I'll throw out my dp. You guys can draw whatever conclusions you want from my dp.
I took 2 USB VGCs to my Walmart MC. I went online right before I left and made sure they were both good. Tried to buy a MO with no card splitting. First card swipe nothing happened. So I pulled out the second card and swiped it. Got a code 58. I made sure to get the little printed slip so I'd know for sure.
So I drove down the street my friendly WMNM. This time I made a small purchase at customer service, lotto tix, to make sure the card worked. Went through no problem. So I order a MO, no card split. First swipe nothing happens, second swipe it reads as a bad card swipe. I say to the guy "this is the same card that just bought the lotto tix." He says swipe it again. Instead I pulled out the other card to swipe and got another code 58.
Reading Reddit this week I see lots of reports of code 58, lots of declines at Kroger and Albertsons too, lots of cards being locked for fraud. One guy got through to a second level fraud rep at US Bank who said USB has had a lot of fraud the last few weeks. (Yeah, I had that figured out already!) Gee, if you were having a lot of fraud on your gift cards, you might get pretty ornery about people cashing out your gift cards for MOs too.
Sorry Kroger but I am going back to Safeway for now.