bruh... trial and error. some works in some places, where others dont. it's all regional.

In my area, I have not found any VGCs in CVS that are not Incomm or ITC associated which means that you will not be able to use them at WM (practically speaking).

General question: Does CVS even stock Metabank VGCs (or MCGCs)?

No.

Which retailers carry what type of GCs is not a random process. There are agreements in place on specific terms.
Came across some articles a few years ago explaining the above why the prepaids found in drug stores are not the same as in grocery stores for example. I am sure for those who are interested the information could be found via extensive googling.

My understanding is OV and Vanilla does not work in WM except up to $49.99

I'm not sure why the poster above is saying it is all regional.

My go to CVS just shut down for 5 Backs. All it took was one new manager to call up corporate and ask about this. Store manager even apologized to me and said I was free to continue to use cards that had my name on them. Moral here is to tread lightly and if you see anyone that you think might give you an issue, just bail. Even though everyone at the store knew exactly what I was doing it just took one cowboy to ruin it.

Have one that is a couple miles away and that one worked fine...

When all these people see that we are able to rip so many rewards, buy so many cards. They don't know exactly how but they wonder how? and there can be jealousy factor. I won't blame anyone, MS is sheer unconventional and it is big shocker to someone who doesn't know how exactly it is done.

Which one?

i think in general it has been getting harder and harder.

more and more stores are cracking down

maybe if you live in the middle of no where, and you are the only person doing such purchases, then probably no one cares. but that is likely not the case for the majority of us

must've been a Freudian slip but I know what you mean ;) Truly, we reap what we sow. We put a lot of time and effort into it, we reap all the benefits.

There is one woman at the grocery store I get my VGCs with the lowest fees and she has tried several times to block me from buying GCs citing different reasons IDK where she pulls from. Instead of showing annoyance, I just ignore her and still get my way since I know the store rules and follow it to the letter. Back in June last year, their stores put up signs Cash and DC only for ALL GCs so I quit buying my GCs there BUT starting in October I noticed signs were down which led me to email corp and clarify if they now accept CCs for GCs for the holiday season. The COO replied that they have decided to take CCs again but I can only pay for them at the service counter with ID and CC match. I have no problem with that so one time when Miss Sourgrape was at the counter, I brought ONE VGC and I had my DL and CC ready. She outright said NO! we don't take CCs. I took out the COO's email and showed her about RECENT TOS and she couldn't believe it that she had to call the store manager. He came and said YES, we accept CCs now with ID and CC check. I didn't want to gloat but I was glad with the turn of events. It was a double win for me since the MBGC I bought with baseball design rang up with zero fee :D She didn't even realize it so it was windfall profit on my 0BCs. :-: Of course I went back for more of them later on a different shift.

Bummer was every single person I encountered there was nice. The store manager was nice.

Also, I think in general this is a bad thing though that this shutdown appears to be driven from corporate. Store manager mentioned to me that he got a bit of a chewing from them. That's not good...

Those little victories feel really good, don't they? Had a similar experience at my local Safeway that switched to chip cards and brought back the $500 visa cards. Was told they only sell them to a maximum of $200 (yes, even though the card has $500 printed right on the front).

I called corporate, got transferred to the gift card department who called the store and informed the shift manager that they need to accept credit cards for these cards. Was told they'd send a reminder to the store manager as well.

It's one thing if you're trying to skirt the rules, but it's nice being reinforced that you're right.

It would seem somewhat odd if it's a corporate decision, given that they chose to participate in the Five Back program. Obviously, they're unlikely to be looking at cards used to buy a gallon of milk and a prescription, but still...

I live in a city where there's a CVS on every other corner so if one says no, I go to another store.

You're right. For me, I choose my battles carefully and this store has been my milking cow for years now all because I don't fight with any store personnel, even Ms Sourgrape. Instead, I verify the policies with corporate and I'm so glad they respond immediately so they know me well. I don't even bother to complain about Ms Sourgrape making up her own rules, which can put her in trouble, for sure. I am just prepared for all her 'tricks' to stop me from buying my GCs. At the time there were no limits to how many GCs one can buy as long as your mode of payment goes through, she said ONLY ONE per customer per day to get a rise out of me. I still bought one with a :) and thanks. When corp came with the memo to reject all CCs for GCs, I'm sure she was doing the happy dance....but not for long. I was back with a vengeance soon as the signs were down and no limits. LOL

My good rapport with all cashiers has paid off and if I'm not sure of certain policies, I contact corp to clarify. I've never been disappointed leaving Ms Sourgrape figuring out what I do with my GCs. It's really none of her business, their store never had issues with my GC purchases over the years, she just has to curtail her envy since she can't figure it out.

That is a cool story!

Especially the moment you pulled out the COO's reply. And this woman still needed to call the store manager to verify? Wow. Talk about self-made police.

it could be that the store is making up story. i dont know. i also dont know what to believe sometimes.

i had a similar encounter as cdog999 recently where a store i went and bought successfully previously, now told me the district or higher-up corporate had sent all of them a memo and therefore now they can only accept a card with a name on it for purchase.

so i was all doom and gloom thinking my gold rush has ended. but guess what, i persist and went to another store 30 min away and nobody stopped me and i did my usual.

all of the said stores are in the same county.