Jan 1, 2018, 10:53 am
Last edit by: wyogold
This is the thread for 2018. The previous discussion can be found here.
The 2019 thread can be found here
New to MO: Read this entire Wiki (Click to open) and all posts for some tips before asking common questions. It is best to know what you are doing before you try.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tested Gebit cards:
1. DO NOT WORK - Any Vanilla product affiliated with InComm or ITC Financial Services will not work for swipes over $49.99.
2. Visas issued by MetaBank work great.
3. MC issued by US bank work good, but you need to change payment type to debit before they enter the amount in the register. See below for details.
5. Gdot/sun work but take about an hour to activate.
NEW Limits as of 11/18 - 8K with ID every 24 hours. ID required for MO over 1K.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________
Some tips for starting out:
All WM registers allow 4 debit swipes per transaction, but YMMV per store and cashier. Refer to cards as Debit cards.
Start slow and buy one MO with one Gebit to see how it works. Refer to cards as Debit, only this community calls them Gebits. Your store or cashier may have rules that other stores do not have, only allowing one swipe per trans or up to 4 swipes per trans. Read all the tips below and all the posts below before trying more advanced transactions. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card. Fee: 1K MO or less is usually 88 cents each, but ask or check the wall. Subtract the fee from the total or pay in cash. If a store says "no", thank them and try again another day with a different clerk.
Helpful details and tips for advanced transactions:
1. Cost: 1K MO fee is usually 88 cents each(Some states limit MO total to 750 or 950 and may have a different fee). Subtract fee from your total or pay in cash. Can buy two 1K MO in one transaction with 4 swipes for 88 cents x 2 in most states. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card.
2. Split payment transcations: You cannot successfully swipe more than 4 cards in a single transaction. If the cashier screws up and enters $50.00 instead of $500.00 (thus making it impossible for 4 swipes to complete the transaction), the transaction will need to be canceled. The funds should return to your cards right away but may take 24 hours, so note the time and person helping you. When a transaction is canceled during the trans, the money returns to the cards. If canceled after, the cash reg drawer opens and they pay you back in cash.
3. Split payment: The amount of each swipe needs to be entered by the cashier. Ask to "split the payment by $$$". The Gebit must have current balance of that amount or more otherwise slip with Error 51 will print out. Warning: (YMMV) It appears (my experience on 3 occasions during prepaid card load and buying MO in 2 different WMs) that after the debit card was charged no cash could be credited back to the card. Cashier should issue cash back. Keep the slip and contact manager if in doubt. Remember date, time and register if no slip.
4. Bad Printer: IF, by chance, you've swiped your GCs successfully, a receipt prints but the MO doesn't, make sure to ask to see the receipt and check near the bottom IF it says CHANGE/REFUND with a negative sign before the amount of GCs you swiped, that means the cashier must give you cash refund. Cashier may have to call for the cash dept manager to verify the refund. Some stores may outright give your cash refund immediately while there are others that will ask you to come back. Think twice before you buy MOs while on vacation or when you're in unknown to you territories for issues like this.
5. Kiosk: Very few Kate's can sell money orders anymore.>>>>Sometime 2016, a lot of WM supercenters have done away with Kate (kiosks that allows loading of prepaids/sell $500 MOs). As of today, MOST, if not ALL WMs, have replaced this with the regular slim ATM to check balance/withdraw money.
6. MCGC liquidation- The cashier should not enter the amount first. Technically they just can't hit enter after entering the amount. Let the CSR know you need to swipe first and switch the payment type to debit, then swipe and hit "Cancel" or "Change Payment" to select "Debit" on the screen, enter the pin and have them enter the amount.
Debit codes PDF
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/attac...0&d=1461170080
The 2019 thread can be found here
New to MO: Read this entire Wiki (Click to open) and all posts for some tips before asking common questions. It is best to know what you are doing before you try.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tested Gebit cards:
1. DO NOT WORK - Any Vanilla product affiliated with InComm or ITC Financial Services will not work for swipes over $49.99.
2. Visas issued by MetaBank work great.
3. MC issued by US bank work good, but you need to change payment type to debit before they enter the amount in the register. See below for details.
5. Gdot/sun work but take about an hour to activate.
NEW Limits as of 11/18 - 8K with ID every 24 hours. ID required for MO over 1K.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________
Some tips for starting out:
All WM registers allow 4 debit swipes per transaction, but YMMV per store and cashier. Refer to cards as Debit cards.
Start slow and buy one MO with one Gebit to see how it works. Refer to cards as Debit, only this community calls them Gebits. Your store or cashier may have rules that other stores do not have, only allowing one swipe per trans or up to 4 swipes per trans. Read all the tips below and all the posts below before trying more advanced transactions. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card. Fee: 1K MO or less is usually 88 cents each, but ask or check the wall. Subtract the fee from the total or pay in cash. If a store says "no", thank them and try again another day with a different clerk.
Helpful details and tips for advanced transactions:
1. Cost: 1K MO fee is usually 88 cents each(Some states limit MO total to 750 or 950 and may have a different fee). Subtract fee from your total or pay in cash. Can buy two 1K MO in one transaction with 4 swipes for 88 cents x 2 in most states. NO variety or design of VISA or MC Gebit's will ever auto-drain at Walmart so always tell them the amount you want to pay per card.
2. Split payment transcations: You cannot successfully swipe more than 4 cards in a single transaction. If the cashier screws up and enters $50.00 instead of $500.00 (thus making it impossible for 4 swipes to complete the transaction), the transaction will need to be canceled. The funds should return to your cards right away but may take 24 hours, so note the time and person helping you. When a transaction is canceled during the trans, the money returns to the cards. If canceled after, the cash reg drawer opens and they pay you back in cash.
3. Split payment: The amount of each swipe needs to be entered by the cashier. Ask to "split the payment by $$$". The Gebit must have current balance of that amount or more otherwise slip with Error 51 will print out. Warning: (YMMV) It appears (my experience on 3 occasions during prepaid card load and buying MO in 2 different WMs) that after the debit card was charged no cash could be credited back to the card. Cashier should issue cash back. Keep the slip and contact manager if in doubt. Remember date, time and register if no slip.
4. Bad Printer: IF, by chance, you've swiped your GCs successfully, a receipt prints but the MO doesn't, make sure to ask to see the receipt and check near the bottom IF it says CHANGE/REFUND with a negative sign before the amount of GCs you swiped, that means the cashier must give you cash refund. Cashier may have to call for the cash dept manager to verify the refund. Some stores may outright give your cash refund immediately while there are others that will ask you to come back. Think twice before you buy MOs while on vacation or when you're in unknown to you territories for issues like this.
5. Kiosk: Very few Kate's can sell money orders anymore.>>>>Sometime 2016, a lot of WM supercenters have done away with Kate (kiosks that allows loading of prepaids/sell $500 MOs). As of today, MOST, if not ALL WMs, have replaced this with the regular slim ATM to check balance/withdraw money.
6. MCGC liquidation- The cashier should not enter the amount first. Technically they just can't hit enter after entering the amount. Let the CSR know you need to swipe first and switch the payment type to debit, then swipe and hit "Cancel" or "Change Payment" to select "Debit" on the screen, enter the pin and have them enter the amount.
Debit codes PDF
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/attac...0&d=1461170080
Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2018)
Oct 2, 2018, 4:53 am
#1577
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 377
Filling out an EMSAR each time is a good pitch, but I don't think the typical MSer can. I may be wrong on this, but I think you have to buy 3K or more to trigger the EMSAR screen option. Doing 2K a pop with four swipes as many of us do, that's not an option. With the single-transaction policy enforced by many Wallys now, that's the conundrum. Because of the eyes now on you (and your wife), for a while I'd only make solo daily trips to buy 2K and do whatever loads you can.
Oct 2, 2018, 6:08 am
#1578
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 110
Filling out an EMSAR each time is a good pitch, but I don't think the typical MSer can. I may be wrong on this, but I think you have to buy 3K or more to trigger the EMSAR screen option. Doing 2K a pop with four swipes as many of us do, that's not an option. With the single-transaction policy enforced by many Wallys now, that's the conundrum. Because of the eyes now on you (and your wife), for a while I'd only make solo daily trips to buy 2K and do whatever loads you can.
Oct 2, 2018, 6:18 am
#1579
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 377
Good to know that. Thank you. Might be a pitch at some point I use myself.
Oct 2, 2018, 6:49 am
#1580
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Looks like he will be OK with us going on, has to square things with the front end manager so they're on the same page. Discussion went well, honestly, he just wanted to figure out a way to let us do what we do without anyone getting into trouble. I suggested we can do eMSARs every time so they have a record of every txn. He seemed to like that. Will be time consuming, but if it keeps me in business, I can live with it.
While I understand those who don't have a lot of WMs and/or grocery stores to go to, pushing it to the max at one WM that has already given a warning will not end up well. Store personnel keep an eye on certain customers they see often and they have their ways to make it difficult, if they wish. That's why it's best to chill and go somewhere else even if inconvinient and hopefully, the associates forgive and forget as most of us have experienced.
My 2 cents.
Oct 2, 2018, 7:40 am
#1581
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 662
It's a good thing 2 cents isn't worth much. I think talking with the store manager was the best approach.
Another 2 cent opinion.
Another 2 cent opinion.
Oct 2, 2018, 9:47 am
#1582
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 889
Por que no los dos?
Talking to the manager might solve my situation (or stay execution for another few weeks / months). Or it might not, in which case I'll be benched for a while until Father Time heals my wounds. I don't see how there's anything to lose by trying to talk my way out of it first. I can always lay low for a while. Considering that would have to be a long while in my case, I'll try talking and explaining first.
I'll know more on Wednesday, I'm still in limbo till then.
Talking to the manager might solve my situation (or stay execution for another few weeks / months). Or it might not, in which case I'll be benched for a while until Father Time heals my wounds. I don't see how there's anything to lose by trying to talk my way out of it first. I can always lay low for a while. Considering that would have to be a long while in my case, I'll try talking and explaining first.
I'll know more on Wednesday, I'm still in limbo till then.
Oct 2, 2018, 11:45 am
#1583
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: DFW
Posts: 685
Por que no los dos?
Talking to the manager might solve my situation (or stay execution for another few weeks / months). Or it might not, in which case I'll be benched for a while until Father Time heals my wounds. I don't see how there's anything to lose by trying to talk my way out of it first. I can always lay low for a while. Considering that would have to be a long while in my case, I'll try talking and explaining first.
I'll know more on Wednesday, I'm still in limbo till then.
Talking to the manager might solve my situation (or stay execution for another few weeks / months). Or it might not, in which case I'll be benched for a while until Father Time heals my wounds. I don't see how there's anything to lose by trying to talk my way out of it first. I can always lay low for a while. Considering that would have to be a long while in my case, I'll try talking and explaining first.
I'll know more on Wednesday, I'm still in limbo till then.
Oct 2, 2018, 1:22 pm
#1584
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott/SPG Platinum
Posts: 496
WM money order printer ink is just too light. wells fargo ATM scanner just can't recognize them.... can we just use a pen to rewrite the MO amount on the MO? does that help?
Oct 2, 2018, 1:52 pm
#1585
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 261
Do NOT write on the MO to make it darker! I did this for the first time a few weeks ago and my bank (US Bank) voided the MO. I had to get another on from Moneygram. $67 mistake but lesson learned.
Oct 2, 2018, 2:02 pm
#1586
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott/SPG Platinum
Posts: 496
but lately wells forgo deducted amount from my deposited MOs with light ink,
it shows like this:Expand10/01/18ATM DEPOSIT ADJUSTMENT$1,998.64 it happened to me several times, I opened claims with wells fargo and they didn't resolve the issue after 2 weeks. I had to contact MG to get the replacement with heft fees.
so I am not sure if writing on MO to make it darker can help with wells fargo deposit issue.
Oct 2, 2018, 2:44 pm
#1587
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,257
just go cash it with a real human teller. i would never try to doctor anything or want to be accused of doctoring all these financial instruments.
Oct 2, 2018, 5:13 pm
#1588
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 103
WF ATMs eat up all the light-ink MOs that I can feed them.....happily. The ATMs in my area ask me to manually enter the amount if it's too light to read, and I've never had an issue or even a delay in the correct amount of funds being available the following business day.
Oct 2, 2018, 7:43 pm
#1589
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 143
New data point tonight (Northeast MA): I went to my usual store that I hit 2-3 times a week for over 5 years, a mainstay that has never had any issues. The cashier asked me (unprompted) when I asked to split tender if I was using more than one debit card, and that if I was, they would no longer allow it. I thanked her for the info and was ready to give up, but she went on and told me she had done a new CBT recently (computer based training) and that it was very clear that using more than one card was against policy and considered "suspicious". She stated that any CSR performing financial transactions was going to do the same CBT before their next shift.
She then went on to say we could still do the transaction, and unless someone told her directly otherwise, she was still going to keep splitting them up. She was just wanted me to have a heads up so I wouldn't be surprised when it eventually took effect. She also told me that "there a bunch of guys who do exactly what you do here but they are coming in multiple times a day and splitting smaller amounts (I assume $200 VGCs?) and attracting attention, so blame them for this".
All of this was pretty much totally unprompted; I was totally happy to just go home and try another CSR the next day but she wanted to keep talking. I am not surprised that volume has increased at this store, as 3 of 4 stores within a 30 minute drive do not allow splitting, do not allow non-bank debit cards, or their MO machines have been down for eternity.
She then went on to say we could still do the transaction, and unless someone told her directly otherwise, she was still going to keep splitting them up. She was just wanted me to have a heads up so I wouldn't be surprised when it eventually took effect. She also told me that "there a bunch of guys who do exactly what you do here but they are coming in multiple times a day and splitting smaller amounts (I assume $200 VGCs?) and attracting attention, so blame them for this".
All of this was pretty much totally unprompted; I was totally happy to just go home and try another CSR the next day but she wanted to keep talking. I am not surprised that volume has increased at this store, as 3 of 4 stores within a 30 minute drive do not allow splitting, do not allow non-bank debit cards, or their MO machines have been down for eternity.
Oct 2, 2018, 9:45 pm
#1590
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott/SPG Platinum
Posts: 496
WF ATMs eat up all the light-ink MOs that I can feed them.....happily. The ATMs in my area ask me to manually enter the amount if it's too light to read, and I've never had an issue or even a delay in the correct amount of funds being available the following business day.