Ongoing MS Gebit BHN breakdown
 

I'm proposing this new thread to aggregate information regarding the cascade of "not authorized" failures for the use of BHN gebit cards for MO purchases. While other threads specific to stores or Simon Malls contain discussions of the issue, it appears much broader-sourced than just Simon cards. My local experience with cards purchased at WD in the SE is that for the last week no purchases at all have gone through. Each attempt for varying amounts from 498.71 to 485 have gotten the dreaded "not authorized" message. The broad speculation has been that this is a deliberate action by BHN to limit liquidation of cards by this method. The fact that I and others have been able to use the cards to make straight credit purchases supports that theory.

However, the contemporaneous collapses of the mygiftcardmall system suggests that it might be the result of some broader problem at BHN - or perhaps that whatever kludge they've imposed to "fix" the liquidation problem has screwed up something else. All in all, a mystery. But I, for one, will weep bitter tears if this long lived method of MS is finally dead.

Please feel free to add your experiences and data points below.

Andyandy

There's a lot of information spread out amongst various threads already, but I agree a centralized point is best.

However, there's no way this isn't intentional on BHN's part.

Indeed. Unlike Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, you don't have to ask, "Who are those guys?".

I expect you're right. I would be fascinated to know how much of their business is made up of MSers. I can say with confidence that I account for the majority of BHN cards at my local fishing grounds. I doubt there are many organic sales of the variable loads.

AndyAndy

I Had no issues with a Simon at WD last week with the time break between MOs

At my local WD I only see Sunrise BHN on the racks wondering how they could be different from other meta/pathmark BHNs

I've been seeing a slow roll of "not authorized" rejections at supermarkets in the past year. It seems to be get worse, fast now. Mastercards purchased at Staples stopped working for me at WD last week. Up north, a family member told me that Staples Visas stopped working a couple months at Acme (an Albertsons brand) and Staples Mastercards stopped working this week. I assume the rejections are still local chain implemented, but they seem to be getting more widespread.

By the way, which retailers sell Visa or Mastercard gift cards that are not BHN cards? Are they also impacted by this problem?

Even if it's a large percentage of their business, it is unlikely a profitable part of it, hence why they seem to be firing MS-ers as customers.

My head is spinning from all the new hassles and complexities involved in liquidating gift cards these days.

A (relatively) simple question. I have a couple of Chase Freedom cards that I want to max out this quarter's supermarket bonus spend. My plan was to buy $500 variable gift cards at a supermarket and turn them into money orders. In the current world, are there "better" supermarkets to buy these cards at? I assume I don't want to buy cards that are issued by BHN because they now seem problematic. Correct? I thought I recall the Albertsons chain dumping BHN for somebody else a couple years ago. Is that true, and are those cards less likely to be "not authorized" for a MO transaction? And if I shop at other chains, what am I looking for on the card wrapper that tells me it's not a BHN card -- assuming that's what I want to avoid?

Today was trying to load my BB at WM MC, with 99 swipes. After two 297 transactions, on the 2nd swipe of the 3rd transaction, started getting Debit 12 or 93 errors. One was on the exact same $200 card I just used for Swipe 1. After a few futile attempts, I finished it with a DE card. This is a new development.

Interesting. I'm attempting to liquidate Sunrise VGCs at WD with zero success. "Not authorized" on cards with confirmed balance with PIN reset - which itself difficult to manage with the giftcardmall site totally broken. And this is at a very MS friendly WD.

Andyandy

Not sure about the “better” supermarkets question.
The most important thing to see on the card wrapper is who it is serviced and distributed by.
You want to see InComm.

Look on the back of the cardboard package.
Look for Bxxxx Hxxx Nxxxxxxx. It will say very clearly.
Avoid those is what they are saying.

I don't think the rot has infected Vanilla cards if you can find a grocery that sells them. My local is BHN exclusive, which really really blows. If I can ever liquidate my current - thankfully smallish - stock, I'm going to give Vanilla a try.

Andyandy

Just got my BB visa and test with $20 load to see the steps. Seem very straight forward. What is the load limit on the BB? TIA

Are the new problems all related to that company?

FWIW, I was buying a few $500 giftcards at Walgreens to meet a minimum spend last month. No problem liquidating them, except the last one became "not authoritzed" at an Albertson's store earlier this month. i assume Walgreens sell BHN and I got caught in the "crackdown"?