Gift Cards at Supermarkets

[BettyB]

Went to 4 of my local woolies, 3 haven't restocked since yesterday. 1 had only 5 left. I took em all.

I think they won't restock

I asked today at my local Woolies. They dais they did not expect to receive any more stock of the $88 card ever.

 

[exceladdict]

No, 5 isn't the maximum for one transaction.

I did 12 through a normal checkout.

I believe that 5 is the maximum via self checkout though.

If I recall correctly, operator authorisation kicks in at 5 GCs on a self checkout, and you can buy 4 without authorisation - is this correct or is it 5 without authorisation and need a supervisor scan for 6+?

 

[maccaisking]

im assuming you are paying the council rates at the post office ?

Yes. Paid mine online (lazy so copped the surcharge) but using EFTPOS for these so will go to Post Office. That of course is if my Wish cards come through before these are sold out!

 

[annielee]

thanks for that, i've already thought of using it at the postoffice to pay my bills, but glad that you've tried and confirmed it's working btw, have you tried that at those self checkout at the post office ?? me too, still waiting for few e-wishcard to come thru so i can grab another more later..

Yes. Paid mine online (lazy so copped the surcharge) but using EFTPOS for these so will go to Post Office. That of course is if my Wish cards come through before these are sold out!

 

[maccaisking]

If I recall correctly, operator authorisation kicks in at 5 GCs on a self checkout, and you can buy 4 without authorisation - is this correct or is it 5 without authorisation and need a supervisor scan for 6+?

The WW self checkout caps at $500 without intervention, regardless of number of cards being purchased. I have needed someone to approve when buying 3 x Myer $200 cards.

 

[exceladdict]

The WW self checkout caps at $500 without intervention, regardless of number of cards being purchased. I have needed someone to approve when buying 3 x Myer $200 cards.

Awesome, did not know that it was value based. Very useful info.

 

[Chicken]

have you tried that at those self checkout at the post office ??..

They do work, for paying bills, although you cannot do split payments, so you would need to scan your bill, pay, finalise, print receipt, then start a brand new transaction, scan your bill, then on and on and on.

These terminals are the most retarded, ever. Don't even get me started on buying stamps from them. Just don't use them if you need to pay for postage.

 

[annielee]

can we pay the same bill 'again and again' ?? let say if the bill is $300, i will pay 4 times ??
i dont mind doing that and the post office near my place open 24/7

They do work, for paying bills, although you cannot do split payments, so you would need to scan your bill, pay, finalise, print receipt, then start a brand new transaction, scan your bill, then on and on and on.

These terminals are the most retarded, ever. Don't even get me started on buying stamps from them. Just don't use them if you need to pay for postage.

 

[Dr Ralph]

I have needed someone to approve when buying 3 x Myer $200 cards.

Mine told me they couldn't do that. Told me to do separate transactions to keep it under $500 each time.

If I recall correctly, operator authorisation kicks in at 5 GCs on a self checkout, and you can buy 4 without authorisation - is this correct or is it 5 without authorisation and need a supervisor scan for 6+?

You can definitely buy 5 without authorisation on a self checkout machine.

 

[get me outta here]

Can the $88 ones be used to pay ATO online? (Or, should I do it at the PO?)

 

[Chicken]

can we pay the same bill 'again and again' ?? let say if the bill is $300, i will pay 4 times ??

Yep. Paid a $1700 strata with $100 perfect plastics. I had to constantly let people behind me to "push in", cos I was hoarding the machine was 30 minutes

 

[Dr Ralph]

Can the $88 ones be used to pay ATO online? (Or, should I do it at the PO?)

How do you use an EFTPOS card online?

 

[annielee]

you cant do that online, have to pay at the post office.. in short, the card can only be used at physical store..

Can the $88 ones be used to pay ATO online? (Or, should I do it at the PO?)

 

[Chicken]

How do you use an EFTPOS card online?

Exactly LOL

Buy Coles reloadable or one time only Mastercard.

 

[annielee]

thanks again for your immediate reply.. will try that tomorrow.. erm..but i dont have any bills to pay now, i will definitely try to pay something tomorrow...

Yep. Paid a $1700 strata with $100 perfect plastics. I had to constantly let people behind me to "push in", cos I was hoarding the machine was 30 minutes

 

[maccaisking]

can we pay the same bill 'again and again' ?? let say if the bill is $300, i will pay 4 times ??
i dont mind doing that and the post office near my place open 24/7

Yes have to do again and again for large bill. It is a PITA as it takes a while but gives me time whilst there to figure out how I will spend the rest of the cards. Where are there 24 hour machines available? Outside business hours would be more convenient for me.

 

[albyd]

My nearest PO with 24 hour access (QVB at Sydney CBD) has only one self serve cash only machine for 24 hour access. All the CC/eftpos Maxine's are inside. Would be good for those PITA transactions to do them after hours.

 

[Coops1]

Just to clarify some of the talk about 20% off Wish e-Gift cards:
- the majority of people are getting 5% off egift cards thru Entertainment Book, Cash Rewards, Unions etc
- 20% off usually apples to Amex statement credit offers, eg spend $50 @ Dan Murphys get $10 back
- you can only get 1 credit per Amex card per offer
- some people (the minority) have 20 cards (several banks and supplementary cards), so they get 20x $50 egift totalling $1000 for $800.
- so your benefit is limited to the number of Amex's you have and the offers available.
- at times there are Big W 7.5 or 10% off in store or EB online etc, but haven't seen an offer for a while. These are limited to Big W only, so you take risk in not being able to buy other cards in-store.
- my experience at Coles in Tas is that they do not let let you buy gift cards with gift cards, the system rejects it, eg programmed in.

To add to the chatter, have just gone to Woolies, a manned checkout, and used 2x $50 egift cards to purchase $1x $88 card. No issues and they were happy doing it. Definitely a significant difference in attitude to Coles (particularly now the system rejects it, and it's just not a checkout operator or supervisor telling you NO.

The return from this is getting the 5% off (if you can) and 3 points per dollar, eg 264 Amex reward pts on Platinum Edge, for spending at businesses where only visa is accepted or your Amex only gives you 1/2 or 1 or 2ppd. My card was active in 30mins, as I used it at another store.

From my perspective and most others, this current $88 card deal would be of no benefit if you had to pay the $5.95 activation fee.

Hope this helps.

 

[N860CR]

Exactly LOL

Buy Coles reloadable or one time only Mastercard.

How easy is it to buy these prepaid MasterCard's? Could in do it at the self checkout and run through 10 $88 payments? Or do they need intervention from a Coles person? Or I guess the Woolies one is probably about the same?

 

[SOPOOR]

OK my local shop had about 120 left.
I bought 5 as that's all I had on wish gift cards

So is this correct?

These are essentially eftpos cards so you can use them likr a debit card except cash out. Or has anyone managed to work out how to cash put?

The main benefit is getting 3 pts per dollar or more where you can only use visa and Mastercard

I have a lot of bills coming up that can be paid by postbillpay. I'm sure they all accept PayPal so for the ones that don't accept I csn go to post office and use the debit cards

Are you technically not allowed to use wish gift cards to buy these cards.

My understanding is that for those places that you pay by amex normally if you use these eftpos cards. You can get 5‰ off everything!

Are there any other loop holes or ways to get maximise the return?