Originally Posted by knopfler

How many days between when you purchased the cards and when you tried to use them? I purchased some from kroger and waited a few weeks to use them and they were declined. Found out each had a $495 balance with a $5 pending charge from the Gap in CA (I live in TX). I quickly drained the $495 on each and in about a week the $5 auth fell off each and I was able to drain the last $5 on each, but I have no doubt that they were close to being drained completely by someone other than myself. I now try to liquidate all cards within a day or two at the most.