Nov 20, 2013, 1:03 pm
Last edit by: Steve Oh
*** NS&I & HMRC NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR 3V USE ***
Introduction 3V cards and Avios
Tesco gives 150 Clubcard point (convertible to 360 Avios/375 Virgin Miles) for every £50 spent on gift cards. These include the 3V 'Internet Shopping' Visa gift cards (which carry no fee) and have the ability to be recycled back into cash or to pay off bills where an Avios earning card is not accepted. To earn the points just purchase in multiples of £50; you combine with other gift cards (e.g. iTunes, Prepay Visa cards (with fee), Nandos etc).
Spending 3V cards
The original loophole of recycling 3V cards via NS&I direct saver accounts appears to have been closed as of 12/12/13. Other potential routes to dispose of cards can be found here, although this list is now out of date and some disposal methods listed are no longer available.
Current Disposal Options
Following the discontinuation of the NS&I loophole the following websites are still accepting payment by 3V and may be an ongoing useful source of 3V spend to collect points:-
Sky (but there are reports of Sky reversing the transactions); Orange/EE; BT; Virgin Media;Talk Talk, topcashback.co.uk (gift cards); PayPal; Highstreet Vouchers; ParentPay, United Utilities, EDF Energy, Scottish Power, Npower, Amazon (via giftcard), VoucherExpress
Purchasing cards at Tesco
It is strongly recommended when purchasing 3V cards at Tesco that a maximum of 4 cards is purchased in any one transaction (and ensure you have all four activation slips before leaving the store) due to the system limitations of Tesco's checkouts giving rise to potentially being charged for cards which haven't activated. Official Tesco advice to stores is for a maximum of 5 cards (although in this scenario no Clubcard points would be earned on the fifth card). Store policy on how many cards you can take away in one visit is variable although in an unknown store it is wise not to immediately draw too much attention to your activity - if staff are happy to proceed then you can always build to larger quantities before they decline to sell you more.
Non-Tesco 3V outlets
3V cards can also be found in Morrisons, Boots & Homebase. With Morrisons usually having large quantities, sometimes in excess of 100 cards per store and the offer of 1p off of every litre of fuel for every £10 spent makes this is a very good alternative if you're having problems locating stock at Tesco.
Introduction 3V cards and Avios
Tesco gives 150 Clubcard point (convertible to 360 Avios/375 Virgin Miles) for every £50 spent on gift cards. These include the 3V 'Internet Shopping' Visa gift cards (which carry no fee) and have the ability to be recycled back into cash or to pay off bills where an Avios earning card is not accepted. To earn the points just purchase in multiples of £50; you combine with other gift cards (e.g. iTunes, Prepay Visa cards (with fee), Nandos etc).
Spending 3V cards
The original loophole of recycling 3V cards via NS&I direct saver accounts appears to have been closed as of 12/12/13. Other potential routes to dispose of cards can be found here, although this list is now out of date and some disposal methods listed are no longer available.
Current Disposal Options
Following the discontinuation of the NS&I loophole the following websites are still accepting payment by 3V and may be an ongoing useful source of 3V spend to collect points:-
Sky (but there are reports of Sky reversing the transactions); Orange/EE; BT; Virgin Media;Talk Talk, topcashback.co.uk (gift cards); PayPal; Highstreet Vouchers; ParentPay, United Utilities, EDF Energy, Scottish Power, Npower, Amazon (via giftcard), VoucherExpress
Purchasing cards at Tesco
It is strongly recommended when purchasing 3V cards at Tesco that a maximum of 4 cards is purchased in any one transaction (and ensure you have all four activation slips before leaving the store) due to the system limitations of Tesco's checkouts giving rise to potentially being charged for cards which haven't activated. Official Tesco advice to stores is for a maximum of 5 cards (although in this scenario no Clubcard points would be earned on the fifth card). Store policy on how many cards you can take away in one visit is variable although in an unknown store it is wise not to immediately draw too much attention to your activity - if staff are happy to proceed then you can always build to larger quantities before they decline to sell you more.
Non-Tesco 3V outlets
3V cards can also be found in Morrisons, Boots & Homebase. With Morrisons usually having large quantities, sometimes in excess of 100 cards per store and the offer of 1p off of every litre of fuel for every £10 spent makes this is a very good alternative if you're having problems locating stock at Tesco.
3V cards | master thread
Dec 11, 2013, 4:59 am
#436
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 267
They just won't accept gift cards to let me buy them. This was following a manager's meeting about 2 months ago.
Prior to that, some stores used to allow me to part pay with gift cards and rest with credit card, with no hassle or further authorisations even for large purchases of 3V cards.
Dec 11, 2013, 4:59 am
#437
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 213
As I said last night you must exhaust conversations with Tesco if you don't want to really make life difficult for yourself in the long run e.g. permanently closing your clubcard account over this.
Also - Chargeback is usually only available for transactions under £100, check with your card issuer if they are even able to do it if that is going to be your fallback.
Don't forget Tesco's will present evidence back to issuer in any event showing you purchased gift cards using you PIN - if they satisfy the acquiring bank (you won't be involved in the conversation) your chargeback will fail and you will still need to have the conversation with Tesco.
Don't mean to sound negative but just strongly suggesting you deal with Tesco's customer services before you do their credit collections!
Also - Chargeback is usually only available for transactions under £100, check with your card issuer if they are even able to do it if that is going to be your fallback.
Don't forget Tesco's will present evidence back to issuer in any event showing you purchased gift cards using you PIN - if they satisfy the acquiring bank (you won't be involved in the conversation) your chargeback will fail and you will still need to have the conversation with Tesco.
Don't mean to sound negative but just strongly suggesting you deal with Tesco's customer services before you do their credit collections!
The CS rep agreed you can't have 2 activation sleeps for the same card.
Something that the staff in store failed to understand with me explaining it for nearly an hour.
Last edited by mobilemario; Dec 11, 2013 at 5:08 am Reason: poor gramma
Dec 11, 2013, 5:01 am
#438
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Heathrow
Programs: A variety of Platinums, Golds, Silvers and other fancy metals.
Posts: 1,985
As I said last night you must exhaust conversations with Tesco if you don't want to really make life difficult for yourself in the long run e.g. permanently closing your clubcard account over this.
Also - Chargeback is usually only available for transactions under £100, check with your card issuer if they are even able to do it if that is going to be your fallback.
Don't forget Tesco's will present evidence back to issuer in any event showing you purchased gift cards using you PIN - if they satisfy the acquiring bank (you won't be involved in the conversation) your chargeback will fail and you will still need to have the conversation with Tesco.
Don't mean to sound negative but just strongly suggesting you deal with Tesco's customer services before you do their credit collections!
Also - Chargeback is usually only available for transactions under £100, check with your card issuer if they are even able to do it if that is going to be your fallback.
Don't forget Tesco's will present evidence back to issuer in any event showing you purchased gift cards using you PIN - if they satisfy the acquiring bank (you won't be involved in the conversation) your chargeback will fail and you will still need to have the conversation with Tesco.
Don't mean to sound negative but just strongly suggesting you deal with Tesco's customer services before you do their credit collections!
Dec 11, 2013, 5:08 am
#439
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: BA Executive Club Silver
Posts: 186
In my area and surrounding areas, if I want to buy 4 or more cards, they are already on alert and want to get the manager to OK the transaction.
They just won't accept gift cards to let me buy them. This was following a manager's meeting about 2 months ago.
Prior to that, some stores used to allow me to part pay with gift cards and rest with credit card, with no hassle or further authorisations even for large purchases of 3V cards.
They just won't accept gift cards to let me buy them. This was following a manager's meeting about 2 months ago.
Prior to that, some stores used to allow me to part pay with gift cards and rest with credit card, with no hassle or further authorisations even for large purchases of 3V cards.
Dec 11, 2013, 5:16 am
#440
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Dorset
Programs: BAEC Blue, VS Red, IHG Platinum
Posts: 597
That sounds like a Homebase kind of thing (I have insider knowledge from the past) - once a regional managers meeting decides to keep an eye out for something, they do it. But it's not been an issue for me (stores cleared of cards without any issues or 'managerial authorisation' being required). It's sorely tempting to use £500 of Homebase cards from Tesco to buy 3V at Homebase, but the risk of it failing or an extremely uncomfortable conversation is not appealing.
If it worked, I would then go and get some more Homebase cards from Tesco for the actual purchase I was going to make.
(I spent a lot of Saturday running to Tesco during Christmas shopping to buy gift cards for the shops the OH had decided to purchase from and praying they activated in time!)
Dec 11, 2013, 5:29 am
#441
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: YVR/LBA
Programs: BA Exec Club (Gold)
Posts: 329
Dec 11, 2013, 6:12 am
#442
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: LON (mostly)
Programs: FlyingBlue Platinum Elite / BAEC Silver
Posts: 1,953
Quote:
Originally Posted by nearlyheadlessian
That sounds like a Homebase kind of thing (I have insider knowledge from the past) - once a regional managers meeting decides to keep an eye out for something, they do it. But it's not been an issue for me (stores cleared of cards without any issues or 'managerial authorisation' being required). It's sorely tempting to use £500 of Homebase cards from Tesco to buy 3V at Homebase, but the risk of it failing or an extremely uncomfortable conversation is not appealing.
If I had a big spend anticipated at Homebase I would so that as I could then used the cards for that spend if it all went wrong.
If it worked, I would then go and get some more Homebase cards from Tesco for the actual purchase I was going to make.
(I spent a lot of Saturday running to Tesco during Christmas shopping to buy gift cards for the shops the OH had decided to purchase from and praying they activated in time!)
Originally Posted by nearlyheadlessian
That sounds like a Homebase kind of thing (I have insider knowledge from the past) - once a regional managers meeting decides to keep an eye out for something, they do it. But it's not been an issue for me (stores cleared of cards without any issues or 'managerial authorisation' being required). It's sorely tempting to use £500 of Homebase cards from Tesco to buy 3V at Homebase, but the risk of it failing or an extremely uncomfortable conversation is not appealing.
If I had a big spend anticipated at Homebase I would so that as I could then used the cards for that spend if it all went wrong.
If it worked, I would then go and get some more Homebase cards from Tesco for the actual purchase I was going to make.
(I spent a lot of Saturday running to Tesco during Christmas shopping to buy gift cards for the shops the OH had decided to purchase from and praying they activated in time!)
Glad to see it's not just our household that does 'this'...
Dec 11, 2013, 6:21 am
#443
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: From ORK, live LCY
Programs: BA Silver, EI Silver, HH Gold, BW Gold, ABP, Seigneur des Horaires des Mucci
Posts: 14,214
Dec 11, 2013, 6:33 am
#444
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: London
Posts: 17,007
I suppose this is suggested because the credit card issuer is liable under statute for the supplier's fault if the transaction value exceeded £100? But that doesn't apply to charge cards anyway so you would be left high and dry if Amex's chargeback scheme didn't apply.
Dec 11, 2013, 8:59 am
#445
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: From ORK, live LCY
Programs: BA Silver, EI Silver, HH Gold, BW Gold, ABP, Seigneur des Horaires des Mucci
Posts: 14,214
Chargebacks can be done on any transaction value at the discretion of the card issuer. There is no limit of £100 or any other amount.
Dec 11, 2013, 9:22 am
#446
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Dorset
Programs: BAEC Blue, VS Red, IHG Platinum
Posts: 597
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75
(I think, I don't know, never used it, don't hate me, '#justsayin !)
Dec 11, 2013, 9:26 am
#447
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London
Programs: British Airways Silver, Tesco, BA Amex, Kris Flyer
Posts: 533
Dec 11, 2013, 10:34 am
#448
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Heathrow
Programs: A variety of Platinums, Golds, Silvers and other fancy metals.
Posts: 1,985
I think people are confused with Section 75 of the consumer credit act which kicks in on items worth between £100 and £30,000 for non-supply of goods.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75
(I think, I don't know, never used it, don't hate me, '#justsayin !)
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75
(I think, I don't know, never used it, don't hate me, '#justsayin !)
Dec 11, 2013, 12:48 pm
#449
Join Date: May 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 3,951
I have just asked this in the Tesco thread, perhaps better suited here...
I am venturing to a Tesco tomorrow evening, which I believe may have 3V in stock. This will be my first 'Tesco' 3V hit and I understand it to be more complex to the Morrison's / Coop's I be visited.
Can anyone offer pointers to aid the process, I recall requesting that no more than 5 (or 8) are purchased in the one transition. I also remember reading something about having the checkout assistant press total after every card to ensure they have been correctly loaded. The Tesco I am visiting is a fair journey from my home, so keen to not have any issues. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
I am venturing to a Tesco tomorrow evening, which I believe may have 3V in stock. This will be my first 'Tesco' 3V hit and I understand it to be more complex to the Morrison's / Coop's I be visited.
Can anyone offer pointers to aid the process, I recall requesting that no more than 5 (or 8) are purchased in the one transition. I also remember reading something about having the checkout assistant press total after every card to ensure they have been correctly loaded. The Tesco I am visiting is a fair journey from my home, so keen to not have any issues. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Dec 11, 2013, 1:09 pm
#450
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
I have just asked this in the Tesco thread, perhaps better suited here...
I am venturing to a Tesco tomorrow evening, which I believe may have 3V in stock. This will be my first 'Tesco' 3V hit and I understand it to be more complex to the Morrison's / Coop's I be visited.
Can anyone offer pointers to aid the process, I recall requesting that no more than 5 (or 8) are purchased in the one transition. I also remember reading something about having the checkout assistant press total after every card to ensure they have been correctly loaded. The Tesco I am visiting is a fair journey from my home, so keen to not have any issues. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
I am venturing to a Tesco tomorrow evening, which I believe may have 3V in stock. This will be my first 'Tesco' 3V hit and I understand it to be more complex to the Morrison's / Coop's I be visited.
Can anyone offer pointers to aid the process, I recall requesting that no more than 5 (or 8) are purchased in the one transition. I also remember reading something about having the checkout assistant press total after every card to ensure they have been correctly loaded. The Tesco I am visiting is a fair journey from my home, so keen to not have any issues. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks