Does anyone know what happens if we don't have balance and MVD tries to charge a dormancy fee? I requested a permanent card which did not come and used my temporary card funds completely. I want to avoid calling them for a permanent card.

it must have treated USPS MO as the cash advance. I was charged $1.95 for the grocery purchase with cash back.

I have also been charged $1.95 for grocery purchase with cash back. I am not doing that again.

Another data point:
Walmart - took MO for $1K, cash back for $60, charged 50cents fee by MVD
Grocery Store - Took 900$ MO, $100 CB, charged $1.95 by MVD
Post Office - Took $2K MO, no CB, charged $1.95 by MVD
So WM seems to be the cheapest use, however as another FT'er mentioned earlier( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...ey-orders.html ), stay under the radar and take less than $3K MO in one go.

WM MO confirmation: $9xx.xx MO at WM w/o CB went through, charged $0.5.

the thread ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...ey-orders.html ) also mentions that it would be illegal to practice execution of transactions in a pattern calculated to avoid creation of certain reports. See 'Structuring'

From those I know personally, not affiliated with FT, who have had problems with the IRS, they hate structuring possibly even more than evasion.
Those that think keeping <$10k in certain transactions by using $9k are in for a hurt

WM: A company with 'structure'...
 

Except for one key data point: the WM register will not process a transaction above $8999.99, so you couldn't 'color inside the lines' at $10,000.01 even if you wanted to; the structuring, it seems, is on the part of WM. :rolleyes:

Ethics of hiding VR cards?
 

When you find a stack of VR cards at your local CVS, do you grab a couple and then try to hide a few for next time?

My wife and I have found some cards 'hidden' between other gift cards when the VR card hanger is empty (and no, it didn't look like a one-off random thing...it has been a small stack stuck of them in the middle of some gas or movie gift cards).

Seems a little...unsporting. Especially since the cards are so hard to find in my neighborhood.

OTOH, we reaped the benefits of whoever was hiding them since we found cards we might not otherwise have.

Hm.

I guess that's what I get for living in an area where lots of other FlyerTalkers live, including mega-churners gleff and pizzaman!

It's selfish and very unethical in my book. No other way to describe it. "Get mine" attitude and who cares about anyone else. No different than cutting someone else in traffic or the people hoarding food at the Triumph. Yes, it goes on all the time, and it's not cool.

Let alone ethics (and disgust), it has even no benefit for those with "Get mine" attitude as the store will restock the item as soon as the inventory falls below the threshold.

Hiding the cards:
1) Interferes with an prevents the restocking process
2) The store would eventually find out about this kind of mess and will start disliking this product, making it willing to stop restocking it.
3) Other people will know there is a chance to find VRs behind other cards so will look for them and most likely will find them. Add this with #1 and you can see the "Get mine" attitude people is leaving the store empty-handed.
4) "Get mine" attitude people may start to find even obscurer places to hide VRs. Then others will look every single niche of the store to find VRs (possible behind those toilet papers!).

This is just something that people should stop doing! I can't see how one may not understand such a simple phenomenon!

I don't understand why you'd need to hide them in the first place. There's tons of CVS stores and they restock when inventory is low. Is that incorrect?

WOW. I was just thinking that people in NJ are hiding them. I went into a local CVS where they usually have plenty and I couldnt find any. I kept looking and found one at a totally random area near the movie and foor gift cards. So, I could only buy one, which I did. I didnt bother looking for more as I bought a Pay Pal reload instead of another VR.

Its sad if people are hiding them. VERY sad.

In this particular CVS (which just happens to be near my house) there are NEVER cards on the VR rack. Doesn't matter time of day nor day of week. I have only ever found them at that store in stacks hidden among the other cards. :( Of course, when I do, I take two and put the rest back on the proper rack. :D^

Never have a problem finding them at the CVS near my office, though, so this only becomes an issue on the weekends.

As I say, I think it's pretty unsporting. :td:

I found a couple hidden VRs at my local CVS in Brooklyn. It was pretty obvious that they were hidden deliberately... When I tried to buy them the guy mentioned a new policy that they only accept cash for amounts greater than $50. Apparently the manager of the store made up the policy to deter the use of stolen credit cards(?).