ThePointsCollector

Ok. Just want to give u heads up.

SK56

I've had all kinds of trouble at ralphs in socal

MaxVO

Store clerks don't ask for personal documents for their own amusement. There must've been an order from the higher ups, and some threshold must've triggered it. It's probably best not to do as much future MO business in any one single store -- or become so familiar to them, that they can figure out the total amt you cycled through.

hitman1420

My goto MO person in SoCal let me know her store got a call today from a "credit card company" regarding the use of GC>MO. Definitely getting a little hot in here.

bmrisko

Not surprising since a lot of grocery stores print their name and store # on the WU MO. If the MOs are then sent directly to a CC, the CC can easily see where all the MOs are originating from and follow-up if they wanted to.

ZzzzX

Every Kroger has inputted my ID. Others gave said this is a shore-by-store tracking but I don't know. I use 3 different Krogers to buy VGC. 2 are no volume. One has a lot of cards trashed, few variables. Low-volume store has had no trouble selling me MOs but I do low volume.

MsArbi

Deleted.

rsrvoir

I am not sure it is so cut and dry. Stolen cc > gc > mo is definitely something that would get LP involved and driving policy change. In my case, I believe that is what happened, and a previously friendly store went cash only for GC purchase as well as id check/no GC for MOs.

No matter what is going on with these MO policies, the list of places selling $500 cards on cc is dwindling. Thus any store on that list is far too valuable to also be used as a liquidation point. Diversification across retailers will help lessen the volume strain on any one link of the chain.

MsArbi

Deleted.

rsrvoir

And yet my store received an email and personal visit from LP personnel explicitly mentioning and disallowing both cc>gc AND gc>mo. No references to compliance or any other group within K. Could compliance be driving some of that behind the scenes? Sure. But in this case LP seems onboard 100% with both policy changes and decidedly concerned with both sequences.

RJP3

Innocent people behave innocently.

Let her swipe your loyalty card.

Andy2

I do not think any relatively more affluent customers ever buy money orders other than to do MSing.

Money orders are for the poor, the MSers and a few unsophisticated money launderers.

If a place goes cash only, they still service the poor, usually immigrant, populace that would be paying with cash but lose the MSers and the unsophisticated money launderers. I do not think they will mind.

This was a great deal when only a few people were doing it. The publicity that brought in more participants and the greater money order volume at grocery stores after the CVS/Bluebird and WalMart limitations has brought us closer to the end.

tree100

I have yet to find a Kroger (owned) store in my area - ANY grocery store for that matter - that allows MO purchase without cold hard cash. But if this does end up affecting all those who do have the option, this is terrible news.

startbyservingothers

This probably depends on where you are. (For VGC's) Here there is K, then the whole list of drug stores. I value K much more highly for the ability to buy a MO over everything else. (I.e. I have a personal preference for round numbers as it doesn't look like I'm doing anything odd. I also have a fewer number of items for deposit. To be honest I am rather paranoid and quickly tired of depositing MO's in amounts of $499.35 and $499.31. After doing my first split transaction I quickly became addicted.) Also K VGC cost $5.95, while other stores only charge $4.95. The only use I would have VGC at K is that recently hey have been easier to unload at WM. - Which leads into:
Of course WM is another option to unload, but there are fewer locations, and for me the ability to unload at WM has been very inconsistent. Although they have stayed about 1 step behind, it's clear to me that they've taken measures to put a stop to our profit. (Stopped selling VGC on CC, Now nearly impossible to unload Van VGC at most stores. Add this to the increased chance of getting shot at some of the older WMs in my area, and it's a place I haven't been frequenting much even though I drive by a location twice a day.)

Fortunately I have 9 K within a 10 mile radius of my zip and 14 K within a 15 mile radius. As long as split my MO purchase among stores I'll be good until huge changes take place. I'm not doing any large enough scale to have any unloading concerns with VGC. I would never have more than 5K at one time and there are too many ways to liquidate for them all to be shut off at the same time. FYI I frequently see other people buy MO at K, but it is almost always with cash. Hopefully there aren't too many other people buying with debit in my area, so I stay a mere drop in the bucket.

I do agree with the people that think it's a bad idea to buy and unload at the same place. I always have a personal debit card out when I purchase my MO's. I also have my wallet out, so it isn't clear what card I just swiped. If I ever encounter an issue (Not a single issue at K before) I'll simply apologize and say I'll go home and double check my balance or pin. If you buy at the same place you are unloading all it takes is a snoopy cashier to ring the alarm bells when you purchase a large amount of $500 VGCs. Since the Customer Service Reps already recognize you at this point, it wouldn't take much to put 2 and 2 together or at least wonder what you are up to. - I.e. Often times part of K Management is helping with a busy service desk.

MsArbi

Deleted.