Jan 2, 2019, 9:51 am
Last edit by: danpeake
As of Nov 11, 2020, Meta gebits are getting declined when used for MO/BP purchases at MC/SD. New limit appears to be $99 per swipe with some metas at some stores. READ the posts below and add a data point with details. USB and GD gift cards do not seem to be affected.
This is the thread for 2019. The previous discussion can be found here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manu...rt-2018-a.html
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.
Note: The policy for allowing gift cards as payment for money orders can be more restrictive with certain stores or certain clerks. Just because an employee says there's a new restrictive policy "for all Walmarts" means nothing. There are plenty of cases where the employee is incorrect and the new policy is only regional or store specific.
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Tested Gebit (gift debit) cards:
1. DO NOT WORK - Any Vanilla product affiliated with InComm or ITC Financial Services will not work for swipes over $49.99.
2. See above on Visas issued by MetaBank. New limit appears to be $99 per swipe with some metas at some stores. Follow the posts below for the latest information.
3. MC issued by US bank OR Metabank MC (Giftcards.com) can work, but you need to change payment type to debit before they enter the amount in the register. See below for details.
4. Gdot/sun work but take about an hour to activate.(VGC issued by Sunrise also limited to $99/swipe, same as Metabank issued cards, and Sunrise was available immediately).
5. USB work
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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 $1 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 $1 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 transactions: 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.
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.
7. SSN/ID entry - Any MO purchases in one transaction at or over $3K requires you to input your SSN. Any MO at or over $1K requires ID input (and ID requirement can also be forced by cashier at any amount).
Debit codes PDF
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/attac...0&d=1461170080
Buying Money Orders at Walmart (2019 - 2022)
May 21, 2019, 6:58 pm
#631
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
I think that the "Please tell customer politely" message is triggered by going over $8K in 24 hours. Does this comport with any other data points?
On another topic, I had an interesting occurrence. I bought a MO for a non-MS related purpose. The print on the MO was kind of light. When it got to the recipient (a financial institution) they returned it to me as "illegible" and it was in fact faded much more than when I bought it. I still had two other MO's for the same amount bought at the same time, and so I made those payable to myself, deposited them, and bought new ones. But I've written to MG demanding my money back without the $18 fee because the actual MO instrument was defective. I'll see what happens.
On another topic, I had an interesting occurrence. I bought a MO for a non-MS related purpose. The print on the MO was kind of light. When it got to the recipient (a financial institution) they returned it to me as "illegible" and it was in fact faded much more than when I bought it. I still had two other MO's for the same amount bought at the same time, and so I made those payable to myself, deposited them, and bought new ones. But I've written to MG demanding my money back without the $18 fee because the actual MO instrument was defective. I'll see what happens.
May 21, 2019, 7:00 pm
#632
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
From WM website --
Can I get a refund for my money order if I no longer need it?
If the money order is not damaged or altered, please visit your local Walmart store with your original sales receipt to obtain a refund.
Wonder what would happen if someone showed up with a fist/bucket/truck full of MOs and wanted their money back?
Can I get a refund for my money order if I no longer need it?
If the money order is not damaged or altered, please visit your local Walmart store with your original sales receipt to obtain a refund.
Wonder what would happen if someone showed up with a fist/bucket/truck full of MOs and wanted their money back?
The statement "obtain a refund" and "obtain a refund with no transaction fee" are not equivalent (as all flyers know).
May 21, 2019, 8:48 pm
#633
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
I think that the "Please tell customer politely" message is triggered by going over $8K in 24 hours. Does this comport with any other data points?
On another topic, I had an interesting occurrence. I bought a MO for a non-MS related purpose. The print on the MO was kind of light. When it got to the recipient (a financial institution) they returned it to me as "illegible" and it was in fact faded much more than when I bought it. I still had two other MO's for the same amount bought at the same time, and so I made those payable to myself, deposited them, and bought new ones. But I've written to MG demanding my money back without the $18 fee because the actual MO instrument was defective. I'll see what happens.
On another topic, I had an interesting occurrence. I bought a MO for a non-MS related purpose. The print on the MO was kind of light. When it got to the recipient (a financial institution) they returned it to me as "illegible" and it was in fact faded much more than when I bought it. I still had two other MO's for the same amount bought at the same time, and so I made those payable to myself, deposited them, and bought new ones. But I've written to MG demanding my money back without the $18 fee because the actual MO instrument was defective. I'll see what happens.
May 21, 2019, 8:51 pm
#634
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
I have not had to present a DL for MOs less than $900. Without a DL, there is no way for WM to identify you.
So why don't you drop your MO purchase to less than $900 and buy smaller denomination MOs. Sometimes I have to buy $400 MOs because the WM will only allow 2 swipes. It does increase my cost by $0.88 but it beats not having a place to liquidate my GC's.
So why don't you drop your MO purchase to less than $900 and buy smaller denomination MOs. Sometimes I have to buy $400 MOs because the WM will only allow 2 swipes. It does increase my cost by $0.88 but it beats not having a place to liquidate my GC's.
May 22, 2019, 4:45 am
#635
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,295
I may have gotten banned but I'm not sure it's exactly what happened.
CSR this morning was telling me how this other guy who comes in was banned (we're pretty friendly and she knows the deal, etc.) After typing in all my info in she says "Oh, you're banned too."
I peered over at the screen and there was a red bar at the top that I thought said something like "System down" or similar and the screen itself asked if the transaction should be completed. I couldn't really read it but I was looking for the "Please tell customer politely..." language but I didn't see that.
So, I'm hoping their "customer check" system was just down but I'm not sure.
CSR this morning was telling me how this other guy who comes in was banned (we're pretty friendly and she knows the deal, etc.) After typing in all my info in she says "Oh, you're banned too."
I peered over at the screen and there was a red bar at the top that I thought said something like "System down" or similar and the screen itself asked if the transaction should be completed. I couldn't really read it but I was looking for the "Please tell customer politely..." language but I didn't see that.
So, I'm hoping their "customer check" system was just down but I'm not sure.
I have a sense that the system that runs the check was down temporarily and that's what triggered the error. We'll see what happens going forward here. I may avoid the early shift for the time being.
May 22, 2019, 5:49 am
#636
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 377
I think that the "Please tell customer politely" message is triggered by going over $8K in 24 hours. Does this comport with any other data points?
On another topic, I had an interesting occurrence. I bought a MO for a non-MS related purpose. The print on the MO was kind of light. When it got to the recipient (a financial institution) they returned it to me as "illegible" and it was in fact faded much more than when I bought it. I still had two other MO's for the same amount bought at the same time, and so I made those payable to myself, deposited them, and bought new ones. But I've written to MG demanding my money back without the $18 fee because the actual MO instrument was defective. I'll see what happens.
On another topic, I had an interesting occurrence. I bought a MO for a non-MS related purpose. The print on the MO was kind of light. When it got to the recipient (a financial institution) they returned it to me as "illegible" and it was in fact faded much more than when I bought it. I still had two other MO's for the same amount bought at the same time, and so I made those payable to myself, deposited them, and bought new ones. But I've written to MG demanding my money back without the $18 fee because the actual MO instrument was defective. I'll see what happens.
May 22, 2019, 12:26 pm
#637
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 429
Curious if you had better luck with a different cashier? I waited a couple weeks, went back and still banned but same cashier as the first time I got the ban. Tried again later with a passport (different address) and still banned but again, same cashier. Can't seem to miss that guy
May 22, 2019, 1:09 pm
#638
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 29
I just want to avoid DL if I can as well as getting "banned" from purchasing MOs with higher volumes.
May 22, 2019, 5:53 pm
#639
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 3
I think I remember someone posting in the thread earlier that switching WM locations works? Anyone have luck with that? I'll probably go try tomorrow, it's just quite out of my way and between the the ban on MOs for me and the sweep of shutdowns on my BB and Serve, I don't want to think about WM again for the day.
May 22, 2019, 6:30 pm
#640
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,727
So basically YMMV for DL at WM MC for MOs... I've done $500s with no request for DLs but haven't tried anything above that yet but may need to do $1000-1500 without Serve/BB for the time being.
I just want to avoid DL if I can as well as getting "banned" from purchasing MOs with higher volumes.
I just want to avoid DL if I can as well as getting "banned" from purchasing MOs with higher volumes.
May 25, 2019, 2:20 pm
#641
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 128
Charged Twice
Yesterday I was trying to purchase an MO at WM for $498. I swiped my VGC and entered my pin, but it took the CSR a while to hit enter on his register and it said it timed out. I thought there may have been a problem with that VGC (e.g., not properly activated, etc.), so I swiped another VGC (these were Simon VGCs). The second one went through fine. However the next day when I tried to use the first VGC from yesterday to purchase another money order, it failed. When I got home I checked the balance on that VGC and it showed that $498.88 had been charged at Walmart the day before. I checked the second VGC I used the day before (the one that worked) and it showed that $498.88 had been charged at Walmart too. In essence, both VGCs had been charged $498.88 but I only got the one $498 MO. I went back to the store today and explained the situation to an assistant manager. I did NOT tell him I used VGCs. He looked at my receipt and asked if the charge on the first card for which I wanted a refund showed that the charge was pending. I said it couldn't remember (i.e., I didn't tell him that the Simon Mall giftcard site showed that the card had been debited for $498.88). He said that he was pretty sure that on the next business day (i.e., Tuesday) the money would be back in my account and that I wouldn't actually be charged on that card. Rather than argue or tell him that it was a VGC, I thanked him and said that I would be back next week if the amount wasn't credited back to my card.
My first question is whether this first VGC I used will be credited back with $498.88 (since it was not actually used to pay for the MO, the second VGC was)? Can a Simon VGC be credited if a pending charge doesn't actually post? If doesn't or can't get credited back onto that VGC by WM's system, I guess I will have to go back to that WM and talk to a manager again and have them check their system to see if they are long $498.88 on their cash balance for that day and try to get a refund. Anyone ever had anything similar happen? Any advice on my next steps if this first VGC still shows a debit of $498.88? Thanks.
My first question is whether this first VGC I used will be credited back with $498.88 (since it was not actually used to pay for the MO, the second VGC was)? Can a Simon VGC be credited if a pending charge doesn't actually post? If doesn't or can't get credited back onto that VGC by WM's system, I guess I will have to go back to that WM and talk to a manager again and have them check their system to see if they are long $498.88 on their cash balance for that day and try to get a refund. Anyone ever had anything similar happen? Any advice on my next steps if this first VGC still shows a debit of $498.88? Thanks.
May 25, 2019, 3:08 pm
#642
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 42
Had an odd situation yesterday. Went to my local WMN - where they are always friendly and I never have issues. Cashier wasn't one of my regulars but was also one who I had before. Was doing 2k MO with all cards from Simon. Went to swipe the first card and it said 'debit can't be processed' (or something similar). Tried it again - said same thing. Confirmed with the cashier that she was entering 500.00 and she was. So I had her cancel the transaction. Didn't want to try any of the other 3 cards for fear of getting to the last and having to cancel anyway. I checked the activity on that card I did swipe and it showed that 500 had been drained and replaced twice from that WMN - just as had actually happened. So it must have been something on the WM end or the MG end? Not a heavy hitter - but I've done my share of MO over the years. The few previous times my card didn't drain was when it was already at 0.00 because of fraud (unbeknownst to me at the time) and never with Simon cards. These 4 cards all had 500 - I checked in the parking lot before I went it. Going to try again today at a different WM - and maybe later at my WMN - but this had never happened to me.
May 25, 2019, 3:11 pm
#643
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 129
That happened to me yesterday. Got error code "debit not available" twice and when I checked the card for activation issues I saw the same thing you did. The money had been taken out and then returned twice. I had more cards with me and I was able to successfully complete the MO transaction with the next four. I ended up going to another WM to test the "bad" card with a 499.12 MO and it worked fine.
May 25, 2019, 3:36 pm
#644
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 128
That happened to me yesterday. Got error code "debit not available" twice and when I checked the card for activation issues I saw the same thing you did. The money had been taken out and then returned twice. I had more cards with me and I was able to successfully complete the MO transaction with the next four. I ended up going to another WM to test the "bad" card with a 499.12 MO and it worked fine.
May 25, 2019, 6:58 pm
#645
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 42
That happened to me yesterday. Got error code "debit not available" twice and when I checked the card for activation issues I saw the same thing you did. The money had been taken out and then returned twice. I had more cards with me and I was able to successfully complete the MO transaction with the next four. I ended up going to another WM to test the "bad" card with a 499.12 MO and it worked fine.