Disney Gift Card Deals

[ellie05]

i went to my local bru & tru and was told by both that they don't do gc2gc. bb selling out JUST as i purchased the ebay gc is sad, so it's just funny now walgreens aren't too close, so i called and was told that neither does gc2gc. you referenced shipping - is this something that they do online, but not in stores??? on a semi-plus side, i WAS told by a local gamestop that they WILL accept gc2gc and i noticed that they have ebay reloadable, however, i'm on the fence about trusting the employee - a gamer kid - as i'm not really sure he KNOWS, especially because he referenced being able to do it online. i was thinking like bb, which allows you to purchase other gcs online, but nope ... the only online gc that could be purchased was one for gamestop, so i'm thinking about maybe trying a $25 one, since i may have to purchase something there anyway, so that can be my backup. anyone know for sure?

The first rule of churning never ask or call.

So, now have a sad BB story. (sorry this is long). Keeps happening to me, argh! So, last night I was at BB to buy $1225 in Disney gc's. That includes the $225 in promos that I got, too. I have had great luck at BB, and getting loadable gc's for higher amounts. Every time I checked if that was okay, allowed, etc, and she always said of course, why would we limit what you can spend your money on or how much, that's up to you and we don't turn down sales. So I had gotten comfortable. I had bought $1500 in loadable ebay gc's on Wednesday, and another associate said that was the limit now in a day for gc to gc purchase. Thursday night I was going in to get Disney. She could only get 2 $250's to activate, and that took a bit. She seemed confused why. We tried other cards, lower amounts. No more disney gc's would go thru. She tried other and they would activate, but no disney(didn't try ebay that night). She put in an email to corporate and had me come back Friday afternoon. I called ahead so to see, if it was a glitch like we figured. She said come in and we'd talk with her manager and he could help me, she hadn't gotten an email back yet. She said she had told him she'd been helping me with purchases for a long while now and I bought Ebay gc's and Disney gc's with egc's. Well this set off a bell for him. I had given her my rewards Wednesday night because I had recently received rewards and the only purchases I made there this year had been gc's so I thought maybe they were giving me points. I guess I also gave them my number one other time earlier this summer sometime, not sure the exact timing. (Should never have given them my number!) So they realized that I was the one that had made about a $1700 purchase of ebay gc's and they said my BB gc's I used had been fraudulent and they had to cover that cost and couldn't do that anymore. It had happened with another person or two as well. They were able to let me get the two $250 disney gc's the night before as a courtesy but couldn't allow anymore cause they couldn't cover the amounts. I asked why they never called, I was pretty upset, he didn't really answer that. I was upset they were thinking I was trying to commit fraud, but he was very nice and seemed to believe me, saying that's why they wanted to see me in person and I seemed to be telling the truth. He asked where I got the gc's and I told him I bought them either with my ebay gc's or my cc, thru paypal(he sorta made a face at that, seeming to note the bad rep). I said I was done with using my ebay gc's and such as I was finishing up getting my trip gc's. (The computer had denied the activating because she put my number in first, and it must have connected to that one other time I put in my number when the sale turned bad! ugh!) But, they couldn't do anymore. I still have $500 and then $225 in promo cards in BB gc's! At least, 225 is the free money so not actually down that amount.

He did say I could use them on items in the store, Xmas gifts, computer, whatever. Just not gc's. I asked if I could exchange that for the disney gc's but no. He said I could buy disney gc's online, that should work and they either mail or in store pick up. Or I could call the 1-888 number and they might help me. He made it seem no gc to gc purchases but not sure that's true. He did allow me to use my BB gc and the rewards pts to do a $35 gc. I asked if this was all stores or only there, he said you could try other stores but didn't know if they'd work. So, another fine mess I'm in. I had no idea and don't now why they never called me before but looks like my must have been drained but not sure why it went thru the sale and they took each card, doesn't make sense that they seemed to work at the time. He didn't know the exact date, but must have been in July.

DD26's fiance is going to go in tomorrow and try to buy like a $100 card here. I am going to go in to another store and try to buy a couple hundred, not giving them my rewards number! If that doesn't work, I guess I'll buy online if that will work. Will probably have DD26 do it so it doesn't connect to my rewards just in case they deny me for that. I mean if worst come to worst, I'll have to use on computer or something. I hate that I may be out the BB part of churning, hoping that I can still purchase, albeit in smaller amounts, at another store, or online. And I'm pretty shocked they had such a huge case of fraud with my cards! Very upsetting! And, it's strange as I've made other purchases since then there as well.

Btw, my swagbucks from purchasese this week are starting to show as pending! Now what can I do with the SB points I got?

I am sorry this happened, but what was said to you doesn't make sense at all if the GC were fraudulent the store will have to cover no matter what you buy. The volume you ran through flagged you. I never do any one transaction over $300 that is just calling for problems. Of course they will think is suspicious if someone buys a $1700 GC as the main purpose of a GC is for "gift" and since there is so much fraud going on I would be surprised if their system doesn't have a way to flag automatically after certain amount. Also if the GC were fraudulent I would think they would have involve the police as well I don't know of any store manager that would be ok covering that loss.

 

[MinMou]

Yes - for a change, ebay did the right thing after doing the wrong thing. Changing TOS with no warning was very shady and left a lot of customers holding the bag. Opening the window back up at the same time as a 3-day 5x ebay bucks promo, was a nice way to make up for being so sh**** in the first place. I think if you're in the lurch now after ebay gave you a perfectly acceptable (even generous) exit strategy, that's on you.

So thank you ebay.

Now, PPDG on the other hand...

I would like to agree with you, but not everyone got that promotion. I don't begrudge anyone who got it; it's just not my turn this time. I'm just hoping to get that kind of promotion while the window of forgiveness is still open.

 

[Lain]

I was going to post pretty much what @ellie05 just did.

@CinderBelleDVC - NEVER call or ask a store manager or employee whether they allow GC>GC.

I know you're trying to call ahead to save yourself a trip, but there's no sure way but to go into the store, try buying a third-party GC with that store's GC like it was the most natural thing in the world, and see if the clerk even bats an eye. This is part of the risk.

A lot of floor employees are not trained on that level of detail. If you call or ask, you'll raise flags -- not only for yourself but for all the other churners out there -- because you'd only ask if you weren't sure that's the norm. This causes doubt in the employees and then they'll call in a manager, and either the manager will have a policy not to allow it or they'll make up a policy not to allow it just to be safe -- even if their corporate policy and system otherwise allows for it.

As an example, the Gamestop employee gave you wrong information. GS's POSA system has been hard coded since July to disallow GS GC > eBay and open-loop GCs, and possibly others like gas and Southwest. If you had taken his advice, invested in GS GCs and gone in, you would've been denied using a GS GC to buy eBay, and your only options would've been basically restaurant cards and merchandise.

As a practical matter, you won't be able to get too much churning done through eBay anyway because this "grace period" when you can still use GC>GC ends on 10/13, the eBay Bucks earning quarter ends in two weeks on 9/30, and there probably won't be any eBucks bonuses between 9/30-10/13. Aside from PPDG, which delivers in about an hour, most third-party GCs take about a week to ship and arrive.

@Minniekins -- As others have pointed out, I'm not sure your story (or the manager's) makes sense. I've read your adventures, and I'm often struck by the volume you, your DD and her friend, and now your BFF put through PPDG and BB. I'm almost certain that you've been flagged because you've bought so many, and only GCs. Walking into a single BB store to buy $1,225 or $1,700 in GCs in one day is kind of eye catching.

A lot of us always post as a reminder, go low and slow. Break up your GC>GC purchases, use different stores over different days and times, and even different employees. Here's hoping you can convert your BB GCs at other stores and through your DD and friend.

 

[PerfessorZ]

I would like to agree with you, but not everyone got that promotion. I don't begrudge anyone who got it; it's just not my turn this time. I'm just hoping to get that kind of promotion while the window of forgiveness is still open.

Point taken.

As a side note, I have a theory that who gets targeted for ebay bucks promotions isn't as truly random as it seems at first blush. If I were hoping to get targeted, I'd make sure I opened up email ebay sends, click through to the website, and stroll around a little bit - at least a couple times a week, anyway, for each account you want to get a promo on.

 

[Lain]

SO...I have $500 in ebay GC's I got today from BB. I would love to continue churning over the next "almost' month in whatever capacity I can...slow and steady is fine...BUT I am worried ebay will start enforcing the new GC rule. I would love to know what others are doing. Are you cashing out to Disney, or another store? Are you willing to risk the ebay limits not being enforced and buying more BB or Walgreens to continue churning?

I scan through the chatter here and on places like SD for data points re eBay's current policies just before converting to eBay GCs. If eBay starts enforcing their no new eBay GC>GC rule, then it's time to exit out via Marionnette or JKalai's suggestions. I've done the math on my GC redemption amounts and dates in the past 60 days, and left just enough room to spend most of my eBay GCs in a relatively short time if I can no longer purchase any useful third-party GCs.

 

[MinMou]

Point taken.

As a side note, I have a theory that who gets targeted for ebay bucks promotions isn't as truly random as it seems at first blush. If I were hoping to get targeted, I'd make sure I opened up email ebay sends, click through to the website, and stroll around a little bit - at least a couple times a week, anyway, for each account you want to get a promo on.

I will need to be more diligent about watching their emails then. I've been doing everything else, and have made purchases without promotions.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I am sorry this happened, but what was said to you doesn't make sense at all if the GC were fraudulent the store will have to cover no matter what you buy... Also if the GC were fraudulent I would think they would have involve the police as well I don't know of any store manager that would be ok covering that loss.

I suspect it's a heck of a lot cheaper to cover merchandise than GCs for the store. The margins on gift cards for the store are gonna be close to nill, whereas the margins on everything else they sell would provide the store with a cushion. Why corporate isn't covering the loses that I don't know.

Involving police for fraudulent gift cards? Maybe the store did contact them, just to get a report logged and a report number to take back to their insurance company if they are insured for this sort of thing but I certainly don't see it going farther than that. In our area the police don't have time to come out and deal with trivial things like car break-ins or house break-ins after the fact. They will come if an alarm goes off or if someone is in danger but I completely believe the store could have reported to the authorities & that's exactly where it stopped so the customer was never contacted. I think it's amazing the Best Buy told them what they did instead of just "no more gc to gc" or "no more gc to gc or my manager will fire me" like many other places.

 

[ellie05]

I suspect it's a heck of a lot cheaper to cover merchandise than GCs for the store. The margins on gift cards for the store are gonna be close to nill, whereas the margins on everything else they sell would provide the store with a cushion. Why corporate isn't covering the loses that I don't know.

Involving police for fraudulent gift cards? Maybe the store did contact them, just to get a report logged and a report number to take back to their insurance company if they are insured for this sort of thing but I certainly don't see it going farther than that. In our area the police don't have time to come out and deal with trivial things like car break-ins or house break-ins after the fact. They will come if an alarm goes off or if someone is in danger but I completely believe the store could have reported to the authorities & that's exactly where it stopped so the customer was never contacted. I think it's amazing the Best Buy told them what they did instead of just "no more gc to gc" or "no more gc to gc or my manager will fire me" like many other places.

Just because it is cheaper to cover merchandise doesn't mean the manager will be ok taking fraudulent GC and taking the loss that just doesn't make any sense. I don't know where you live, but I know our police dept has a fraud unit that just deals with that.

 

[CinderBelleDVC]

So, now have a sad BB story. (sorry this is long). Keeps happening to me, argh! So, last night I was at BB to buy $1225 in Disney gc's. That includes the $225 in promos that I got, too. I have had great luck at BB, and getting loadable gc's for higher amounts. Every time I checked if that was okay, allowed, etc, and she always said of course, why would we limit what you can spend your money on or how much, that's up to you and we don't turn down sales. So I had gotten comfortable. I had bought $1500 in loadable ebay gc's on Wednesday, and another associate said that was the limit now in a day for gc to gc purchase. Thursday night I was going in to get Disney. She could only get 2 $250's to activate, and that took a bit. She seemed confused why. We tried other cards, lower amounts. No more disney gc's would go thru. She tried other and they would activate, but no disney(didn't try ebay that night). She put in an email to corporate and had me come back Friday afternoon. I called ahead so to see, if it was a glitch like we figured. She said come in and we'd talk with her manager and he could help me, she hadn't gotten an email back yet. She said she had told him she'd been helping me with purchases for a long while now and I bought Ebay gc's and Disney gc's with egc's. Well this set off a bell for him. I had given her my rewards Wednesday night because I had recently received rewards and the only purchases I made there this year had been gc's so I thought maybe they were giving me points. I guess I also gave them my number one other time earlier this summer sometime, not sure the exact timing. (Should never have given them my number!) So they realized that I was the one that had made about a $1700 purchase of ebay gc's and they said my BB gc's I used had been fraudulent and they had to cover that cost and couldn't do that anymore. It had happened with another person or two as well. They were able to let me get the two $250 disney gc's the night before as a courtesy but couldn't allow anymore cause they couldn't cover the amounts. I asked why they never called, I was pretty upset, he didn't really answer that. I was upset they were thinking I was trying to commit fraud, but he was very nice and seemed to believe me, saying that's why they wanted to see me in person and I seemed to be telling the truth. He asked where I got the gc's and I told him I bought them either with my ebay gc's or my cc, thru paypal(he sorta made a face at that, seeming to note the bad rep). I said I was done with using my ebay gc's and such as I was finishing up getting my trip gc's. (The computer had denied the activating because she put my number in first, and it must have connected to that one other time I put in my number when the sale turned bad! ugh!) But, they couldn't do anymore. I still have $500 and then $225 in promo cards in BB gc's! At least, 225 is the free money so not actually down that amount.

He did say I could use them on items in the store, Xmas gifts, computer, whatever. Just not gc's. I asked if I could exchange that for the disney gc's but no. He said I could buy disney gc's online, that should work and they either mail or in store pick up. Or I could call the 1-888 number and they might help me. He made it seem no gc to gc purchases but not sure that's true. He did allow me to use my BB gc and the rewards pts to do a $35 gc. I asked if this was all stores or only there, he said you could try other stores but didn't know if they'd work. So, another fine mess I'm in. I had no idea and don't now why they never called me before but looks like my must have been drained but not sure why it went thru the sale and they took each card, doesn't make sense that they seemed to work at the time. He didn't know the exact date, but must have been in July.

DD26's fiance is going to go in tomorrow and try to buy like a $100 card here. I am going to go in to another store and try to buy a couple hundred, not giving them my rewards number! If that doesn't work, I guess I'll buy online if that will work. Will probably have DD26 do it so it doesn't connect to my rewards just in case they deny me for that. I mean if worst come to worst, I'll have to use on computer or something. I hate that I may be out the BB part of churning, hoping that I can still purchase, albeit in smaller amounts, at another store, or online. And I'm pretty shocked they had such a huge case of fraud with my cards! Very upsetting! And, it's strange as I've made other purchases since then there as well.

Btw, my swagbucks from purchasese this week are starting to show as pending! Now what can I do with the SB points I got?

Sorry you're dealing with that! Definitely NOT exciting! Thank you for sharing this aspect, too. I was wondering if the $1500 plus your $500 set another limit.

I was going to post pretty much what @ellie05 just did.

@CinderBelleDVC - NEVER call or ask a store manager or employee whether they allow GC>GC.

I know you're trying to call ahead to save yourself a trip, but there's no sure way but to go into the store, try buying a third-party GC with that store's GC like it was the most natural thing in the world, and see if the clerk even bats an eye. This is part of the risk.

A lot of floor employees are not trained on that level of detail. If you call or ask, you'll raise flags -- not only for yourself but for all the other churners out there -- because you'd only ask if you weren't sure that's the norm. This causes doubt in the employees and then they'll call in a manager, and either the manager will have a policy not to allow it or they'll make up a policy not to allow it just to be safe -- even if their corporate policy and system otherwise allows for it.

As an example, the Gamestop employee gave you wrong information. GS's POSA system has been hard coded since July to disallow GS GC > eBay and open-loop GCs, and possibly others like gas and Southwest. If you had taken his advice, invested in GS GCs and gone in, you would've been denied using a GS GC to buy eBay, and your only options would've been basically restaurant cards and merchandise.

As a practical matter, you won't be able to get too much churning done through eBay anyway because this "grace period" when you can still use GC>GC ends on 10/13, the eBay Bucks earning quarter ends in two weeks on 9/30, and there probably won't be any eBucks bonuses between 9/30-10/13. Aside from PPDG, which delivers in about an hour, most third-party GCs take about a week to ship and arrive.

@Minniekins -- As others have pointed out, I'm not sure your story (or the manager's) makes sense. I've read your adventures, and I'm often struck by the volume you, your DD and her friend, and now your BFF put through PPDG and BB. I'm almost certain that you've been flagged because you've bought so many, and only GCs. Walking into a single BB store to buy $1,225 or $1,700 in GCs in one day is kind of eye catching.

A lot of us always post as a reminder, go low and slow. Break up your GC>GC purchases, use different stores over different days and times, and even different employees. Here's hoping you can convert your BB GCs at other stores and through your DD and friend.

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain this! I hadn't realized how it affected others.

So, Walgreens is a definite, and GS is a maybe? I will try soon, I think, since I have to buy something there, anyway.


Thanks to all for the info!

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Sorry you're dealing with that! Definitely NOT exciting! Thank you for sharing this aspect, too. I was wondering if the $1500 plus your $500 set another limit.



Thanks so much for taking the time to explain this! I hadn't realized how it affected others.

So, Walgreens is a definite, and GS is a maybe? I will try soon, I think, since I have to buy something there, anyway.


Thanks to all for the info!

In my experience, Walgreens is NOT a definite. I've been denied at 3 different ones.

 

[SUSIEQ]

So, Walgreens is a definite, and GS is a maybe?

GS is a no for eBay, gas.

 

[asgaga]

GS is a no for eBay, gas, SW.

Bought a 400 southwest gift card at gamestop using a gift card on Monday and it worked

 

[SUSIEQ]

Bought a 400 southwest gift card at gamestop using a gift card on Monday and it worked

Great news!

 

[AmyAnne]

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain this! I hadn't realized how it affected others.

So, Walgreens is a definite, and GS is a maybe? I will try soon, I think, since I have to buy something there, anyway.

There is nothing to be gained by calling. The cashiers don't always know the answer, the answer could change depending on which cashier you ask, the manager could show up and change the answer (sometimes in your favor, sometimes not). The best thing is to read a lot, and then as you say try out a small transaction for yourself.

 

[wendow]

Bought a 400 southwest gift card at gamestop using a gift card on Monday and it worked

Yep, my aunt converted $300 GS into SW just a few days ago. The cashier told her that he has done GS to eBay in last week. So highly YMMV but it makes me wonder if something has changed.

 

[ellie05]

Yep, my aunt converted $300 GS into SW just a few days ago. The cashier told her that he has done GS to eBay in last week. So highly YMMV but it makes me wonder if something has changed.

I am starting to wonder if the are allowing it again ? This is interesting I might buy a GS $25 GC just to see if it will work.

 

[Deirdres]

Can anyone give me some thoughts on this? I know the daily deals are limited in how many you can buy per person. I purchased 5 of the $100 BB today on my eBay account. DH bought 2 today on his account, but used my PayPal by mistake. We did that once a few months ago and got a warning because it looked like I was trying to get around the limits. So does this mean I could be getting into trouble? Are the limits per person or per household? Does anyone have any experience with this?

I did get this warning when I first got into gcs, I wasn't actually churning, just buying deals. I have 2 college age DSs and a husband who all have their own paypal and ebay accounts. We got the warning on myself and 1 DS. Thought it was because we used my paypal on his account. So we made sure that didn't happen again. But a few months later there was a great limited deal, and we all made sure to use our own accounts, but we got a second warning. I called and was told that because we have the same last names, address and ip address, we are considered one person. I explained that people in the same home, often have the same last name and use the same Internet. But we were all stopped from using ebay for 2 weeks since it was policy. I have made sure that any limited offers, we only purchase I per household.

 

[Karenann*]

WARNING!
Check your shipping address on your eBay account at the time of purchase. Evidently, sometime in the last 3 weeks, my eBay account was hacked and the shipping address was changed to

600 Markley St Ste 067322
Port Reading NJ 07064-1813

This is a warehouse with some businesses in it and I live in WA state! The only way I caught the shipping change was the email confirmation sent for the order. I spoke with a lady in the fraud/security dept at ebay and she said to contact the seller and ask them to ship to my adress but unfortunately, the sellars are not allowed to divert the shipping to an adress other than the original one on the purchase. By the time I found this out, it was to late to automatically cancel my orders. I had to contact SMV (I have $600 in gcs on order) by e-mail and phone to cancel the order. They have not yet responded probably because it was too late on Friday afternoon for their hours. It took 3 calls to EBay Fraud to get the correct information on how to resolve this and it is still a snarl until I hear from SMV and my purchase is cancelled and refunded.

Unfortunately, I missed out on my 10% ebucks promo and hope SMV will return funds to PayPal, not my ebay gift cards which I was using.

The fraud dept said numerous times I must have opened a fraudulent e-mail for this to happen and if ebay sends me an a-mail it also will be in my message center on my account.
Hope no one else has this happen to them.Had I simply checked my shipping address at the time of purchase I could have avoided this big headache.

 

[Minnie368]

@Deirdres Thanks so much for that info! I'm so glad to hear that you were given a second warning and they didn't go straight to banning you. I can live with two weeks if it happens but would be so bummed if banned because of the amount of eBay bucks we'd lose. I am definitely going to be more careful going forward!

 

[Minnie368]

@Minniekins- Just wanted to comment on my recent experience at BB. I have churned through BB multiple times and only ever have used my rewards number once and it was for a somewhat large amount- maybe $750ish. Yesterday I went to use $500 at BB and DH answered that yes we had a rewards account before I could say no and it was odd because the cashier scanned the eBay cards we were buying and everything was fine, but then when he scanned our rewards card the whole transaction cancelled out and he couldn't get it to go through again. Luckily he took us to another register to try it again. He didn't ask for the rewards card this time and I didn't mention it. The transaction went through without a hitch. I didn't think anything of it till I read your post but now I'm wondering if rewards accounts get flagged somehow, but that it doesn't have anything to do with fraudulent cards like the manager you spoke with said.