Vanilla reload broken PIN scam reports
#167
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 519
Yes, I have gotten quite a bit of bad ones. I had two batches that had missing numbers but it seemed more like a production error. I think money was not taken out of those. A week ago I got two that clearly were tampered, CVS johnsons ferry & roswell rd. I had scratched on the store the back four, so I though I was good when I scrathch the rest notice that some of digits on the middle were missing. Called VR, within the hour had sent them copy receipts and card, but still they can't do anything. So I am doing the dispute form.
#168
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 7,904
Yes, I have gotten quite a bit of bad ones. I had two batches that had missing numbers but it seemed more like a production error. I think money was not taken out of those. A week ago I got two that clearly were tampered, CVS johnsons ferry & roswell rd. I had scratched on the store the back four, so I though I was good when I scrathch the rest notice that some of digits on the middle were missing. Called VR, within the hour had sent them copy receipts and card, but still they can't do anything. So I am doing the dispute form.
#171
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 109
Well at least the scarcity of VR's here lately will slow him down hopefully. I was a little nervous when I found only 3 vrs very obviously sticking out in the gc rack last week, but they loaded fine. This was in canton so hopefully a bit out of way of the major VR traffic stores.
#172
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: MR,UR, UA, BA, AA, Hotels
Posts: 581
Not quite VR, but related story of caution. At a 'convenience store' I picked up a green dot and didn't look at the back as I buy so many reloads or GC that I'm getting sloppy. The card loaded and activated fine. Got home and saw that the pin had already been full exposed. I unloaded it fast (within 10 mins of purchase) and got lucky this time.
Lesson - no matter how jaded or frequently you do this - check the back.
Lesson - no matter how jaded or frequently you do this - check the back.
#173
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 140
I have a VR card which i thought was loaded but when i went back to look at my balance it did not load at 500.00. I am not sure where card is, it may have been discarded. CVS is willing to provide me with full serial number I was told but store manager (have to wait for monday), but CR CSR spvsr told me they need pin to load card. Without pin and only the serial I am SOL. Any suggestions for this card (other than I shouldn't have discarded it b/c I thought ti was redeemed properly).
#174
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 140
I decided (and it may not have been a good idea) to file a credit card dispute on the card. CVS and I spoke both at the store and corporate level. They told me that they do not store the card serial numbers. I did actually find the card in question, I am fairly confidant that I found the offending card. VC CSR would not do anything for me basically claiming cards are cash, and once activated its my problem.
Citi is filing the dispute for 503.95. I am hoping they do not research my account history and see all of the thousands of dollars of these cards that I have purchased. I also hope that CVS does not block me from future transactions when they review the account. I am probably takin a silly risk and should write off the 503.95 as a cost of doing business but part of me feels wronged by this (even though I shouldn't feel this way). What would you do in the situation where you are caught between the retailer and the bank? Would you dispute?
Citi is filing the dispute for 503.95. I am hoping they do not research my account history and see all of the thousands of dollars of these cards that I have purchased. I also hope that CVS does not block me from future transactions when they review the account. I am probably takin a silly risk and should write off the 503.95 as a cost of doing business but part of me feels wronged by this (even though I shouldn't feel this way). What would you do in the situation where you are caught between the retailer and the bank? Would you dispute?
#175
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: CHS
Programs: Delta, AA, BA, United, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Honors Diamond, SPG Marriott Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,142
New Improved cards on Rack
For the past few weeks my local Rx store has been out of Vanilla. I thought my ride was over. Today the racks are Full. Some improvements appear to have been made , to increase security. The green strip with silver is gone. the new cards have more detailed tamper proof graphics covering the Pin number. They are easy to spot with more reload partners shown on the front.
#176
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: Mileage Plus, Rapid Rewards
Posts: 949
I decided (and it may not have been a good idea) to file a credit card dispute on the card. CVS and I spoke both at the store and corporate level. They told me that they do not store the card serial numbers. I did actually find the card in question, I am fairly confidant that I found the offending card. VC CSR would not do anything for me basically claiming cards are cash, and once activated its my problem.
Citi is filing the dispute for 503.95. I am hoping they do not research my account history and see all of the thousands of dollars of these cards that I have purchased. I also hope that CVS does not block me from future transactions when they review the account. I am probably takin a silly risk and should write off the 503.95 as a cost of doing business but part of me feels wronged by this (even though I shouldn't feel this way). What would you do in the situation where you are caught between the retailer and the bank? Would you dispute?
Citi is filing the dispute for 503.95. I am hoping they do not research my account history and see all of the thousands of dollars of these cards that I have purchased. I also hope that CVS does not block me from future transactions when they review the account. I am probably takin a silly risk and should write off the 503.95 as a cost of doing business but part of me feels wronged by this (even though I shouldn't feel this way). What would you do in the situation where you are caught between the retailer and the bank? Would you dispute?
Was your VR card actually activated?
If it was activated, what does InComm say happened to the balance?
Do they see it as having been loaded to a prepaid account?
If InComm does see your VR card as having been activated and loaded, did you try talking to your prepaid card issuer to see if they had an error on their end?
Do you anticipate fraud or just a technical issue involving either CVS, InComm, or your prepaid card issuer?
Since you say you've found the faulty card, you should be able to figure out the answer to these questions.
I'm just not clear from your post where in the chain of events the error (or theft) happened.
#177
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MGM
Programs: United Silver, PC Plat/Amb, HH Dmnd
Posts: 805
For the past few weeks my local Rx store has been out of Vanilla. I thought my ride was over. Today the racks are Full. Some improvements appear to have been made , to increase security. The green strip with silver is gone. the new cards have more detailed tamper proof graphics covering the Pin number. They are easy to spot with more reload partners shown on the front.
Andyandy
#178
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 939
I decided (and it may not have been a good idea) to file a credit card dispute on the card. CVS and I spoke both at the store and corporate level. They told me that they do not store the card serial numbers. I did actually find the card in question, I am fairly confidant that I found the offending card. VC CSR would not do anything for me basically claiming cards are cash, and once activated its my problem.
Citi is filing the dispute for 503.95. I am hoping they do not research my account history and see all of the thousands of dollars of these cards that I have purchased. I also hope that CVS does not block me from future transactions when they review the account. I am probably takin a silly risk and should write off the 503.95 as a cost of doing business but part of me feels wronged by this (even though I shouldn't feel this way). What would you do in the situation where you are caught between the retailer and the bank? Would you dispute?
Citi is filing the dispute for 503.95. I am hoping they do not research my account history and see all of the thousands of dollars of these cards that I have purchased. I also hope that CVS does not block me from future transactions when they review the account. I am probably takin a silly risk and should write off the 503.95 as a cost of doing business but part of me feels wronged by this (even though I shouldn't feel this way). What would you do in the situation where you are caught between the retailer and the bank? Would you dispute?
If it works (and it should) you should call and cancel the dispute ASAP.
If it doesn't then work with Incomm CS to figure out why its not loading. I.e. was the card already redeemed by you (or someone else) and if not why is it not working/loading as intended.
Filing a dispute in the churn game is an epic FAIL in my book. If you dont think they eye your account for irregularities then...
#180
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ATL
Programs: Delta DM
Posts: 9
One more thing to watch for on VR's, especially now that we can get 10 at a time. When they load the card, the last four digits of the bar code on the back of the VR is printed on the receipt, like ****1234. Make sure each receipt and card match.
A few weeks ago when we could only get two cards, the clerk loaded my first card and gave me the receipt and a card. Then, when he thought he was loading the second card, it would not load. He told me it was a bad card and slid it to the side and started to get another card. I stopped him. He had handed me the receipt for the first card and handed me the second (unloaded) card. When I checked the bar code number, I caught it. If I had not, I would have walked out with one unloaded card and the loaded card would have been left in the store.
I think this was an honest mistake on his part. He didn't seem bright enough to try to scam me.
A few weeks ago when we could only get two cards, the clerk loaded my first card and gave me the receipt and a card. Then, when he thought he was loading the second card, it would not load. He told me it was a bad card and slid it to the side and started to get another card. I stopped him. He had handed me the receipt for the first card and handed me the second (unloaded) card. When I checked the bar code number, I caught it. If I had not, I would have walked out with one unloaded card and the loaded card would have been left in the store.
I think this was an honest mistake on his part. He didn't seem bright enough to try to scam me.