PaulMSN

They don't ask at the mall I go to. They fill out that part of the form with some standard phrase -- I forget what it is. One of them was curious about the mechanics of MS -- yes, they know about it there -- and asked how I do it, but she was not in a financial position to try it herself.

Majuki

I've been to at least 7 different Simon Malls, and most of the locations I've visited know what we're up to. I've been asked if I'm doing it for the miles and points, and I always answer honestly. If I remember, the form has some standard check boxes about intended use, but the customer service people don't seem to care if you check the box. I really think it's more about collecting data on how people use the cards in order to market them better.

If asked you can just say you're buying them because it seems like every other place wants to charge double the activation fee, which is true. You're likely to get few questions around this time of year since a lot of people are buying gifts. In fact, I had one individual ask with a smile how to get on my Christmas shopping list around this time last year.

rtraveler

When I had the business account, I just said it was for business expenses. They might ask once out of curiosity. Once you become a regular, they don't ask anymore.

bj993

At first they asked and I told them I use the GC's for promotional purposes in my business. They don't ask anymore and seem happy to sell them. Never have filled out any paperwork.

MasterCharge

I answer honestly as well, i just write "Bill pay" and my local mall is completely fine with that answer, no additional explanation needed.

arlflyer

Simon knows what's up and has clearly made the decision that padding their revenue line trumps the downside, whatever that may be. If something makes them get antsy, well then these will go the way of VR and everything else before it. But until that time, I don't see any reason to be suspicious or nervous about much of anything, except for maybe the folks dabbling in truly massive amounts.

If Simon didn't want to sell a ton of these things, they wouldn't have 500 gift card sleeves neatly lined up out in the open at the CS desk, and they wouldn't be giving out bottles of water and Lindt truffles every time you buy them.

rtraveler

I've never gotten a bottle of water or truffles,

arlflyer

You're shopping at the wrong mall then!

It seems like some of these locations still aren't seeing a huge volume of these for MS. A couple weeks ago I went to a location in a rather populous area, and the customer service person was like giving me the whole rundown on the features of the card, the up front fee, etc. etc. It was like she was excited to sell one of these, as opposed to my usual place where they're like "How many ya want today?"

rtraveler

It's funny because they won't tolerate MS'ing on the business accounts (which is why they cancelled mine). They even mentioned that it was due to "miles and points". But they will tolerate it for the personal accounts, since they said I can still purchase up to $10k/day.

kaiotes

Express lane is the self check out or the regular 10item or less register?

rtraveler

I loaded it at the 10 items or less lane.

Journey4Happy

I was at a Pensacola SM and a young lady at the desk was training this new guy. She gave me a look when I said I wanted $1k. She said, "Oh, are you one of our frequent flyer players?" I gave her the deer in the headlights, "What do you mean?". "You know, for Delta miles?". "What is that?" (HAHA, I'm laughing now that I made believe I didn't even know what Delta miles were). She shook her head, "Nothing, forget it."

She trained the guy, "Make sure the ID name matches the name on the credit card. And make sure that the card doesn't say Prepaid or Gift Card anywhere."

I split it into 2 cards, so the guy looked at my ID, looked at the card (front & back), looked back at the ID. For the 2nd card, he looked at my ID, looked at the card (front & back), then looked back at the ID. Wow. Talk about going overboard. I knew that they started cracking down on AMEX GCs a while ago, but just wanted to share this experience.

Happy

I was told by the mall manager that they are concerned a business might go under and not pay their bills... A funny reasoning as the liability immediately transferred to the banks once the CC is swiped...

I never see any bottle water available at mine, let alone the candy!

ngoc92

My SM started giving out bottled water this month I think. I got a water bottle and free gift boxes .

kingrat

same here - when I picked up my 10 x $1k cards