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money disappeared off GCs while trying to load bluebird- help!

money disappeared off GCs while trying to load bluebird- help!

Old May 11, 2013, 8:54 pm
  #1  
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Angry money disappeared off GCs while trying to load bluebird- help!

Yesterday, I went to Office Depot and bought $800 worth of Vanilla Visa gcs (they'd finally restocked! I was excited!), then went across the street to load my bluebird account at Walmart. I've done this before at these stores and it has worked fine. This time, however, there was an error in the middle of the transaction and it didn't go through. I thought fine, whatever, I'll just have to use them for regular spend, and went home.

Today, however, when I went to use the gcs at the grocery store, each of them in turn got declined for insufficient funds. Well, crap, I thought. Went home, checked the balances online. Turns out that the money somehow got debited off my gcs, while not ever actually getting loaded onto my bluebird account. The bluebird account doesn't even show a pending transaction.

The CSR reps at Bluebird are claiming that it's an error on the part of Visa (and that we're not supposed to be able to load Bluebird with a card that doesn't have an address in the first place). Visa is claiming that Walmart has the money (and in the phone call, basically accused me of doing this to launder money!) Nobody knows what's going on. Does anyone have any advice??? Who should I be calling about this? Is small claims court an option? This isn't going to kill me but eight hundred bucks is a hell of a lot of money-- and more even than how much I value the card bonus.
elsewyse is offline  
Old May 11, 2013, 9:19 pm
  #2  
 
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Did you try to load them from kiosk or by CS?
Did you load them all or one by one and each got cancelled?
What error did you get on load?

In your GC transaction history, it should show you Walmart debit the $$$, right?
spgbus is offline  
Old May 11, 2013, 10:12 pm
  #3  
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Originally Posted by spgbus
Did you try to load them from kiosk or by CS?
Did you load them all or one by one and each got cancelled?
What error did you get on load?

In your GC transaction history, it should show you Walmart debit the $$$, right?
1. By CS.
2. I tried to load it all on the same transaction.
3. Yes, it shows that Walmart debited the money. However, I didn't get a receipt or anything from it because it was canceled, so... how do I prove to Walmart I'm not lying about it not loading?
elsewyse is offline  
Old May 11, 2013, 10:25 pm
  #4  
 
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They say wait a few days and the funds should be credited back to the GC. If after a week you still dont see it you will have to call either WM or the GC CS about reversing the debit. I dont know which one will give you the best chances of success with the quickest turn around time though. Please keep us posted.
KYBOSH is offline  
Old May 11, 2013, 11:38 pm
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Originally Posted by elsewyse
1. By CS.
2. I tried to load it all on the same transaction.
3. Yes, it shows that Walmart debited the money. However, I didn't get a receipt or anything from it because it was canceled, so... how do I prove to Walmart I'm not lying about it not loading?
Did you notice if a receipt printed out even after transaction got declined? It could have been a cancellation receipt, aka, your ticket to faster refund.
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Old May 12, 2013, 7:06 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by KYBOSH
They say wait a few days and the funds should be credited back to the GC. If after a week you still dont see it you will have to call either WM or the GC CS about reversing the debit. I dont know which one will give you the best chances of success with the quickest turn around time though. Please keep us posted.
Ok. I am really, really hoping this is what will happen. *bites fingernails*

I did call Bluebird, as well as the GC CS, who spent nearly 45 minutes on the phone with me and he said that there was nothing he could do to reverse it.

Originally Posted by Gammachu
Did you notice if a receipt printed out even after transaction got declined? It could have been a cancellation receipt, aka, your ticket to faster refund.
...Yes. Yes, actually there was. Would it have been kept?

Last edited by mia; May 12, 2013 at 1:07 pm
elsewyse is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 7:10 am
  #7  
 
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Walmart likely has it. If Bluebird never saw the money, it's likely stuck in Walmart's credit processing system. Talk to them and Visa. But, you don't need to tell them specifically what you were doing. A cancelled transaction with a gift card is all they need to know.

Also, don't call Bluebird again. If what we've been doing is not supposed to work, you don't need to be telling them about it.
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Old May 12, 2013, 7:20 am
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Originally Posted by djrez4
Walmart likely has it. If Bluebird never saw the money, it's likely stuck in Walmart's credit processing system. Talk to them and Visa. But, you don't need to tell them specifically what you were doing. A cancelled transaction with a gift card is all they need to know.

Also, don't call Bluebird again. If what we've been doing is not supposed to work, you don't need to be telling them about it.
Bender464 is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 7:22 am
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Originally Posted by djrez4
Walmart likely has it. If Bluebird never saw the money, it's likely stuck in Walmart's credit processing system. Talk to them and Visa. But, you don't need to tell them specifically what you were doing. A cancelled transaction with a gift card is all they need to know.

Also, don't call Bluebird again. If what we've been doing is not supposed to work, you don't need to be telling them about it.
So who do I call at Walmart? The store itself? Is there a complaint line?

And good point about not telling all the details. I've been trying to be careful, but some of the time it seems to just make them more suspicious (as in the money laundering accusation...)

Understood, Bender, thank you...

Last edited by mia; May 12, 2013 at 1:07 pm
elsewyse is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 9:25 am
  #10  
 
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Hope you are able to get it back easily. This makes me wonder though if those Vanilla Visa cards have issues with this or not. I've got some Staples cards I was going to try and load today $100/$200 variety (not Vanillas though) and hoping I don't have issues.
terpfan101 is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 9:39 am
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How many gift cards were you trying to load in a single transaction? I once tried four and I got an error after the third card. They cancelled the transaction and we started over but only with three cards this time. I was then able to use those exact same cards. It made me nervous when it happened.

Can you give a little bit more detail of the events that occurred?

As far as getting a receipt goes. I have been able to take the card I used into Walmart and get them to print me a receipt. (I do this lot's of places) They will want to know which register you were at, date, and time. You should have the date and time on your gift card log.
Corridor! is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 9:43 am
  #12  
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Originally Posted by terpfan101
Hope you are able to get it back easily. This makes me wonder though if those Vanilla Visa cards have issues with this or not. I've got some Staples cards I was going to try and load today $100/$200 variety (not Vanillas though) and hoping I don't have issues.
I'm not sure. I did this exact same transaction (same type of card, same stores involved) a couple weeks ago and it worked fine. This is the first time this has happened.
elsewyse is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 9:57 am
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by KYBOSH
They say wait a few days and the funds should be credited back to the GC. If after a week you still dont see it you will have to call either WM or the GC CS about reversing the debit. I dont know which one will give you the best chances of success with the quickest turn around time though. Please keep us posted.
First, log in thru this site for actual status - https://www.vanillabillpay.com/home...._US&csrfToken=

Would like to hear what's shown there for EACH gc...

May just need to wait a few days or so like KYBOSH suggested!
Bender464 is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 10:02 am
  #14  
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Vanilla Bill Payment Prepaid Visa
Card Account: **** Original Gift Card Value: $200.00
Card activated on: May 10, 2013 5:14:52 PM

Total Holds/Preauths (-) what is this? $0.00
Total Debits(-) $200.00
Total Credits(+) $200.00

Available Gift Card Balance $0.00
2 transactions found, displaying all transactions.1
Transaction Date Transaction Debit Credit
05/10/2013 05:54 PM WAL Wal-Mart Store 850966
2124 WAL-SAMS
BEAVERCREEK(N, OH
Reference:
150100 POSPurchase:Checking:NoAccount $200.00
05/10/2013 05:54 PM INCOMM
990400 Card:First Use $200.00
The others all look the same. The thing that worries me is that it's not listed as a preauthorization or whatever-- it's just listed as being gone.

Oddly, the Visa CSR on the phone said that he could see 2 transations from Walmart on his end for each of the cards, which I have not been able to see.

Originally Posted by Corridor!
How many gift cards were you trying to load in a single transaction? I once tried four and I got an error after the third card. They cancelled the transaction and we started over but only with three cards this time. I was then able to use those exact same cards. It made me nervous when it happened.

Can you give a little bit more detail of the events that occurred?

As far as getting a receipt goes. I have been able to take the card I used into Walmart and get them to print me a receipt. (I do this lot's of places) They will want to know which register you were at, date, and time. You should have the date and time on your gift card log.

That's good to know on the receipt, thanks.

Sequence of events: I tried to load the four at first on one transaction. The guy thought I only had one gc with $800 on it, so I got an error after the first card because it didn't have enough funds. He then set it up so I could use the four cards, and I proceeded to swipe them through, enter pin, etc. Seemed to be working, there was the card approved message after each one, then on the fourth it errored out and he had to cancel the transaction. He then tried it again, still with four cards at once, but this time none of them were working. (I suspect the previous transaction was the one that pulled the funds and didn't give them back.) He called a manager over, it was still not working, and there was a line forming, so I figured I'd give up and try again later. The manager then had to "turn a key" to cancel the transaction.

Last edited by mia; May 12, 2013 at 1:08 pm
elsewyse is offline  
Old May 12, 2013, 10:27 am
  #15  
 
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I personally would concentrate on Vanilla CS, escalating to Supervisors, saying where is my MONEY? Bluebird shows nothing on their end....!!!!
Bender464 is offline  

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