As with all MS, if you stumble across something good you tend to hold it close and (ab)use it for yourself before it gets killed. I was hoping to kill off my Freedom cards' Q4 before releasing this to the wolves.
Seeing that it seems to be an isolated incident, I'll throw it out here and see if other people want to gamble on it. I'll probably hit a few more stores today just in case it's more widespread than one store.
Here's the transactions:
Walgreen's:
Transaction #1:
2x Lowe's -- success (normal)
1x Ruth's Chris -- invalid, refunded via cash. Receipt shows as "Electronic Card Not Activated." The clerk definitely scanned & swiped the GC in question.
Transaction #2:
2x Ruth's Chris -- invalid, refunded via cash.
Store #2
2x Lowe's -- success
2x Ruth's Chris -- success (I never thought I'd be UNhappy to see a GC work)
So, it appears that the systems don't activate the cards until AFTER payment is tendered, which is what makes this work. Keep this in mind and you might be to find times when this is more likely to happen.
YMMV. If you try it, let us know whether it works for you or not.
Kind of a win/win with this one. If it fails, you get the fastest/easiest MS you've ever had. If it doesn't, you get a nice dinner.