WTF. Man that's just messed up. Cash is king.

Visa- it's everywhere you want to be and can't go to since they stole your money.

I bought a Visa "My Treat" card from Safeway for my Mom last year. I should have just gotten her a gift card for a department store instead. While I was aware of the user fee, I wasn't aware that so many stores wouldn't take it. Clerks were truly puzzled when it was presented. Mom only had success at one store. These cards are really a bad idea!

Wow. What a rip-off. I hope she gets some satisfaction from this shitty company.

I know a lot about these gift cards. A lot of these cards have issues working online because there is no way to verify the billing address. A key hint I've read is to go online and register the card and it could possibly work.

A main reason for this is because with the new US internet gambling laws, it is very difficult to get money into online sportsbooks. People are buying prepaid cards in an attempt to deposit when their usual cards are getting declined.

If you would like to buy something online with a prepaid card, you should get the "VISA ALL ACCESS CARD". This one works online on all sites. You can get them at Safeway, Shoppers, Giant, Etc. CVS does not carry these cards.

I don't know what some people's problem is with using a credit card. Either they don't want to use credit cards cuz they think they're the devil. However, when you want to get a loan ur screwed. Online shopping is the wave of the future. Have fun paying $5 to spend $100 online for a prepaid. Online shopping is reasonably safe, and CC companies are pretty good with fraudulent transactions.

Where are the astroturfers to blame Stephanie? Not here yet?

So you can't wait too long to use it, but you can't use it too soon either. Maybe gift cards are just plain a bad idea. Ugh!

So by invalidating the agreement, that means she can now sue CVS and/or Vanilla, without arbitration, for failing to live up to the implied warranty of merchantability.

Seems like they want to be sued.

In fact, the way that the front of the card states "funds MAY NOT be available" will be their downfall.

Just out of curiosity, what retailers (presumably ones that accept Visa credit cards) don't accept Visa gift cards? If a retailer doesn't accept any credit cards, I can understand them not accepting the gift cards, but I don't recall ever seeing anything about a gift card being refused by a merchant that accepts Visa credit cards.

Wow.

Well, another option is Paypal, which can generate a temporary card number (visa). My online banking service can also do this.

I've also never had any problem with the Green Dot program, though in all the above instances one gives up some private information in the registration process - namely social security number. Wal-Mart actually has a deal in place with the Green Dot people to offer a substantial discount on purchase, maintenance and reloading fees in the cards. I had always assumed that these cards were for use mostly for people who wanted a card distinct from their bank account, for online use and the like, or who did not have a bank account at all.

Reading the original article, it sounds like the Vanilla Visa people are trying to somehow shift the blame to CVS, which I do not understand. An "activation delay" is a far cry from "self destruct."

@Customer_Service_Slave: @Customer_Service_Slave:

correct.

Internet, Mail, and Phone Order Purchases

Internet, mail, and phone order purchases may require that we have the name and address of the Prepaid Giftcard owner on file. If you wish to make Internet, mail, or phone order purchases, you will need to go to www.vanillavisa.com and enter your name and address prior to performing an Internet, mail, or phone order transaction.

still not a great idea. secure online transactions have not failed me yet.

@jkinatl2: Ugh! I had to load some money on a Green Dot once before and it went horribly wrong. The money never loaded up. Waited a few days because I loaded it with my check card. They took the money out, but never loaded it. It is impossible to speak to a human. I ended up going back to the place I bought it at and was able to get my money back there.

If credit card companies can make one extra nickel by lying, stealing or murdering then you can bet they will.

@chris_d: I'm not going to blame her because she didn't do anything wrong. However, for anyone else that may be in this situation, I recommend checking balances prior to using the card, even for plain old retailer gift cards. Just about every entity offers an online site to check the balance and it's a very easy way to make sure that the seller activated the card. That's always the first thing I do when I buy/receive a gift card. It really helps in these types of situations.

@lotussix: @Customer_Service_Slave: About the online gambling thing - most credit card issuers in North America code their cards to automatically decline at any merchant who is recognized as being related to gambling. Their reasoning is that you are using their money to gamble with, and gambling is a high risk activity with higher than normal default rates. The dumb part comes in when the same companies also code their debit cards, secured credit cards, and prepaid credit cards with the same codes, and make that choice for you even when it's not their money, it's your money.

Regarding the use of prepaid cards online anywhere else, the concern is money laundering. Using a prepaid card without sufficient verification of identity THAT THE CARD ISSUER CAN TRACK is a gateway to allow criminals to reintegrate their money back into legal circulation without having to prove where the money came from.

The emphasis is used because some people think the fact that the cashier at the store checked their ID is enough. It isn't. The card issuer cannot track that due to massive privacy issues, nor can they prove the cashier ever checked it.

The penalties the US government imposes on companies that unwittingly and unintentionally allowed even a tiny amount of money-laundering to happen through their systems are huge, so every company out there protects themselves from that possibility, sometimes to an extent that the general public finds draconian.

Why only a partial refund? Nowhere in the fine print does it say the card would be rendered useless if you attempt to use it within the first 24 hours. (As stated in the article by NBC, they opened a Vanilla card user agreement)

If she wants something to control her spending in a similar instance, she could open up a separate account at a local bank with free checking/debit card. She could deposit $100 into that account for spending purposes as needed.

She was able to get PART of her money back? Me thinks she needs it all. CVS is responsible for selling something that gets you on the fine print.

I work at a Walgreens, and we have two type of Visa prepaid cards.

One of them, which seems to be meant as a normal gift card, which I can't remember the company name, but it's not Vanilla Visa, charges a fee that ranges from 3.95 to 5.95 based on how large the card is, and a $2 fee per month if it isn't used up within a year. I've never heard of any complaints similar to this story, so I don't know what kind of shady company CVS contracted with. We also have American Express gift cards which seem basically the same.

Then there are the Green Dot cards. They come in both Mastercard and Visa versions, and are not intended as gift cards. They have a 9.95 activation fee and a 4.95 monthly fee that starts immediately. They are reloadable, though that incurs another 4.95 fee. For some reason, they can only be paid for with cash.

They seem to be marketed towards someone wanting to control someone else's spending (like a parent giving them to a college student), or for people who don't have any real credit cards or a bank account but need to pay for things that can't be paid for in cash. Thus in order to activate them you have to provide personal information and they send the actual card in the mail, so it satisfies the online purchasing issues brought up by other posters by having an address on it.

@Zclyh3:
That depends on where you go. I went to an Ultimate Electronics and tried to buy a $12 cable with cash. The clerk gave me such a tremendous hassle about paying with cash and trying to make me pay with credit (all the while looking nervously at his supervisor who was trying to observe the transaction unnoticed) that I ended up leaving with nothing. I've never been so hassled about paying with cash before, it was surreal.

@silver-bolt:

Yes, regarding the 24 hour time delay, I see a big difference in "funds MAY NOT be available" and "funds WILL NOT be available."

@frank64: You saw what I saw in this story. She put in $100; she should get $100 back. On the spot.

@Zclyh3: The story says she bought the card in order to do some online shopping, a venue where cash really doesn't work.

Um can we ask why Stephanie bought a Visa Gift Card that carries all kinds of activation fees in order to make a purchase online?? Sounds like there has to be an easier way, dear.

@mamalicious: Or "Funds will not be available and if you try, we will steal your money (legally)... *evil laugh*"

Funny enough, they actually insert a little voice recorder/playback device for the evil laugh part.

I've used the All Access card for quite awhile. Although there is a fee to reload it, it can be reloaded for free from PayPal.

@PLATTWORX: Uncomfortable making a purchase using one of her regular credit cards, maybe?

@jkinatl2: I would rather eat dogshit than use Paypal again. I hope the owners of Paypal catch fire.

Did I mention I don't care for Paypal?

@PLATTWORX: "Sounds like there has to be an easier way, dear."

And the truly sad part is that she took this complicated way as a means to save money.

@SabreDC: Online retailers, I think. Because the prepaid card usually won't have your billing address attached.

@WraithSama:

How do they turn down a sale especially when it's cash? I don't understand.

AHHHH MY BRAINS

Reading The Consumerist makes me never want to use cash, credit, debit, or gift cards again. From now on it's pure stealing and scamming for me. MMMKAYTHANKSBYE

@jkinatl2: My wife received a Green Dot Mastercard as a teacher gift. Green Dot is *not* a gift card. I really don't know who it's appropriate for. People who have cash but can't open a bank account and get a debit card? Who would want to pay $4.95/month spend their own money out of what is essentially an escrow account?

Anyway, we didn't want to pay $4.95/month *or* give our social security number. I think got a human on the activation number by waiting without pressing any digits. I was told we could decline the their terms (i.e. providing a social security number) and they would send us a check for the card value PLUS the $9.95 purchase price. I was suspicious, but sure enough, a check for $109.95 came a couple of weeks later.

FWIW, Discover does not require an SSN for their gift cards, but they are indeed gift cards - they are not reloadable.

Gift cards make me want to throw up.

A Vanilla Visa gift card like the one Stephanie used charges an activation fee of around $5, plus a $2.50 monthly service fee if the card is not used within seven months.

YMMV based on state.

IIRC, California does not allow activation fees, service fees, or expiration dates on gift cards. (though obviously you have to use them before said store goes bankrupt).

/and someday, I'll make my way back to a Godiva Chocolatier to get my $10 worth of chocolate from a 5 year old gift card.

More proof that bankers should be put in prison.

@Nicole Glynn: But with every Visa gift card I've received in the past, you go online and add your info. I've done quite a bit of online shopping with them because my family has no clue what to get me as gifts during the holidays and I've never had any problem if you register them.

I can't speak for Mastercard or AmEx though. I've never used those; just the Visa ones.

Wow, even the Soup Nazi gives you your money back.

@.Xenn.: [Bad Consumer]

@arymede: So, basically, because the government law enforcement can't do their job and prevent these illegal activities, they go ahead and let the criminals (by proxy) destroy our financial systems, at the expense of the people that are not committing these crimes.

What's next? Are they going to be monitoring our phone calls because criminals and terrorists might use phones?

@silver-bolt: I say a law suit is not enough. Press criminal charges and put the bankers in prison.

@savdavid: That's why the legislation going through congress right now is not enough. We need prison time for bankers that do any kind of lying, stealing, and such. Long mandatory sentences, too.

@Customer_Service_Slave:

"However, when you want to get a loan ur screwed"

Who NEEDS loans? Be an adult and save up your money. Immediate gratification is bad karma.

@macinjosh: Not if you ask for extra bread.

@SabreDC: Amtrak won't- they'll take most of the major credit cards (Master Card, Visa, Discovery, AmEx), but you can't use prepaid credit/gift cards or debit cards that don't have one of those logos on them. In the case of the gift cards, I think it's primarily due to the fact that when you buy a ticket on board the train, the conductor's not using a networked scanner to run the card, but the old-style, carbon copy method. If someone uses a gift card that doesn't go through (for whatever reason), by the time Amtrak finds out, the customer is long gone and there's not a lot to be done. Someone probably did a cost-benefit analysis and decided that the likelihood of the prepaid cards being denied outweighs the benefit of allowing some customers to use them to pay for train tickets.

I don't know whether they'll take them at a physical ticket office, where they're presumably going to have a computer-based card reader; I'm currently in training to be a conductor, which is why I know about the on board policy. Cash is always okay, though (and probably welcomed by most conductors, as the carbon thing with credit cards is a giant pain to use)- can be a bit tough if you're upgrading to a room on a long haul train or something, but otherwise the way to go, IMHO.

I've used LOTS of vanilla visas, on the rare occasion I forgot about the 24 hour clause, I called customer service and they offered me a new card. It did have to bear a name and be sent to an address which is now traceable to the bearer, however, they did give me the full amount of the value on the card, given it took 4 weeks before the card finally arrived.

@Stephen Schenck: I've managed to avoid the car loans, but the house? That was a little more than I could have saved up for.

@lordargent: But it does allow an activation fee for a prepaid credit card. What happens after purchase is not the states problem.

@Stephen Schenck: Well most people can not save up for a home. Make no mistake that a mortgage is a LOAN. If you want to start a business and are smart you would use borrowed money and not your own. This would be another reason to use a loan. Finally, using credit cards provides an accounting of everything you buy, and provides insurance that cash can not.

If your family members really love you, they'll give you cash.