Store manager recognized me on my way in and told me cash only for VRs now. She let me try to do VRs, no go of course in Fishers (Indianapolis). Grabbed some OneVanillas instead and those went through without a hitch...

"Love your job but don't love the company you work for,
because you may not know when your company stops loving you"

Well that was a terrible experience at CVS. I grabbed a couple OV's because the memo was actually posted in the GC rack. The cashier tells me OV's are not allowed I politely ask her to refer to her memo. She tells me she is not going to be written up and a shift supervisor comes over(also dumb as a box of rocks) I explain that the register will block what is not allowed. Finally get them to try it, but then the shift supervisor has a coronary when she sees I have a AGC. Which I have been using to buy VR's every day for weeks! She informs you cannot buy a GC with a GC. I explain I believed I could use it anywhere AMEX is accepted as it states. No go. So I drove cross town and got my fill.... Does anyone know if CVS has any "official policy" No Visa/Mastercard/AMEX GC for another kind of GC? I can't imagine they would. I believe she probably is thinking CVS GC. Anyway any official knowledge would be appreciated. TIA!!

Uh-huh. I just can't resist pulling some chains by saying:

OV is the new VR.

And no, I don't believe for one moment that some random comment I make on page 572 of F/T will change the business plan of a national drug store chain. We will have OV with ccs for as long as it makes business sense for our local pharmacy to sell them to us. Then we will have to find the next way to play this game.

But right now, I just got another Citi AA Elite MC thru UPS, so I'm off to my local pharmacy to buy $5K of OV. How did that Beatles song go? Oh, yeah, "all things must pass", so I'm not waiting around for another surprise memo. :cool:

Oh look. Another person that argues with CVS employees.
Should have just used another card and got it over with. :rolleyes:

There is no policy, but how many stores do you know that allow you to use GC for GC? Not many.

So you work for CVS then?

This thread is filled with comments on wonderful CVS employees who have helped so many of us get our VRs. Some of whom are playing this game right along with us, including managers in many cases.

There may be the occasional jerk working there, but in my experience they are very much in the minority. Just try doing BP at WM if you want to experience total clueless incompetence. :rolleyes:

Time for the little bird story.

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It got so cold it froze up and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As it lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the little bird singing, and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out-and then ate him.

The morals of the story are:

1. Not everyone who drops *hit on you is your enemy.

2. Not everyone who gets you out of *hit is your friend.

3. When you're in deep *hit, keep your mouth shut!

Well, my go-to CVS store finally went down today. I've made many trips there and I'm friendly with all the cashiers and managers. Right after I walked in the cashier told me reloadables are now cash only.

At this point:
I did not try to convince her to ring up a VR.
I did not try to convince her to attempt some sort of override.
I did not demand that the manager be called over.
I did not throw a hissy fit.

I shrugged my shoulders and said "Oh well. . . Which ones have gone cash only?". She went over and took out the dreaded memo and we looked it over. I said "it doesn't look like Serve is on the list". She responded, "Oh wait, it says Amex swipes here. . . is Serve Amex?" I said yes and did not try to convince her to try it. Rather, I said "it looks like OV is not on the list - probably because it is not a reloadable. Could we give that a try?" She responded, "If its not on the list, we can try it". (I noticed that a handwritten note at the bottom read "Vanilla One?"). She rang me up for $2,500 and I wished her a good night.

The super-friendly and helpful manager at my favorite CVS would not take AGC for VR when I tried it months ago. She said register wouldn't allow it and I believed her... until FT proved otherwise. Still, she was way too nice and helpful to argue with.

Why would anyone use a debit card to buy these:confused:

I don't know why you're belaboring this point. This mole hill is no mountain.

She didn't say "memo"; she said "notice." That's exactly what I said in my previous post. Assuming that you read it, of course.

Thanks for the answer to my question.
I think people are taking the experience to another level. it was more like oh I thought these were good anywhere AMEX is accepted I guess not. Then I told her to have a good day. I mean if that is the policy that is fine. I am very friendly with the store manger and most of the other cashiers. This pair was basically actively looking for any reason to not complete the sale. I spend a lot of money in the store beyond MS with 2 kids in diapers and some health issues. I don't think it is right to treat a customer like I was treated. That's just my humble opinion...
Yes actually I have several grocery stores in the area that have no problem with me buying VGC with AGC. Generally anywhere you can use a credit card to buy a gift card will also let you use a Visa/MC GC at least in my experience...

I was also told before that I couldn't use AGC to buy VRs. I asked if it was policy or machine and the cashier said machine. Then FT correct me lol. I went back the next day to a different cashier and had no problems. I retried with the first cashier and told her that I had no problems. She then called the manager and manager said it had to have my name on it. I said thank you and left. From that day forward, I made every effort to avoid that cashier when I was paying with AGC.

On a side note, when I was talking to a new cashier the day the memo came out. Her thoughts were that they were due to this lady that comes in and tries to buy gift cards with a gift card. Said she was told she couldn't do it but she still does. Even tried in a pharmacy. Then she started using her phone to pay for the gift cards and they had no way of verifying that it wasn't a gift card. Little did the lady know, that person was me lol. (I started using Isis.). Nor did I explain to her that nothing the "lady" was doing was illegal. However, I made every point to stay clear of that store after the 30th even though it's the most convenient for me. (On my drive home and 2 blocks from my house.)

I live right next to a CVS. I am so close, yet so far away...

deja vu:td: