Disney gift cards at Target...very large hassle

[frannn]

I finally decided to sign up for the debit Redcard at Target to get 5% off Disney gift cards to pay off my August vacation. Signed up and got 5% off 500 worth of cards right away...called WDW and applied to balance...easy peasy...till I tried to buy more a few weeks later. Declined for 1000 worth. Declined for 500 worth. Checked my bank to confirm there's enough $ in my account, which there is. Called the # on the decline receipt, they say no problem- use a different card and we'll honor the discount by crediting to my account. Great! Back to Target and all of sudden the manager tells me there's a limit on the number of cards I can purchase at one time. So, I purchase my 10 and call for my credit, and am told I can just go back and purchase more and get credited again, Go back for more today, some go thru with the Redcard....Yayyyyy! Then some decline so I use my regular card. Cashier says I can buy more so I use my regular card again. Get home and call Target for my discount, turns out they will only discount on the transaction that was declined. I have to return the other cards I bought with my Visa and get declined with Redcard, then use regular card for them to honor the 5% discount on those. I am jumping through hoops here and really not happy about it. They can't tell you how much your limit is, nor are their policies communicated effectively. Why do I have to build a history of small purchases with them? Its a debit card, not a credit card. I actually ended up with a militant rep on the phone today, who insisted she could not give me the 5% discount because it was gift cards, even though the declined receipt clearly showed the 5% discount. She must've worked in WDW's ticket dept in the past and disallowed all the evil price-bridging, LOL! Sorry for the novel, but this is really getting ridiculous...now I gotta go back to Target to get my decline. If I wasn't saving almost 200 bucks collectively I wouldn't bother. Just needed to vent. I'm sure I'll get flamed in some regard for trying so hard to save 200. Whatever...still going to WDW!

 

[angierae]

The problem is that our daily limits have to do with how long you've had the card, how mini you've used it - some bizarre formula Target has. I had had my card for a while and had no problem buying $500 every couple of days.

 

[Marionnette]

I finally decided to sign up for the debit Redcard at Target to get 5% off Disney gift cards to pay off my August vacation. Signed up and got 5% off 500 worth of cards right away...called WDW and applied to balance...easy peasy...till I tried to buy more a few weeks later. Declined for 1000 worth. Declined for 500 worth. Checked my bank to confirm there's enough $ in my account, which there is. Called the # on the decline receipt, they say no problem- use a different card and we'll honor the discount by crediting to my account. Great! Back to Target and all of sudden the manager tells me there's a limit on the number of cards I can purchase at one time. So, I purchase my 10 and call for my credit, and am told I can just go back and purchase more and get credited again, Go back for more today, some go thru with the Redcard....Yayyyyy! Then some decline so I use my regular card. Cashier says I can buy more so I use my regular card again. Get home and call Target for my discount, turns out they will only discount on the transaction that was declined. I have to return the other cards I bought with my Visa and get declined with Redcard, then use regular card for them to honor the 5% discount on those. I am jumping through hoops here and really not happy about it. They can't tell you how much your limit is, nor are their policies communicated effectively. Why do I have to build a history of small purchases with them? Its a debit card, not a credit card. I actually ended up with a militant rep on the phone today, who insisted she could not give me the 5% discount because it was gift cards, even though the declined receipt clearly showed the 5% discount. She must've worked in WDW's ticket dept in the past and disallowed all the evil price-bridging, LOL! Sorry for the novel, but this is really getting ridiculous...now I gotta go back to Target to get my decline. If I wasn't saving almost 200 bucks collectively I wouldn't bother. Just needed to vent. I'm sure I'll get flamed in some regard for trying so hard to save 200. Whatever...still going to WDW!

In a nutshell: Fraud Protection.

Imagine if you were the unlucky person whose identity was stolen and the thief cleaned them out by getting a Target debit card. If you did not have to create a history of smaller purchases first, that thief could wipe out a victim's bank account very easily in a single purchase. Then the victim would be on the hook until it got sorted out and after the money is placed back into their account, Target loses all that money.

Not flaming you. Just explaining why the initial limit is so low on debit cards.

 

[Malibustyle23]

I finally decided to sign up for the debit Redcard at Target to get 5% off Disney gift cards to pay off my August vacation. Signed up and got 5% off 500 worth of cards right away...called WDW and applied to balance...easy peasy...till I tried to buy more a few weeks later. Declined for 1000 worth. Declined for 500 worth. Checked my bank to confirm there's enough $ in my account, which there is. Called the # on the decline receipt, they say no problem- use a different card and we'll honor the discount by crediting to my account. Great! Back to Target and all of sudden the manager tells me there's a limit on the number of cards I can purchase at one time. So, I purchase my 10 and call for my credit, and am told I can just go back and purchase more and get credited again, Go back for more today, some go thru with the Redcard....Yayyyyy! Then some decline so I use my regular card. Cashier says I can buy more so I use my regular card again. Get home and call Target for my discount, turns out they will only discount on the transaction that was declined. I have to return the other cards I bought with my Visa and get declined with Redcard, then use regular card for them to honor the 5% discount on those. I am jumping through hoops here and really not happy about it. They can't tell you how much your limit is, nor are their policies communicated effectively. Why do I have to build a history of small purchases with them? Its a debit card, not a credit card. I actually ended up with a militant rep on the phone today, who insisted she could not give me the 5% discount because it was gift cards, even though the declined receipt clearly showed the 5% discount. She must've worked in WDW's ticket dept in the past and disallowed all the evil price-bridging, LOL! Sorry for the novel, but this is really getting ridiculous...now I gotta go back to Target to get my decline. If I wasn't saving almost 200 bucks collectively I wouldn't bother. Just needed to vent. I'm sure I'll get flamed in some regard for trying so hard to save 200. Whatever...still going to WDW!

I hate to ruin your day even more but giftcards are nonreturnable and nonrefundable. I don't think unless you come into some sort of miracle that that part of the plan is going to work.

On the brightside you were going to pay that amount anyway so it's not like you are technically out anything besides some tylenol from the headache. Sorry!

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

Wow, we have been buying some here and there but nothing over 300.00 at a time. But I have been paying off my credit card as soon as it shows up online. I don't know if it makes a difference since it is linked to your debit instead of a credit.

Hope it all gets figured out. But hey, in the end you will be at Disney World!

 

[Patience]

I bought $1000 worth of them yesterday (paid $950) with no problem but I have had my Target red debit card for a long time and shop at Target regularly.

 

[luvmy3]

I used my Target debit to buy $1000 worth today without a problem. I have had my redcard since 2011 and use it often. The cashier said that they do limit purchase amounts due to inactivity, so I would guess in your case its just because it is a new card. As much of a pain it is, it is for your protection.
Also, I figure you know this, but I just want to mention it for anyone who doesnt. Your bank may have a daily spending limit and if you have reached that, your redcard purchase would be denied.

 

[disneychrista]

This "savings" of 5% just seems to be more trouble than its worth. Plus having to buy so many cards just doesn't seem worth it to me.

 

[Marionnette]

This "savings" of 5% just seems to be more trouble than its worth. Plus having to buy so many cards just doesn't seem worth it to me.

I think that it depends on how much you were spending on your vacation. The one that I recently priced out would cost me $3500. If I was getting just 5% off of the total, that would save me $175 which is almost enough for one round trip ticket.

Or I could be doing the REDCard plus the Pharmacy Rewards, which is a 9.75% overall discount. That's a little over $340 off the cost of the vacation.

For that kind of "savings", I would be more than willing to deal with the trouble. But if it were just a couple hundred dollar in GCs, representing a savings of $10-$20, I would only buy the GCs if I happened to be in Target and there were no hassles from the cashier over how I paid.

 

[starry_solo]

Why not just get a target credit card? Then you can get up to the limit (which is usually about $1000-2000) and if you need more, go to guest services and pay off the card with cash?

 

[luvmy3]

This "savings" of 5% just seems to be more trouble than its worth. Plus having to buy so many cards just doesn't seem worth it to me.

Most of the GCs I have purchased have been online at Target through a rebate site so its more than 5%, like 7% total. Like a pp said, over the course of paying off the package, and using them for in-park purchases and restaurants, I'll "save" enough to cover at least 2 airline tickets. When you have to buy roundtrip airfare for 5, that savings is definitely worth it for me.

 

[Patience]

Honestly, it's not a hassle for me to buy the gift cards with my Target debit card. I drive right by a Target everyday and I'm in there all the time anyway. It's not a hassle to use them either. I call Disney, tell them how many gift cards I want to use and then read off the numbers. For this trip, I spent maybe 10-15 minutes total on the phone with a cast member and now my trip is paid in full and I saved money with little to no effort. Totally worth it.

 

[disneychrista]

I guess if it is considerable savings it makes sense. But since I use my Disney rewards to buy tickets & food at Disneyland, I have no use for gift cards.

 

[luvmy3]

I guess if it is considerable savings it makes sense. But since I use my Disney rewards to buy tickets & food at Disneyland, I have no use for gift cards.

Then I guess its not worth it to you because you have no use for GCs. For those of us who do have a use for them, the savings is definitely worth the "hassle" of shopping at Target

 

[disneychrista]

Then I guess its not worth it to you because you have no use for GCs. For those of us who do have a use for them, the savings is definitely worth the "hassle" of shopping at Target

My original comment was in response to the fact there every week there is at least one story here about all the problems it was to get the discount etc. Just seems like a lot of hassles. It just seems like it would be nice if they started offering reloadable or higher denominations.

 

[freckles04]

Sorry to hijack, but I have a question. Is the 5% off actually applied when you purchase the gift card (so the GC costs $95 instead of $100), or does it come back to you as credit for future shopping at Target? I hardly shop there, so just wondering if it would be worth it for me.

 

[hannahmachell]

Does anyone know if these can be bought at Target in Canada?

 

[Malibustyle23]

Sorry to hijack, but I have a question. Is the 5% off actually applied when you purchase the gift card (so the GC costs $95 instead of $100), or does it come back to you as credit for future shopping at Target? I hardly shop there, so just wondering if it would be worth it for me.

Yes it is 5% right then and there. I've only seen $50 giftcards and they ring at $47.50 when bought with the Target Redcard.

 

[inkedupmomma]

I think that it depends on how much you were spending on your vacation. The one that I recently priced out would cost me $3500. If I was getting just 5% off of the total, that would save me $175 which is almost enough for one round trip ticket.

Or I could be doing the REDCard plus the Pharmacy Rewards, which is a 9.75% overall discount. That's a little over $340 off the cost of the vacation.

For that kind of "savings", I would be more than willing to deal with the trouble. But if it were just a couple hundred dollar in GCs, representing a savings of $10-$20, I would only buy the GCs if I happened to be in Target and there were no hassles from the cashier over how I paid.

what is the pharmacy rewards?

 

[Patience]

Right, the 5% comes off right in the store. I bought $1000 worth of Disney gift cards for $950 yesterday.

I wish Target carried the Disney gift cards in $100 denominations but they don't and it really is not a big deal to the CM 's when you call to use them. I think the people who have trouble buying them are usually people who either have new Target debit or credit cards or who don't use their cards that much. As I said, I've had zero problems buying them but I've had my Target debit card for several years and I use it frequently.