3V cards – still alive and kicking, surprisingly

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• JSXOX says:

  9 Aug9 August 22:35

  Just searched 4 stores around the perimeter of Heathrow. Came back with a huge stash of cards despite others trying to play tactical hiding games

• Me says:

  9 Aug9 August 22:58

  Noo, I was going to visit those ones next week!!

  • Sinizter says:

    10 Aug10 August 09:27

    They may restock.

• Rob says:

  10 Aug10 August 09:14

  Using a voucher has no impact, done this a few times.

  I have never heard of Tesco not automatically adding the correct bonus as long as you bought correct multiples of £50.

• danksy says:

  10 Aug10 August 10:33

  I got refused at my local tesco yesterday morning – “you have come to our attention as being suspicious with the amount of gift cards you are buying”

  I fired off this email (forgive me hamming it up with BS about my credit rating etc. etc.!!!)

  Dear Sirs,
  “I was recently embarrassed when at a visit to my local tesco Extra store I was quizzed in front of other customers with regard to the quantity of giftcards i was purchasing. The staff member explained there was a maximum number that were able to be purchased.

  The reason I was buying the giftcards (Visa Gift cards) is that I find them a convenient way of settling my utility and tax bills due to poor credit I have which precludes me from holding other VISA accounts!

  I was hoping therefore that you could clarify for me the position in order that if I am challenged in store in future I may reproduce your response as evidence.

  I would rather not shop elsewhere, as it is more convenient for me to use Tesco as my one stop shopping destination!

  With Kind regards
  Danksy

  Response from Tesco customer services…

  Dear Danksy,

  Thank you for your email and patience whilst awaiting a response.

  I’m sorry about the issue surrounding the quantity of Visa Gift Cards that you are able to purchase in our Tesco Extra Store was questioned by a member of staff.

  Looking into the matter further, I’ve spoken with my Business Support Team and they have confirmed that there is no limit to the quantity of Visa Gift Cards. However, there is a limit of £250.00 in total can be done in one transaction, therefore if the value you requested was more than this amount the store can refuse. This is due to Money Laundering Regulations.

  I do hope I have explained the reason for the decision made by the store. I realise how disappointed you must have been when questioned about this.

  Once again, thank you for contacting me and if I can assist with any other enquiries, please let me know.

  Kind regards

• James67 says:

  10 Aug10 August 18:35

  Can we use cc coupons and tillspits to get money off giftcards? Looks like I have been missing a trick.

  • Colin says:

    10 Aug10 August 18:52

    It says on the money off coupons they cant be used for gift cards, but every coupon i have handed over for 3V has been accepted without any problems. e.g. the recent £7 off a £50 spend, used it for £50 of 3V cards – and paid £43!

    • Rob says:

      10 Aug10 August 19:44

      I HAVE had trouble twice out of, probably, 5 goes. With one, the cashier asked her colleague and they agreed ‘if it scans, it’s ok’. The other time the cashier would not budge.

  • Rob says:

    10 Aug10 August 19:42

    Not in theory, but the tills do accept the vouchers so you just need to find a cashier willing to scan them

    • Mark B says:

      10 Aug10 August 20:01

      Has anybody figured out when Tesco will next do a helping hand promotion?

    • James67 says:

      11 Aug11 August 08:30

      Thanks folks. I think I will try my 7 off 50 today with one of our young weekend workers and see what happens.

      • Colin says:

        11 Aug11 August 08:58

        i do have a bit of a tactic for ensuring it works – i do a shop for some other goods also, and then hand the gift cards over first. My thinking being that by the time i hand over the money off coupon they will have forgotten about the gift cards. It’s worked for me 4 out 4 times and also for OH (who, rather nastily will pick out the younger less experienced looking checkout operator!).

        • James67 says:

          11 Aug11 August 10:50

          It worked for me too 🙂 £7 off £50 this morning. Bought last 2 gift cards which I offered first followed by others items I needed to a total value £7.50 which were also on half price offer. Total shop was £50.50. No problems with my 150 points crediting. Hope more 3V cards appear soon. Assistant informed me that some guy comes round the stores just to restock and mange giftcards so I guess it is some sort of franchise operation rather than an inhouse operation.

        • Brendan says:

          14 Aug14 August 15:59

          Has always worked for me too. I used a £13 off £80 spend the other day. Did about £50 of shopping too. Unfortunately there were no 3v cards so had to buy one with the £3.95 charge. Still equates to a £9 saving on my shopping + clubcard points though!

  • Simon says:

    10 Aug10 August 21:04

    I’ve tried 5 times and the cashier’s have accepted it each time, I always throw in a few items of shopping that I want and put the giftcard first in the hope the cashier will have forgotten about it after scanning the other items!

    • James67 says:

      11 Aug11 August 08:25

      Yes, me too. Twice I tried 8 cards alone and the transaction cancelled af the till.However, when I pick up even one other item it never fails.

• aeroflott says:

  11 Aug11 August 09:49

  I might be missing something here, but is it possible to redeem multiple 3V cards for one purchase online?

  So say 4 x £25 for a single £100 online shop for example?

  • Simon says:

    11 Aug11 August 10:27

    To do that you’d have to transfer the money from 3 of the cards onto the 4th card and 3V charges £1.75 for each transfer, so you’d end up with £94.75 (£100 – (3 * £1.75)).

    If you want to buy something for £100 from Amazon though you can buy 4 x £25 email gift certificates (don’t forget to use Raffles link!) in separate transactions and then apply those gift certificates to your account.

• jason says:

  11 Aug11 August 12:36

  Is it possible to forward pay HMRC for an expected tax bill?

  • Sinizter says:

    11 Aug11 August 12:41

    Yes.

  • Rob says:

    11 Aug11 August 13:19

    Absolutely. You can even, once you’ve done it, ask them for a refund of your overpayment – although, if they know a bill will be due, they don’t always grant it.

    • Flashware says:

      13 Aug13 August 10:36

      Although I’m not sure I’d be wanting to rinse/repeat this game with HMRC to be honest!

  • DANIEL says:

    11 Aug11 August 15:28

    100% sure… Ive prepaid my laibility for the working month of august via billpay

• squillion says:

  11 Aug11 August 15:11

  Same applies to (our) council tax.

  I’ve pre-paid next year’s and was in telephone conversation about the account.

  Nice girl asked if I would simply like the over-payment credited back to our bank a/c.

  Your LA might not be so nice of course.

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