amolkold

Is that the Emory Point location? Since it's a newer development, they may not have gotten the "bad batch" of cards.

Is the Emory Village location still open? I wonder if that store is cursed with missing PINs.

GatorBlues

I just tried to load two cards I bought yesterday in Atlanta and, although the PINs are intact and the grey bar covering the PINs also appeard to be intact before I scratched them off, the VR website said the cards had already been redeemed when I tried to roll them to my BB card. VR says they were redeemed yesterday within a couple hours of when I bought them, so somehow someone had the PIN numbers and knew the cards had been loaded. VR is opening a ticket and I'm supposed to send in the receipt and copies of the cards, presumably so they can investigate where the funds went.

I was late to the game and these problem cards are only the 7th and 8th cards I have ever bought. I realize you can't accurately extrapolate from such a small sample size, but if anywhere near a quarter of all cards are going to be a hassle to deal with due to fraud, I'm going to need a new way to generate spend.

agoogilydoogily

at which location did you purchase them?

alik99

2nd report of all 10 PIN numbers in tact and no value on card...

ATL787

I have a rule that I only buy if they look flawless and I can load them to BB within minutes of purchase (as I'm walking out of the store and before I crank the car back up). This person got screwed because they bought them and waited a day to load (i'm sure because they already loaded $1k for the day).

GatorBlues

I checked before I bought them and the cards looked flawless. Yes, I loaded $1K yesterday and saved the other two cards for this morning. The VR customer service rep said the money was offloaded about an hour after I purchased them. But, for the record, I got screwed because someone stole the money, not because I waited 18 hours to transfer the funds. I won't wait that long again, of course. However, if it's a computer script constantly trying to take money off of card numbers, I'm not sure even a five minute turn around is safe.

Alcibiades

Tell the rep that you need to get the name of the person whose cards got the funds, for the police report.

GatorBlues

I doubt the police in Atlanta will have any interest whatsoever in this. Do you have any reason to think differently?

punjabi2

Sorry to hear about your loss. I hope you can get your money back. Please keep us posted.

I got in this game recently. Reading all these broken PIN scam reports, I am too scared to hold on to my VRs. I immediately load these to my BB, sometimes in the store, and sometimes in the car..never drive away from the lot without loading, and getting the confirmation email from BB.

shoreline

probably a good idea if you live in Atlanta.^
don't think i would purchase in Atlanta.
if I did, I would scratch off before purchase and load immediately upon purchase (probably even from the register area before walking away).

Good luck on getting your money back. I'm sure it will be fine, you just have to be persistent and patient.

WhateverDude

My "computer running a script to load random PINs to a card" theory is debunked. If it were possible, the issues would appear in more than just Atlanta.

Autolycus

More than likely it's someone at Incomm or CVS, or someone who has hacked their system and isn't doing this through brute force.

GatorBlues

Here is an update on my situation with the two VR cards that had intact grey bars and intact PINs and yet were redeemed by someone else by the time I tried to load them 18 hours after purchasing:

I called the VR customer service line yesterday morning (i.e., the same morning as I tried to load the cards and the day after I bought them). As previously noted, VR informed me during this first call that the cards had already been drained by someone. They gave me an email address that would in effect be a fax to them, and I emailed in copies of the cards (front and back) and receipt as they requested. Today, i.e., only one day later, I got a call from VR with two replacement PINs and I loaded the funds to my BB account without a hitch. All in all, it was a hassle, but VR did a great job by investigating and responding promptly.

Autolycus

Good to hear that they're fixing these issues quickly and fairly. I faxed my dispute form and supporting receipts, etc. on Monday afternoon and still haven't heard a thing back from them. Maybe I should call this afternoon, in spite of all the adviseries to wait at least 10-14 days before calling. I won't touch another VR until I get my $500 back. Which is a shame because I've got another $3k to load this month and really wanted to get as many HHonors points as I can before the end of April.

shoreline

probably same set of scammers, slightly different rules.

could be someone reading here, and figured out many are looking for the 'damaged' cards and walking out without purchasing.

maybe the amount of the 'stolen funds' have decreased.

so, now they have moved to not damaging the cards.

i still think Atlanta has a 'ring of thieves' and they have infiltrated those CVS stores as employees. Notifying each other when they are purchased, with the numbers (which they can see from your receipt) directly after purchase; this allows the funds to be removed in fairly quick order.

of course, I think incomm should investigate (and maybe they are, or not), but I think CVS stores should be investigating as well (especially new employees at the registers).

it should not be difficult to track where the funds are beling loaded to and how they are being used. apparently, just not a big enough issue for any one company to take serious enough yet.

eventually, some here could ban together to investigate on their own.
(would take some funds and hiring of people, but that's simple enough to get done ).