Frustrating times when categories did not match what you expected

[Anonymous]

Curious how often categories don't line up with your expectations for rewards.

I've had issues again and again with the bookstore category on my SallieMae rewards. Never the grocery: every Walmart and Target, local grocer, farmer's market, etc. have all been coded as grocery. But I've had lots of bookstores not count. A used bookstore came in as Misc. Merchandise. A publisher's bookstore came up as "Services." Another on-line bookstore that I checked and only sold books was a "Misc. Shop."

I've also had some gas stations not work for Discover. A Wal-Mart gas station outside of a Walmart Neighborhood Market came up as Grocery, even using pay at the pump. I also had a Pure Oil branded gas station in a rural area code for Convenience store just recently.

Any annoying accounts of not guessing the right card to use?

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Curious how often categories don't line up with your expectations for rewards.

I've had issues again and again with the bookstore category on my SallieMae rewards. Never the grocery: every Walmart and Target, local grocer, farmer's market, etc. have all been coded as grocery. But I've had lots of bookstores not count. A used bookstore came in as Misc. Merchandise. A publisher's bookstore came up as "Services." Another on-line bookstore that I checked and only sold books was a "Misc. Shop."

I've also had some gas stations not work for Discover. A Wal-Mart gas station outside of a Walmart Neighborhood Market came up as Grocery, even using pay at the pump. I also had a Pure Oil branded gas station in a rural area code for Convenience store just recently.

Any annoying accounts of not guessing the right card to use?

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I had never heard of folks having problems with the bookstore category... sorry to hear about that! 

When I first got my BCP I figured out quickly that it didn't code correctly at a Kroger gas pump.  I didn't expect it to code as 'grocery', but I did expect it to code as 'fuel', at the 3% reward rate, but it doesn't - the statement does show 'fuel', but for Kroger fuel they only give 1% rewards.  It was easy to work-around, though... I simply used my BCP to buy a Kroger reloadable GC inside the grocery store, then use the GC to pay at the fuel pump.  This gives an effective 6% cash reward for Kroger fuel purchases.  (It became a moot point when I got the Sam's Club MC, though).

I'm still waiting to see if Kroger gas codes correctly for Discover.  I just checked my Discover account online, and it does indicate 'fuel' so far... my fingers are crossed!

Convenience stores w/ fuel will always be hit-and-miss, especially the smaller ones.  My parents used to own a convenience store/gas station in a rural area, and all purchases were coded as 'fuel', even though the store also sold alcohol and grocery items.  This was because the charges were remitted through the company that provided the gasoline (the weekly credit card receipt total was deducted from the amount due for the gas).

[core]

If a merchant can get away with coding as a grocery store then they usually will.  Grocery stores get charged the lowest merchant fees that I know of.

As far as the frustrations go...  Unless you're in a strange town every week you can do a test purchase first, and check the MCC on the Visa site to get a good idea of how they'll probably code.  (Not always accurate, and doesn't necessarily help you for other networks.)  A miscoded store can be a gold mine rather than a frustration.

[Anonymous]

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@UncleB wrote:

I'm still waiting to see if Kroger gas codes correctly for Discover.  I just checked my Discover account online, and it does indicate 'fuel' so far... my fingers are crossed!

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Well, I will tell you from my experience, every Kroger I've used my Discover card at correctly codes as fuel and gets the reward points. When I first got my Discver it was a Chrome, which gave higher rewards for gas, so believe me, I watched.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@UncleB wrote:

I'm still waiting to see if Kroger gas codes correctly for Discover.  I just checked my Discover account online, and it does indicate 'fuel' so far... my fingers are crossed!

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Well, I will tell you from my experience, every Kroger I've used my Discover card at correctly codes as fuel and gets the reward points. When I first got my Discver it was a Chrome, which gave higher rewards for gas, so believe me, I watched.

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That's excellent to hear! 

[takeshi74]

It's generally about merchant coding and, yes, people do run into this all the time.  I can't recall much in the way of recent experience as I have a goo didea of how the merchants I regyularly shop at are coded.  The only recent thing I can think of is that Google Voice doesn't fall under landline for the Chase Ink cards.

Definitely check with your creditor for details, terms, FAQ's, etc.  They won't cover every situation but they can help.  E.g:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've also had some gas stations not work for Discover. A Wal-Mart gas station outside of a Walmart Neighborhood Market came up as Grocery, even using pay at the pump.

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https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cashback-bonus/cashback-calendar.html

Purchases made at Gas Stations affiliated with superstores, supermarkets and warehouse clubs may not be eligible.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've had issues again and again with the bookstore category on my SallieMae rewards. Never the grocery: every Walmart and Target, local grocer, farmer's market, etc. have all been coded as grocery. But I've had lots of bookstores not count. A used bookstore came in as Misc. Merchandise. A publisher's bookstore came up as "Services." Another on-line bookstore that I checked and only sold books was a "Misc. Shop."

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Try Costco or Sam's and those probably won't code as grocery.

On the other hand, all of my Amazon purchases fell under bookstore with my Sallie Mae.

[Anonymous]

I still run across certain WalMart stores which do not qualify as grocery. Typically I can get a pretty good idea of how a WalMart will code based on the age of the store, size, layout, etc. When I do find one that doesn't qualify as grocery, I make a note of it if I happen to shop there again. If I know I'm going to be spending a bunch of money at a store which I know or suspect doesn't qualify as grocery, I sometimes buy WalMart G/C at a store that I know qualifies as grocery and use those at the non-grocery WalMart.

Despite the fine print sometimes excluding warehouse clubs for bonus % cashback, I've never had a Sam's Club gas pump (or any other gas staion, for that matter) *not* qualify as gas. That includes on Chase Freedom, Discover, Sallie Mae, and the old Citi Driver's Edge card (RIP). As for CostCo gas, as the pumps (currently) only take AmEx, I've only used my Business TrueEarnings card and received 4% cashback there.

My Chase Ink card gives me 5% on telecommunications, but for some reason, it won't give me 5% on my Republic Wireless monthly charge. I switched that charge to my USBank Travel Rewards card and it does qualify for 2 points (effectively 4% CB for me) on that card. Strange because USBank tends to be the strictest on rewards category qualification in my experience. This month, I'm trying it on my AmEx Simply Cash card which promises 5% on wireless providers. We'll see what happens.

I've never had luck with online grocery stores qualifying as grocery, for example Thrive Market, which sells health-concious groceries (ala Whole Foods). Doesn't qualify as grocery, even though that's all they sell.

Sears Hardware (a standalone store that only sells tools, etc.) doesn't qualify as Hardware or Home Improvement. It qualifies as Department Stores. In fact, it seems like anything with "Sears" in the name qualifies as Department Stores, whether Sears Hardware, Sears Parts, Sears Appliance Repair, Sears Home Services, etc.

Last month my wife dropped a bunch of money at a stand-alone shoe store. I guessed that a shoe store would qualify as "Clothing Stores" for Discover, but no, only got 1% CB (at least it will be doubled to 2%). I probably should have researched that one more ahead of time.

Sometimes I get surprised the other way. Wife accidentally used our old Chase Ink card (3% on office supply stores, restaurants and home improvement) at World Market, and I got 3% cashback. Not sure how that qualified as office supply, restaurants or home improvement.

Chris.

[Callandra]

Since the individual merchants choose their merchant code when they register with their merchant account/payment processor, it's not really the card company's fault if it doesn't code to what you think it will. I don't think I've personally run into that in a negative way -- closest thing was going to the local Target (we moved a few months ago across town) and that didn't code as grocery (which I sort of knew anyway since it's a GM store and not a Super/P-Fresh). Now I just use my QS there. Everything I've bought off Amazon has coded as bookstore (including the purchase I just made last week). The local Wal-Mart does code as grocery (it's a Super Wal-Mart and I think all Super Wal-Marts around here code as grocery) at least. 

[Anonymous]

The 7-11 by me codes as a gas station, but that hasn't exactly been frustrating--definitely don't mind getting 3.3% back on the occasional late-night snack purchase. The frustrating one is that a lot of smaller non-chain grocery stores near me don't code as grocery, or code as grocery with one network but not another. Not a huge hassle or anything, but enough to make me stick with the BCE over BCP, since I'd have to keep better track of those inconsistencies if I wanted the AF to be worth it.