Simon Mall Gift Cards (2024 onwards)
Jan 9, 2024, 6:26 pm
#16
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: DUB-BOS
Programs: various
Posts: 3,693
I do not recall any fee free deal at Simon Online since the middle of last year. Are you sure it was Simon and not Vanilla (who did run a fee free deal last month)
Jan 9, 2024, 6:28 pm
#17
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 29
Jan 9, 2024, 6:44 pm
#18
Join Date: Aug 2022
Posts: 319
when you apply online for an account, they email you telling you to go to a mall and purchase 2K min and 10K max and the fee for this 1 time will be removed and it was, then you are suppose to email them letting them when and where you made the purchase. Hubby did but we havent heard anything from SM fwiw hubby also emailed them once he got the email that he made a purchase in Nov and didnt hear back either. Then rereading the email he realized there wouldnt be any fees so he went and made the purchase
Jan 10, 2024, 10:07 am
#21
Join Date: Oct 2023
Posts: 277
SailorJoe If you search my threads on this topic, you will find that I posted many times about my trials and tribulations using my Citi card to buy VGCs at Simon mall.
It took several years...yes years
to get Citi to stop declining my purchases from Simon, and no matter how often I called prior to purchase and no matter how often the rep on the other side of the line said I was good to go, I wasn't.
I finally gave up using this card and switched to another, but they finally relented ( I guess I paid them on time often enough to get me off the suspect list
)
The other infuriating thing with this was that once declined, Simon refused to let me use the card again for that purchase, even when Citi said it was good to go.
My only advice. Use the card organically, pay your bills on time and keep trying. At some point they will stop declining your card, unless you are trying to buy $10K in cards. At that, they may balk.
It took several years...yes years
to get Citi to stop declining my purchases from Simon, and no matter how often I called prior to purchase and no matter how often the rep on the other side of the line said I was good to go, I wasn't.I finally gave up using this card and switched to another, but they finally relented ( I guess I paid them on time often enough to get me off the suspect list
)The other infuriating thing with this was that once declined, Simon refused to let me use the card again for that purchase, even when Citi said it was good to go.
My only advice. Use the card organically, pay your bills on time and keep trying. At some point they will stop declining your card, unless you are trying to buy $10K in cards. At that, they may balk.
What's driving me nuts is The fact that the customer service rep said I don't need to do anything, I can just use any card I want for the initial purchase. However, when I did use a different card for the initial purchase that seems to have caused them to decline my application.
Jan 12, 2024, 8:03 am
#23
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: DUB-BOS
Programs: various
Posts: 3,693
Jan 12, 2024, 8:11 am
#24
Join Date: Jan 2023
Posts: 137
Thanks. Do you still find these to be useful then at 1K increments... I am not able to buy more than 5 at a time, unfortunately.
Jan 12, 2024, 1:48 pm
#25
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: DUB-BOS
Programs: various
Posts: 3,693
Most places near me are single swipe with a couple at 2x swipes. Even then it depends on who is at the desk. So I place a premium on being able to liquidate in as few swipes and as little drama as possible.
For example office 200s are zero cost and can be got with a 5x card, but there is a huge liquidation cost in time/money if you do not have access to places that are super MS friendly
I have a spreadsheet with the costs to buy and liquidate the different VGC and Simon 1k's with a 2x card is competitive from a cpp perspective. Sure there are cheaper options but there is a time and drama cost to those.
In your case being limited to 5 at a time makes the shipping fee rough
Jan 12, 2024, 2:36 pm
#26
Join Date: Jan 2023
Posts: 137
They have your name on them and being 1k means many CSR do not even suspect you have a VGC.
Most places near me are single swipe with a couple at 2x swipes. Even then it depends on who is at the desk. So I place a premium on being able to liquidate in as few swipes and as little drama as possible.
For example office 200s are zero cost and can be got with a 5x card, but there is a huge liquidation cost in time/money if you do not have access to places that are super MS friendly
I have a spreadsheet with the costs to buy and liquidate the different VGC and Simon 1k's with a 2x card is competitive from a cpp perspective. Sure there are cheaper options but there is a time and drama cost to those.
In your case being limited to 5 at a time makes the shipping fee rough
Most places near me are single swipe with a couple at 2x swipes. Even then it depends on who is at the desk. So I place a premium on being able to liquidate in as few swipes and as little drama as possible.
For example office 200s are zero cost and can be got with a 5x card, but there is a huge liquidation cost in time/money if you do not have access to places that are super MS friendly
I have a spreadsheet with the costs to buy and liquidate the different VGC and Simon 1k's with a 2x card is competitive from a cpp perspective. Sure there are cheaper options but there is a time and drama cost to those.
In your case being limited to 5 at a time makes the shipping fee rough
Jan 12, 2024, 7:39 pm
#27
Join Date: Nov 2023
Posts: 49
They have your name on them and being 1k means many CSR do not even suspect you have a VGC.
Most places near me are single swipe with a couple at 2x swipes. Even then it depends on who is at the desk. So I place a premium on being able to liquidate in as few swipes and as little drama as possible.
For example office 200s are zero cost and can be got with a 5x card, but there is a huge liquidation cost in time/money if you do not have access to places that are super MS friendly
I have a spreadsheet with the costs to buy and liquidate the different VGC and Simon 1k's with a 2x card is competitive from a cpp perspective. Sure there are cheaper options but there is a time and drama cost to those.
In your case being limited to 5 at a time makes the shipping fee rough
Most places near me are single swipe with a couple at 2x swipes. Even then it depends on who is at the desk. So I place a premium on being able to liquidate in as few swipes and as little drama as possible.
For example office 200s are zero cost and can be got with a 5x card, but there is a huge liquidation cost in time/money if you do not have access to places that are super MS friendly
I have a spreadsheet with the costs to buy and liquidate the different VGC and Simon 1k's with a 2x card is competitive from a cpp perspective. Sure there are cheaper options but there is a time and drama cost to those.
In your case being limited to 5 at a time makes the shipping fee rough
Jan 12, 2024, 7:46 pm
#28
Join Date: Oct 2023
Posts: 277
Here's a question. What if you could get $500 InComm cards for no fee, with 4x card. How would you rate that?
Jan 12, 2024, 8:14 pm
#29
Join Date: Nov 2023
Posts: 49
Jan 12, 2024, 8:32 pm
#30
Join Date: Oct 2023
Posts: 277
Result: you get InComms with a net 4% gain. Some would argue the extra step of going through WM SCM is a drag, but we're going to WM anyway, so we might as well take max advantage of the MS run. Right?