Do you guys vary up the amount per bean? $500? $495? $490? Is there a point of even doing so? And if so, what is the potential benefit?

I only diddle with the bean when buying under $1k on purpose.

For example, for me, I had not yet trusted the fact CVS scans ID for a long time and had so many CVSs around me it was not such a big deal to go to all of them and buy just a tad under $1k to get what I needed.

Now I do feel ok with the ID scan thing so I can get $5k at most of them, but if I need more, I have to go to another CVS to get say $1k more. But you cant in the same 24hrs so what I then do is just get $500 and $499 and that requires no ID scan.

Now some here may worry about "structuring" but I do not worry about it and my CVSs have never cared about my charge ammts either. Besides, I am not structuring to avoid some federal thing, I am going below $1k because I cant buy more that day as per a store or company ruling. So this is not breaking a law ie government-esque anyway.

No CVS I have been to has cared about this even if a clerk may know you went to other stores. In fact in one store, the clerk said she recognized me from a different one because she works in both! So she was my clerk at two stores in the same day but found it to be cute, not a problem! ha! Then again I realize some CVSs are not so good about this. I talked earlier about the one in my town closest to me. They'd have a cow!

I'm slightly paranoid so my transactions are different every time. One day I may purchase $499 beans, the next $495, but the idea is they all vary. Whether or not that makes a difference, I don't know, but at least it makes me "feel" safer. Then again, CCs can figure out what you're doing rather quickly if they so decided regardless of your purchase amount.

wow, only one at a time?

This is in the wrong spot, but couldn't find a better place. Please move as needed.

This mornings Walgreens ad showing free five dollar Walgreen gift card with purchase of two
Vanilla visa gift cards. Manager hadn't a clue but gave me a gift card. Did not come up automatically. Got two five hundred variable loads with 4.95 fee each, so basically one with fee and one without. Did a second run without any difficulty before I left the store.

Fine print says: good on next purchase. Points are not earned if store credit or redemption dollars are used in a transaction and cannot be redeemed on some items. (Think this refers to their Balance Rewards program)

No no no lol. My batches, hah! So one batch I may run all VRs at $499, the other batch at $497, etc. Just trying to not have the same total every transaction.

I am with nuclfusion in that I vary the amount. I figure (rightly or wrongly) that if the CC companies decide to look for MSers that they can easily search for all those $503.95 transactions.

Anyway, since I have pretty much all my planned and unplanned travel covered for 2014, I'm not as tempted to go for the big numbers like some others.

transaction for VRs didn't go through at CVS?
 

So my friend just called me because I've been telling her what to do for a trip we're taking. She took her CSP and went to the register at CVS to buy her 2 VR cards. Everything was going as it should, but after the guy at the register scanned her ID, he said something printed out saying that it wasn't working and that maybe Chase has a hold on her card not allowing big amounts to be spent? She tried to do 1 VR instead and that didn't work either.

Has anybody ever had this issue or does anybody know what she should do? I told her to just try another CVS because maybe the guy just didn't know what he was doing, but I figured I'd ask for some help.

Thanks!

Read the CVS thread. Yes, this happens. Nothing new.

She needs to call Chase. Likely a fraud alert... especially since she started with a $1k transaction at CVS.

But how could you know this? :)

Something isn't adding up. If the thing printed out after he scanned her ID, then it had nothing to do with the credit card, because that wouldn't have been scanned yet. But the second transaction rejecting certainly suggests it was credit card.

Yes, I wonder if the first transaction was a simple fluke with CVS' system and then it was properly going through the first time but then the CC declined due to a fraud inquiry.

Tell your friend to set her Chase settings for text alerts. Chase is the easiest and just requires you to respond with a "yes" or "no" in regards to whether you committed the transaction.

Well I decided to try this out. Went to a Walgreens since it is only a couple blocks from my house and they had 9 cards in stock. Took them up to the cashier and she said that she believe it was cash only. I said go ahead and try and sure enough a message on her screen popped up and said cash only. I said "ok thanks anyways." Ran to a CVS a few blocks away, they also had 9 in stock. Took them up to the cash register and the guy looked down at his sheet of paper and said " it looks like I can do $5,000 in gc's a day" I said perfect. Told him I wanted all 9 at $500 each. Everything went smoothly. Thanks guys!! So what's the most that someone has bought in one day going to multiple stores? I assume that the $5,000 limit is per store, so really you could hit up 5 stores for $25,000??

I believe it's $5k/24 hours. Didn't they scan your DL?

Have her call Chase and ask if there was a charge denied today. If not, then it was from CVS. If Chase denied it, tell them it was a valid charge so they won't deny it next time.