zeppoloveskafka

Hoping somebody that has been here before can help me. In summary, walmart is refusing to sell my money orders, not telling me why, not telling me if it's permanent, encouraging me to try again later, and I suspect a SARs is related to it but I don't know how.

I've been buying money orders from customer service (machine is broken 100% of time) for a half a year. I only try and do 2k-3k at a time, and only once a week (I do a lot of MS, but I spread it around).

A month ago they put me in their book, and they swiped my card. Then yesterday they sold me 1K, but when they got my info they checked their book and told me they could not sell me any more.

First they told me moneygram was blocking me. After some work I was able to speak to the right person at Moneygram, and they assured that was not correct. I went back to walmart and they said that I'm in their book as do not sell to, but they would not say if it was permanent, why I was put me in there and they encouraged me to try again later. I talked to the manager who was a little less incompetent/unclear, and I get the vibe that a SARs was filled out on me. But it's difficult to know what they aren't telling me because they aren't legally allowed to tell me, and what they aren't telling me because this is a ghetto incompetent walmart.

I don't know how long SARs take to come back, or even why walmart would refuse to sell to you. The manager told me to call corporate and they couldn't sell to me until their bosses said they could.

I called corporate. The woman there was confused and didn't know what to do. She talked to her manager who didn't know what to do. She gave me a number she thought might help for "financial services", but based on the answering machines options of buying a store, that seemed the wrong number. She said she would also fill out a ticket that would go to the store manager, but it's not clear what that ticket was going to accomplish.

Any idea of what's going on? This walmart is exactly on my way, and the nearest one would be 30 minutes+. I'm already hitting all the other MO places, and doing bluebird and other stuff etc. I want to try and clear my name, and I think they want to clear my name too, but nobody knows how to do it?

Sorry for being longwinded.

Alcibiades

They do not "come back". And just b/c they filed a SAR does not prevent them from selling you more MOs, if they want to

kenme1

Aren't all Wal-Marts "ghetto incompetent walmart".
My opinon is just let it go and move along to the next Wal-Mart, rule #1 is not to bring attention to yourself. Give a a few months then go back and try agian. Don't poke the bear!

vinhboy

Please just let it go, and don't talk to anyone in corporate.
It sucks that your walmart is shutting you down, but please let the rest of us milk it while we can.
Take one for the team. We all thank you and will regale you with a hero's ballard.

36902BRF

My suggestion same as the others is to move along. My goal is to be forgotten as soon as possible when it comes to MS. The few times I have had issues at WM I have just gotten out of there as soon as I could and let things blow over. At the Walmart near me there is still one CS rep I won't use because of two issues with her in the past. I have mostly figure out her schedule now and can work around her.

prasha11

Your activity is not illegal but suspicious. I think some one there knows what U are up to and don't like it. Do U want it to be spelled out? I know its frustrating.
Whenever there is any hesitation, I say 'no worries' and run so that I can come back again to other cashier. Once I walked away looking for other things in the store and walked back in 10 min as she left for a break. If I made the noise?????? Why would U dare and make yourself an object of attention? and close doors that may be open? just think about it.....

theacolyte

You have to understand that MS has many of the same steps thieves use to generate money from stolen credit cards. Think about it from the cashier's point of view. If they truly believe your behavior is suspicious (legal or not, the "truth" is completely irrelevant here), they shouldn't be selling you money orders. They not only have an obligation to the company (and the desire to keep one's job), but there is also a moral obligation too.

Yes, you feel wronged. We all do at some point, but it does not matter. No business is obligated to do business with you (besides certain title protections), so don't give them any more reason not to. Like in many aspects of life, the ability to move on is quite necessary in MS.

zeppoloveskafka

I appreciate the advice given. However I don't agree with it. My level of activity has been low at this walmart. Moving to another walmart is not an a feasible option. Assuming I can't replace the MO I am running through them, this represents a loss of thousands of dollars in a year, so I'm not going to just let it go without a fight.

I actually don't think anybody there knows what I'm up to. I think they are trying to follow corporate policies but aren't able to. I'm not looking to "take one for the team" and walk away since I don't think my actions here will affect you. Again I'm only buying a couple thousand a week.

And again to be clear, my walmart is not shutting me down. There is just a feedback loop issue here, where I believe there is a combination of employees not understanding the rules, and employees trying to pass the buck. Given I'm the one white guy in the store, even if I come back months later I will be recognized. I feel I have absolutely nothing to lose here by following through, and everything to gain... I figured maybe somebody had been in this spot before and could guide me on how to get how of the loop. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one doing MS in my little area, so the employees don't know what to do with me.

fjord

Let it simmer and visit again. That is my personal policy and it works well.

prasha11

Before U enter a house need to know where the windows are to jump out in case of fire. Now U are caught up in the fire and the walls are closing in, and U will struggle.....The more U struggle more oxygen U need!

theacolyte

I'm probably also the only Asian dude my MC cashiers see that isn't someone with a heavy accent returning 8 things at once. I go 3-4x a week, and they usually know what I'm there for already, and know exactly how to split the payments. As those before have said, this game is about trust. I've gotten to know them, had conversations with them in that minute I see them.

Remember, in your situation, WM holds all the cards. They don't have to do business with you. They have no obligation to you, and you have no right to buy money orders from them. Confusion or not, rational or not, fair or not - none of it matters. You only risk a further ban for yourself. You seem to have exhausted all of your options. No one in corporate is really going to care that a MC isn't allowing you to buy money orders with prepaid debits. They're either ceasing to enable your credit card arbitrage, or ceasing to enable your possible theft.

You have very few rights in this realm, and even those you do have are unevenly enforced. No one has to take your money, no one has to do business with you, and corporate policies are never uniformly enforced.

hamokmonky

I had a relatable experience at another retailer, but I just stopped going for about 2 months and came back after that. People still remembered me, but they didnt remember the encounter that happened. Perhaps that would work well for you. You could also refrain from buying numbers large enough that they have to check their book. That might mean you have to buy 2x the money orders but in the end this would likely not cut into your profit as much as not doing it at all.

AND if you are loading your BB at walmart, then there is still something you could lose, as they could start refusing you to be able to do that as well.

MsArbi

There are several of us who have been banned from WM MC. If you're in the books, then the only way to get off the books is to talk to your store's manager/director. Set up an appointment with him, show him your ID, permanent debit cards with your name (no VGC), explain how much volume you've done in the past, offer to provide receipts and all the documentation he needs, offer to comply with his policies and stay below whatever limit he imposes, offer talk to corporate compliance, etc. See his response and demeanor. If the decision to ban you was at his level or below, then he can reverse it. If the decision involved district or corporate, then he should tell you so. At that point, you can ask for the specific person(s) he spoke to at district or corporate and get their contact info. If you want to gamble, you can push it up the chain, but the risk is that you could get banned district or corporate wide and bring unwarranted attention to the rest of us. So, I would talk to the store manager but stop there.

ETA You said you talked to the manager, but I assume that was a CSM or other mid level manager. You need to talk to the top dog at the store.

msp2anywhere

I'll echo previous posters- and I speaking from experience.

My closest WM declared me Persona Non Grata on MOs quite a while back, after months of being on a first-name, friendly basis with most clerks. There was one that took a, ahem, personal interest in my activities, but the others would just process the transaction.

Then one day one of the ...'t managers stepped in when I arrived at the counter and told me they were instructed to cease sales to me. I smiled, thanked them, and walked away.

Three months later I returned to load BBs, and that went fine.

Unfortunately, we have no leverage, no recourse, no case. One can smell the fear when you approach a WM employee- for someone living paycheck to paycheck- on a WM paycheck- doing anything that risks their job just isn't worth it.

One door closes, another door opens. Stop banging on one and look for the other...

rampartmovie

Let the time take it course man. Just cool it for like 2-3 months or try a different walmart in a different city.