and beef is about the only thing I'm using these on.

So, long story short, if they're not accepting them for all purchases, don't accept the 'undisclosed exclusions' argument they're trying to use. Speak to the store manager and be polite and insistent to your 'valid' point, they will un-enthusiastically honor the coupon for all purchases over $10.

Of course, I was speaking of the coupons issued for the Visa promo, the coupon may have changed for this one.
Thank you for the tips! I know exactly what you are saying. Funny thing is, the Vons near my place is always having computer glitches. Instead of saying "the computer is always right!", the duty manager always says "Stupid computer!"

Regarding the promo, I can only tell from my former Mastercard promo experience. The Safeway/Vons had a Mastercard promo about two months ago and the $10 off coupon printed that "groceries only". But the coupon still didn't work after I bought some chips and cookies. The cashier called the manager and confirmed that I did get $10 groceries. The manager just overrode the transaction and apologized for the inconvenience.

For the Visa promo, it is another story. I bought the $500 Visa card twice last month. No coupon issued for either transaction. Then I got $10 cash and $10 Vons gift card respectively after speaking to the duty manager. I have no idea if the coupon will work for "any purchase except for gift cards" or just "groceries only like before".

I guess I will find out soon.
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Old Jul 19, 2012, 9:30 pm
  #78  
 
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Dairy products were excluded last time due to some Federal rule about dairy being a subsidized product by the government. Alcohol is a state by state thing.
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Old Jul 19, 2012, 10:45 pm
  #79  
 
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Update: the manager just informed me that the Vons is not accepting credit card for prepaid gift card purchases any more. Since the $100 card doesn't require manager's override, I might give it another try tomorrow and see if I can sneak out another $100 Mastercard with my AMEX HHonors.
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Old Aug 9, 2012, 6:52 pm
  #80  
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Once and a while cashiers will say 'You can not use a credit card to purchase the gift card', but, simplest solution is just go to another cashier in the same store. Done this many times. I've even gone from a cashier, and over to the manager instead (guys/gals in the white shirts), and they run the purchase through fine. In fact, I've never actually had a store manager make this statement to me before, only 'by the book' cashiers.

Also, I have consistently been using the GC's for 'every thing' in the store; Booze, milk, etc. I always go to the cashier with the white shirt, since they are a manager, and they've always 'overrode' the cash register block on accepting the gift cards, without ever even getting into a debate with me about it. So, as far as I'm concerned these coupons are as good as cash in the store.

If ever you get some manager telling you that the coupons are no good for booze, just politely ask them where exactly this exclusion is ever mentioned. They will not be able to provide that answer.

...

Now as an aside, these 'Mastercard' GC's no longer work at serve.com due to address validation errors. They certainly did work in the past, and in fact until very recently. Anyone figure out a trick around this? Since serve is now re-linking these as debit cards, the ability to cash out of the GC's has gone up 5 fold.
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Old Aug 15, 2012, 1:06 am
  #81  
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And just cleared out the remaining $100 cards at my local Pavilion... 7 of them, and 7 $10 coupons printed out. This marks the end of the most recent iteration of gift card promotions at Vons, hopefully it won't be the last.

I'm also fortunate enough to currently be earning 4 AAdvantage (1 base + 3 bonus) miles per dollar for spending at supermarkets (capped at 2500 bonus miles).

Funny thing is Fraud alert kicked in twice on my credit card. On the second fraud alert call, the same specialist answered the phone, and in the course of our conversation promised 5000 AAdvantage miles for the trouble.
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Old Aug 15, 2012, 12:44 pm
  #82  
 
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Is this offer still on at Vons/Safeway - I read it was valid till 08/14 but wanted to check if it has been extended ...
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Old Sep 13, 2012, 3:43 pm
  #83  
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It's Baa-aack!!

And even better!

Both the Visas AND Mastercards will give you the coupon now -- choice is yours.

I personally prefer the Visas for reasons I've listed previously (see this and the Serve thread).

I just bought 6. Going to use this to make the spending requirement on my new Personal US Bank Flexperks card.
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Old Sep 13, 2012, 4:12 pm
  #84  
 
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Thanks for sharing. Nice to see it back again with both cards included.
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Old Sep 13, 2012, 4:37 pm
  #85  
 
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Thanks for sharing. Is it in the Vons/Safeway circular? I can't seem to find it online ... I'll visit one of them tonight and see if there are notices near the gift cards. Also going to look into thehawk's posts on Serve

Edit: Went and bought 2 of these today ... they wouldn't honor the $10 coupon on the second go-around, even though I had $14 worth of groceries to go with the 2nd gift card

Minimum $10 purchase required. Excludes items prohibited by law. No cash value. No cash back. Limit one coupon per transaction per day. See back of coupon for additional terms and condition (none relevant)

Last edited by amolkold; Sep 13, 2012 at 9:55 pm
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Old Sep 15, 2012, 10:41 pm
  #86  
 
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confirmed in norcal safeway. it appears not all safeways have the posters by the GC kiosks. It should work at all safeways in theory. it is good for MC or VS purchase of $100 or more.
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Old Sep 15, 2012, 11:05 pm
  #87  
 
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So when redeeming the $10 off coupons on subsequent visits, it shows as only $5 off ... keep an eye on the transaction. I've been able to get them to manually take $5 more off.

This happened at both Vons and Pavilions locs in So Cal.
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Old Sep 15, 2012, 11:51 pm
  #88  
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Hadn't noticed that 'Limit one coupon per transaction per day' condition on it (well not the 'per day' part anyway) until you pointed it out.

However, I haven't had any issues with them not honoring it yet. Just got back from shopping, and the register was taking the second, and third, and fourth and... fifth transaction without issue nor any need for manual over ride.

I'm sure if the register did start to reject the second coupon one could always just use a different Vons card number. I never spend enough in a month to achieve any significant fuel points savings where I'd find it worth while to drive the 30 miles to the closest location that has a fuel pump.

I did notice the other day however that for some reason the coupon scanned at $5 off. The cashier without saying a word just entered in some override code for another $5 off.

Still, like last time having difficulties getting them to immediately honor the coupon for booze, but, so far have gotten them to apply the coupon to such purchases in the end.
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Old Sep 22, 2012, 1:11 am
  #89  
 
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Nice, I thought I was just plain lucky to get the $10 coupon, it happened once, twice, thrice. I have been buying up $500 visa GC (+5.95) and getting the $10 coupon.

So, instead of buying $500 GC, I should be buying 5x $100 GC to get 5x $10 coupons, right? I am assuming they all need to be separate transactions to get the coupons each time?
<EDIT>
duh! from first post:
"If you want a second coupon, you need to buy another $100 (or more) in MC GCs in a separate transaction (i.e. buying $500 in gift cards in a single transaction does not net you five $10 coupons)."
</EDIT>

What is preferable? - $100 fixed value card or $100 variable load card? serve is my preferred way to liquidating these.

Sorry lot of questions, thanks in advance!

Last edited by T3pleShot; Sep 22, 2012 at 1:16 am
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Old Sep 22, 2012, 1:31 am
  #90  
 
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Fixed value is my modus operandi.

Came across a Pavilions location that had 2 clerks deny me using a CC for these cards. A nuisance to say the least.
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