Let's hear some ...really curious about the end of the world scenario....

you so should have had your mic on your iphone on when talking to him!

I wonder if the 5k limit was a trap...

LOL
By the time I thought about it we were 40 minutes into the conversation.

Essentially he/she was telling me was that the new 5k limit, ID scan and all that was a result of CVS being made to report these transactions (GCs over 1K) by the government. He opined that the limit was set at a ridiculously high amount (5k/day) because it is a honey trap of sorts. CVS' system is tied into your state's DMV database for the ID scan. What he/she would not tell me is which federal agency requested this info to start being collected or who has access to it.

Apparently they were reporting (something) back when it was 1k/day but that didn't pass muster because some people got around the 1k/day limit by coming in several times a day and/or visiting multiple stores and there was little or nothing employees could do about it. So the G-Man stepped in and made them implement a system that was almost foolproof.

Be back soon.

Wonder why this is just a CVS thing? Walgreens has a $500 corporate policy limit and Rite Aid seems to have no policy at all.

Sounds like CVS wants to make money off of the funds and the feds want to see if terrorists are using the products.

Also, the IRS could be looking to see if they can easily start taxing credit card rewards.

There are many ways these DL scans can have unappealing outcomes. It is all conjecture right now. But the difference is that it's all possible at this point.

As benign they might be, I have to believe everybody stepped into these new policies with a bit of trepidation. Then that faded into mile highs haha :p

wow that's an impressive amount of paranoia crammed into two sentences

Maybe CVS is affiliated with MoneyGram, so bound to like Money Services Business?

I could see that, but all RA's I have seen are WU agents, so wouldn't it be the same for them?

That was the unknown factor for me. Never been to RA's. I just don't know the rules enough. That just popped up in my mind.

This actually all started as the manager was ringing me up. I think the staff was instructed to call managment if anyone wanted to use a CC after I came in and educated (or re-educated) them on the corporate policy because everytime I come in (having only been there 3-4 times since I discovered the flush stock of VRs) the manager is called.

Now this manager would never sell me the full 5k even though that's what I always ask for. 2K was the most they were willing to do. As I was being rung up I was asked how often I buy these. I really had nothing to hide so I said I buy as much as I can (up to the limit) a few times a week. At this point I was told after this transaction I would be turned away. :confused:

Now i was really curious as I was pretty sure we were both covered by the 5k/day policy. I asked what was meant by that and I was told that "it was what it was" and that while I knew of some rules... there were others that I did not (and could not) know about.

We went back and forth like a game of tennis. I was trying to extract info about what policy/rule would have me denied the any future sale after our three successful prior transactions (using same card, same amounts and everything).

I couldn't get anything so I thanked the staff and headed for the door. The manager and I were still talking as he/she followed me out the door. We were standing infront of my car near the front of CVS when we began our hour long conversation. It really did feel like an hour but maybe it was more like 30-40 minutes.

Of the many things they let me know was that this CVS job is the easiest one to loose or get fired from. If you called out on one mistake when it comes to these federal regs (pharmaceutical or financial) you're fired.

This is why we churners make these guys VERY nervous. I have seen this same behavior with cashiers/management at Rite-aid.

Another thing we talked about was the scarcity of VRs in the area. They informed me that if the store wanted to get them they could. "Look at my supply..." they said... "Its think as a phonebook because I actually order them." @:-) Most stores in the area have stopped carrying them because they don't want to deal with the issues associated with the VRs. Again ... the risk of doing something wrong of aiding in some criminal enterprise and loosing their jobs.

I am not sure about this part but I have to admit... their supply was ample...and they were located on a very busy intersection ... next to a college.

But why, then, did I have to train them (or so I thought) on the acceptance of CC as a form of payment? Were they only feigning ignorance and selling to their regulars? Perhaps the fact that I was buying so much at a time was a cause for alarm. Maybe, in their neck of the woods, the norm is to buy 1 VR at a time.

I don't know and are some of the things I have to consider when giving the stories merit. So I will take a lot of what I was told with a grain of salt until I can get supporting or corroborating evidence.

But the thing that I did find absolutely believable was their sharing of data with whomever. I said it earlier... there is absolutely no good reason why CVS would have gone through the trouble of updating their system and upping the purchase limits to a ridiculous amount like they did. One good reason is if some governmental agency made them do it as a matter of compliance. Its not at all hard to imagine that this same agency or agencies would want full and unfettered access to this data. The fact that CVS' network is linked with your state's DMV shows a level of coordination that could only be orchestrated/ordered on the federal level. Again.... I have to figure out how to verify this claim as well but I honestly don't doubt it.

Now, we say "as long as we aren't doing anything illegal...." but as they mentioned to me... you don't want THAT kind of scrutiny on you at any cost. Even if you had your taxes prepared my Mother Teressa for the last half dozen years you may still need to hire a lawyer/CPA just to defend yourself.

CVS now $1k/day?
 

Couldn't CVS technically check if the CVS extracare card was used for purchases? (Yeah, oops, I did that) and true, not everyone use it or have one. In any case, I have nothing to hide and I not a heavy churner (no VR around me these days) and have also never bought over $1k (it's rare I buy 2, just an occasional one every now and then)

I suppose it's far easier with DL to keep track. I'd imagine (if I were in their position) i would be interested in those heavy buyers that buys thousands of worth each time and sees a pattern over time.

I'm just thinking out loud.

KYBOSH excellent summation up there and I know exactly what you went through. BUt this is in fact one big reason why I just get sub $1k on my visits. Why go thru these pains if you can just even it out with a few stops to other stores and negate the scrutiny--and the store staffs' worries over losing jobs for selling "too many of these"?

I dunno... it seems to me on the one hand the corp wants them to sell guns with bullets in them but on the other, the staff is neither trained, qualified nor willing to deal with such sales to people--even the ones who take the time to talk about it with them and try to put them at ease. better to buy guns without bullets I say.

hence the sub $1k idea