Rite Aid master thread
Jul 2, 2016, 1:33 pm
#287
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, DL Diamond 1MM, Hyatt Platinum, SPG Gold, Hilton Diamond, AMEX 2015 Centurion
Posts: 323
Just received some disappointing news from store manager of my go-to RA. I have been purchasing $3k/per visit for the last year with no issues at all and was told during my visit today, that as of next week, the registers will be hard coded to accept cash only for VGC. He showed me the corporate memo and it did, in fact, name all of the variable load cards as going to cash-only. He pushed my purchase through today but said next week, it's game over. Now I don't know if this was just a memo to this store (unlikely) or a regional/national thing but next week might be the end of vgc at RA...we will certainly all find out!
Jul 2, 2016, 7:10 pm
#288
Join Date: Jun 2001
Posts: 782
Just received some disappointing news from store manager of my go-to RA. I have been purchasing $3k/per visit for the last year with no issues at all and was told during my visit today, that as of next week, the registers will be hard coded to accept cash only for VGC. He showed me the corporate memo and it did, in fact, name all of the variable load cards as going to cash-only. He pushed my purchase through today but said next week, it's game over. Now I don't know if this was just a memo to this store (unlikely) or a regional/national thing but next week might be the end of vgc at RA...we will certainly all find out!
Jul 2, 2016, 7:23 pm
#289
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 132
Just received some disappointing news from store manager of my go-to RA. I have been purchasing $3k/per visit for the last year with no issues at all and was told during my visit today, that as of next week, the registers will be hard coded to accept cash only for VGC. He showed me the corporate memo and it did, in fact, name all of the variable load cards as going to cash-only. He pushed my purchase through today but said next week, it's game over. Now I don't know if this was just a memo to this store (unlikely) or a regional/national thing but next week might be the end of vgc at RA...we will certainly all find out!
Jul 2, 2016, 7:25 pm
#290
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 132
Also, did you see the memo? I saw the one a few months ago stating that RELOADABLEs were cash only. Hopefully you didn't get as confused as the incompetent employees and managers. The one I saw named basically all of the RELOADABLE cards so you can imagine the confusion between MyVanilla and Vanilla VGCs.
Jul 3, 2016, 6:21 am
#291
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, DL Diamond 1MM, Hyatt Platinum, SPG Gold, Hilton Diamond, AMEX 2015 Centurion
Posts: 323
Well, considering they were already hard coded to not let you go over $3k anyways, I have to question that you buy 3k per visit, unless you're making the 6th card less than $500 so that the total isn't over 3k. This has been hard coded for a while, so I always just get $2500.
Also, did you see the memo? I saw the one a few months ago stating that RELOADABLEs were cash only. Hopefully you didn't get as confused as the incompetent employees and managers. The one I saw named basically all of the RELOADABLE cards so you can imagine the confusion between MyVanilla and Vanilla VGCs.
Jul 3, 2016, 7:02 am
#293
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 132
At this store, they have always rang up each card individually, so I have never run into the issue of the register rejecting the 6th card. Its always been a real PITA, but the manager told me he does it this way in his store because he has had activation issues with cards, if you do many in a transaction. Maybe it's true, maybe not...I never really complained or argued this with him.
Yes, the manager did show me the memo, and there is definitely no confusion. There was a separate memo that went out a few months ago that specifically named re-loadable cards, i.e. myVanilla and serve (saw this memo in person as well). This new memo specifically states all of the visa\mc\amex pre-paid cards will be cash-only and will be hard-coded by the register, beginning next week.
Yes, the manager did show me the memo, and there is definitely no confusion. There was a separate memo that went out a few months ago that specifically named re-loadable cards, i.e. myVanilla and serve (saw this memo in person as well). This new memo specifically states all of the visa\mc\amex pre-paid cards will be cash-only and will be hard-coded by the register, beginning next week.
Jul 5, 2016, 2:38 pm
#295
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Programs: Delta DM 1MM, Hyatt Globalist, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 315
Went into the Rite Aid near my work today. Picked up two One Vanilla Prepaid Visa cards as always. Cashier rang them up and I put my CC in the chip reader. She told me they were cash only per the message on her screen.
This store has always been no problem to buy with CC, although I have not had this cashier before. I asked if this was new as I knew reloadables were cash only in the past. She said there was a new memo recently about all variable cards being cash only.
Given the prior discussion here, I suspect the cashier was correct that the register was hard coded, although we probably need further confirmation before we can fully conclude that RA is now hard coded against all variable prepaid/GC's
This store has always been no problem to buy with CC, although I have not had this cashier before. I asked if this was new as I knew reloadables were cash only in the past. She said there was a new memo recently about all variable cards being cash only.
Given the prior discussion here, I suspect the cashier was correct that the register was hard coded, although we probably need further confirmation before we can fully conclude that RA is now hard coded against all variable prepaid/GC's
