Hey Bob, one of the CVS by me, had 4 racks of beans, and I thought to myself, WOW I hit the mother load.... So I walked up to the front and put down my 4 beans, the clerk called over this women, who in a very nasty way stated, "I don't know what you plan on using these for, but these are cash only. When I asked when, her reply was always. I informed her I have buying them with a CC for over 7 months. She picked up the phone and called Incomm, the agent told me on the phone that they are only to be sold with cash."

I thanked the clerk and walked out, went to my next fave CVS and bought 3K worth. BTW, I bought my last 5K for this month today with a CC....

Would it be smart to start stockpiling for next month if you can afford the float? Cards seem fairly secure but of course something could go wrong over the next 2 weeks.

Better to be safe than sorry >>> ?

I've been "cash onlyed" at one of the locations nearby. I didn't push the issue since there were other locations with VRs in stock. It's frustrating because the policy can sometimes vary among cashiers within the same store. I did remember reading a tip by another FT member of carrying a previous receipt from that particular store showing a successful VR purchase using a card, which would disprove the "always" and other superlative statements I've heard.

It's not always possible, but I've been pretty good successfully picking out the friendly cashiers. Try to heuristically determine their schedules, so you can develop a rapport with them. At my go to locations, they don't even need to ask how much I need on the VRs or hesitate anymore. We've both got it down to a science. :D

Same here... "Do you want the usual amount?"

Yeah, I thought about that also, but is it really worth the hassle, since I have plenty of other CVS close by that sell me VRs...

I ran into a problem when buying 1k of VR yesterday at CVS when I asked for a split tender. I have 3 $100 AMEX GC from the OM deal and wanted to buy a few VR's with them. I brought the 2 VR's to the counter, asked for $500 each, showed me ID and then asked for split tender. The cashier was not having it, saying that if they split tender on "Money Cards" they would get fired. So I just paid with my normal credit card and moved on. Might try another CVS.

Anyone else experience this ?

That's more of a personal question. What's at risk if suddenly CVS's VRs went away? More or less than the money you'd be floating?

This is why some people don't float the money, I know people who float 10-15K a month, if they can find Beans, they buy them... I have been temped but have found some CVS's that always have Beans...

Best bet is to not make the request and just pay with the GC. It will drain automatically. Then pay again with the balance. Once you start the process most tellers will go with it.

I have once had the entire transaction voided after swiping AGC as then the teller saw it was AGC and insisted on voiding.

I'm always paranoid personally that someone tampered with the PIN or something and that they'd steal the money off my VR before I could unload it. I've always bought 2-4k at a time (2 BBs) and unloaded it that day or that day + that night at midnight EST. No more than 24 hours sitting in VRs.

Anyone think I'm being too overly cautious especially with the new scratch areas?

Does that work? I know with the Visa GCs if you try to run it as a debit w/ PIN and you purchase over the GC amount, it'll get denied instead of draining it and applying it to the balance.
Do the AMEX GCs run differently? If so, it'll be way easier to unload small AmEx GCs since I don't like to tell the CVS cashier I'm splitting it so I unload AmEx GCs on AP. Would love to be able to swipe and just have it automatically drain it and apply it.

It works with AmEx GC's at CVS. I usually swipe the GC, it drains, and the remaining balance is left and you can pay however you want.

No the other poster was incorrect, at least with regards to the OM $100 amex cards (I have not tried other denoms). You have to have them split tender for the amex gift cards, it will not auto drain. I know, because I tried it two days ago and it denied the purchase. If you run into a cashier that doesnt know how to do it, ask if they can call over a manager to assist. Both cashiers that I did it with yesterday did not know the policy or how to do it, called over the manager, the manager showed them how, said it was allowed, and went on their way. Worst case scenario the manager ALSO says no and you walk out empty handed.

Yes, the AMEX GC run as credit, so there is no issue. I liquidate about $5k/month via the AMEX GCs. Just note that a CVS register cannot do more than 7 types of payments, so if you have multiple AMEX GC (ie. using TCB for $500/each), you may only do up to 7 cards at once. I ran into a problem of this when the lady wanted to do all 10 cards at once. Got to the 7th AMEX GC and the transaction had to be voided, which drained my GCs as well. AMEX takes about 1.5 weeks to reload the GC, but I did get a couple questions as to "why I was making such a large transaction at a pharmacy" from AMEX GC customer service.

Now, my CVS lady runs two at a time so I don't have to scan ID or worry about voiding out. This also allows me to pay two VRs with 2-$500 GC and the VR fee with another credit card. 3 types of tender = A-Okay!

You could avoid all this in the first place by using BigCrumbs and getting GCs in larger quantities, but I like the additional cash back from TCB.