Prepaid Visa questions

[mrsbornkuntry]

I have two prepaid Visa cards that I got for rebates. I wanted to use one of them today. I thought that I had read on here somewhere that there was an issue if your purchase wasn't for the exact amount on the card, that you had to pay in a certain order or something, does anyone know what I'm talking about? The card is for $59 and I'm going to use it at a grocery store where my total will probably be over $300, can I just use the Visa, then my debit card for the rest?

TIA.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

You just need to tell the cashier how much you have left on the card so he/she can process the (partial) payment against the total you owe. Then you can pay the balance with another debit or credit card.

If you just hand the cashier the prepaid card without indicating the amount available he/she will try to process it for the entire amount due and it will be denied.

I have done this before and most times it's been OK. There have been a couple times where the store couldn't process the partial payment. But I think it was probably just an issue of the cashier not knowing how to process things.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Okay, thank-you for the info

 

[TaraPA]

I work in retail & these cards often present issues - but not all of the time. For example if your card is exactly $59 - the cashier has to type in "$59" and then swipe it - they can't just swipe it or their register thinks the card can pay for the whole amount - it will be denied. If the cashier doesn't understand how to prodess this it can be very frustrating!

Another issue with some types of these cards (not all) is that each time you swipe it a service fee comes off -say 50 cents. If they process it wrong & swipe your $59 card for the whole amount & it's denied, you now only have $58.50 left on the card. But you're unaware, so when they then type in $59 and swipe, it still denies it - AND takes another 50 cent fee off for being swiped. Now you're at $58 & you have no idea. So you call the number on the back to see what's up - guess what - there's a 50 cents fee for that too - so they tell you your balance is $58 - the grocery store swipes it for $58 - but you are at $57.50 because of your balance inquiry. And now you're at $57 because they swiped it again. It is insanely frustrating, and I've had it happen in my store to customers at least a dozen times. I swear its a way for them to make money off of these cards!

Bottom line - be sure your purchase is OVER the full amount of your card, and have them type in the exact amount of the card before they swipe it. If your purchase is smaller (say your grocery bill is only $55 this time) - there is sometimes a fee to carry a partial balance, and monthly fees as well - so it's best just to use the entire thing at one shot.

 

[pumpkinfish]

I got mine in the mail (Visa rebate card for Alltel) and due to working retail before know how much they ARE a pain .
I used them both Sunday while buying groceries and just told the cashier which card amount I was swiping and how much was on the card. She entered in the amount on her end and voila! No problem.
The problem arises if the cashier just hits enter like you are using a credit card. As long as she types in the amount, you are good to go .

Also, if you don't use all of it be sure to write down how much is left on it for when you use it again!

 

[Good Ol Gal]

What I do is purchase a gift card for the exact amount of the Pre-Paid card right before I check-out (no need to go through the line twice)

Then I use the gift card to purchase my order.

Where I work (retail) you CAN NOT use two credit cards in one transaction.

So say my groceries are $300
Pre-paid card = $50
balance due = $250... which I would have to pay via cash!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Well, I went to the first grocery store today, Lowes Foods, and forgot to bring it with me , so I stopped home and picked it up and took it to Food Lion. I spent $71.xx, paid $59 with the prepaid visa first (and made sure I told her the amount on it), then paid with my debit card. I didn't have any trouble at all with it. Thank-you all for your tips.