Actually you need to give them the info. It's what they require so they can feel safe complying with federal regulations, but at the same time allowing those who wish to buy in bulk to do so. Working around those limits makes one a bad customer.

Yep, they go quick, specially at the end of the month, cause people want to pay bill by the 1st.

I went on monday night, and stoopid register wouldn't work, and there were tons of them prob like 100 of them.

I went back on Wed after lunch, and there's was none, all gone...:confused:

I've had multiple instances where the credit-card issuer (using a Fidelity Investments reward AmEx card issued by FIA Card Services) has declined an attempted charge of $1,007.90. This necessitates a call to fraud prevention and either a backup at the register or me having to get back in line when the charge is allowed to go through.)

Three of the CVSs that I normally frequent are aware of my travails. So I started approaching the registers with two VRs and specifically requesting they be processed as two $500 transactions. That way, I saw, we can avoid the hassle of dealing with fraud prevention They nod knowingly and comply with my request. It doesn't take much additional time, the charges go through without a problem, and they don't ask to swipe my DL.

Are Chase, Amex and Bank America also ok with $5000 VR purchases? I am wondering whether to split the purchases between banks or rotate them monthly - e.g. do a chase card this month and a citi card the next. I have 2 BB to feed for $10k per month.

I may have found the one CVS here in SoCal that is untouched by MSers.... went in today, end of the month, stacks!!!!

There are tons of stores around me, but there's only 1 store that I can go to regularly that will sell me VR. Most of the other stores have the cards, but will only sell for cash and debit. Anything I can tell them that will make himself to me? Has anyone ever asked the cashier to look at the policy and succeeded?

At my CVSs, they scan the cards, and the $500 charge and $3.95 fee show up on the little screen on the card reader/signature pad, along with the instructions to "swipe card now." I've had a clerk a time or two tell me that VRs are cash only; I say, "No, they're not; go ahead and run them." They do and are surprised when the transaction appears on their register and the card reader.

Please it is NOT federal regulations, CVS swips your DL for fraud reasons and a way to ensure no one buy more then 5K/day..... Hey people are paranoid more these days because of the political atmosphere... Which is fine with me, they buy their two VR's for 999.99 and walk right behind them and snag the rest...

Yup, but you have to train the fraud department before making such big purchases. In regards to AMEX, watch out for the dreaded FR....

Since I knew there was a batch in, I went a day early to the downtown CVS for March VRs. There was a decent stack and I took 4.

It seems that there was only a temporary supply problem here. I'm guessing it's pretty much the same thing elsewhere, although I sympathize with those people dealing with people hiding them.

There have been plenty of complaints here, but was anyone unable to fill their BB needs in the month of February? It would be interesting to see a show of hands, if any.

Probably a one-off anecdote.

I'm a MS-er in as much as I buy roughly $2k in paypal cards a month (usually $1k per visit) to pay my lawn guy, buy things with the debit card where credit cards aren't used, etc. A CVS that I have been to a few times told me that I could only use cash and that it's some new policy. I was politely firm and escalated it to the store manager who continued to insist that this is the new policy.

I don't know if stores are allowed to have their own policies, but figured I'd provide a data point in case others start hearing similar stories.

Yes stores can have their own policy. Best to try again at a different time or just go to a different store.

Take it easy there MM... Thanks to you, after 12 months of MSing, I need at least 24 months of vacation. ;)

Couldn't get any all month, finally a truck came in and I bought my 5K yesterday. Very helpful staff at my store alerted me by phone that they were in.

Posted behind the register of one local CVS is a full page memo explaining that a customer is not allowed to intentionally avoid the DL scan by splitting transactions. It mentions AML and money laundering. Has anybody else seen this?