Madone59

I had a CC throw up a fraud alert this morning, and the transaction we denied. Even after I approved it with me CC Simon said they could not run the same CC w/in 24hours and to come back. I went to another Simon and it worked fine.

BTW if person with the blue ITA luggage tag on the backpack buying a ton of GC's is here in FT.......hello. I was behind you on-line.

nwflyboy

I'm pretty sure this is normal with declined transactions there. They won't (or can't) re-run it once it was declined.

Please check to see if yours posts (and remains) as a cash advance.

Henla

I didn't see anything on Sawgrass Mills in this thread. Anything different there when it comes to buying GCs?

PaulMSN

I've run the same card again for a lower amount after a decline and had it accepted. Several times.

It's good I decided to watch football instead of going to Simon today. Maybe by tomorrow we'll have more info on whether posting as cash advance is the new norm.

carlitos

Yes, I avoid both kiosks at Sawgrass. The one in front of the Adidas Store has the book with most used CC to MS which should not be accepted, so they tell you that if it is a CSP or Citi Thank You P. that you might not be able to use it. I usually go to Boca or Dadeland Mall, where no one cares what card you use. Although now that BB is dead, I decided to stick to Grocery Stores 5% cash back and I have no new CC for min spend, which is the only good deal with Simon.

Chelski

They would also PO many regular customers. They should post a fair warming if they are the cause for it posting as CA.

OP should buy a $25 restaurant card and see how that posts. OP have u compared receipts before/after to see what if any changes show up?

Henla

Thanks for the info. I may head up to Boca instead.

CCs for airline miles are still good. Too bad we all have to buy money orders rather than simply visiting Kate.

elegua

Contacted my SM guys (Texas/Nevada) and there aren't any changes that they are aware of, they still have SMGC for sale and taking CC, they only know about an email they got about the BB/Serve shutdown, other than that, business as usual, i will report later, going shopping tonight.

styxfire

TWO of my cc's declined today for fraud alerts while buying a single 500 gebit at a grocer: Citi, a card I've had for 25 years but use rarely, declined because my 500+ purchase today was preceded by a small purchase of groceries last night... they viewed it as criminal activity.
Freedom, a card I've had for 2 years, unknown why they declined, I didn't bother to call them because their text msg was just stupid.

I respect the motive of the fraud depts., but on the other hand, they are making me feel stalked & owned & violated.

Madone59

The charge is pending:

Additional Details
Category: MISC GENERAL MERCHANDISE NOT CLASSIFIED

elegua

Just an update, came back from shopping and posted as sale/purchase. Regarding the internal notification about the BB/Server shutdown, that was to made them aware in case someone wanted a refund so, basically no refunds are allow it, nothing else.

krazykanuck

Guessing you used a Citi card?

flyertalker9867674

Yes, you'll be surrounded by Brazilians trying to figure out where they can exchange currency.

Please don't.

highinthesky

There is a sign at Boynton Beach Mall in FL that says that the mall is under new management and they stopped selling all Visa, MC, and Amex Cards until further notice. More info should be released in March.

devnull

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a temporary issue. If I recall, this happened with AGCs at least once and was quickly resolved. If Simon is going to code as CA, they may as well stop selling GCs at all, because their regular (non-MS) customers who pick up a few Chipotle gift cards as gifts aren't going to be pleased.

I'm not sure how a CC issuer can argue that gift cards are cash, especially at Simon which sells numerous store GCs. Every VGC and store GC I've seen has a "no cash access" provision in the terms. Interestingly, if AndrewTheMan was charged a CA fee on a Capital One card, this would appear to be in violation of Capital One's own cardmember agreement. The latest version can be found at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/a/a...ment_10207.pdf, and under "Using a PIN," it states:

Some may note ambiguity with this paragraph, in that this could be interpreted to mean that all POS transactions in the context of chip and PIN (if offered by Capital One) are considered purchases. However, that sentence alone seems clear: all POS transactions (and POS is previously defined as retailer point-of-sale devices) are purchases. Capital One is the drafter of this contract of adhesion, so any ambiguity should be construed against them.

Now, whether or not AndrewTheMan wishes to pursue that is a different issue (and I suspect there is a lot of MS activity on his account that he'd rather not draw attention to, so in his case, taking the loss may be the best route -- but that's not for any of us to decide). If he does, I would recommend using their chat service, which AFAIK is only staffed by offshore CSRs (who are perhaps less likely to care).