A minor precautionary tale

[Anonymous]

So this morning, I went down to Walmart to buy a new wallet because my old one is both falling apart and doesn't have enough room for all my cards. I found a very nice one - 16 card slots, RFID blocking, genuine leather - for $16, and took it to the self-checkout and plugged my brand-new Walmart Store Card, which I'd set up my account for on Synchrony the previous week and already made and picked up a purchase via Walmart.com.  The card was declined. I tried again a couple of times, same result, and I retreated from the checkout in bafflement. I even wondered if one of the horror stories I've heard here about cards which have been granted and then closed out by the issuer within several days with the customer being totally ignorant of it had happened to me!

I was about ready to leave the store, but then I got an odd idea - what if, for some reason, the card was activated for online use but still not ready for in-store use? I went over to Customer Service and got them to call Synchrony's cardholder services number for me (I'm hearing-impaired so couldn't do it myself at the store). Guess what - the card had not been activated for use in brick-and-mortar Walmart stores yet!  Five minutes later, I left the store with my new wallet, a properly activated card, and a feeling of mild embarrassment.

In short: never assume that because you've registered your new card online, that it's completely ready to use. Unless it specifically allows you to activate the card online, always call the number on the sticker. I had to do that for my new Apple FCU Visa yesterday; I set online account access up, and added it as a payment method for Amazon, etc., but couldn't add it to Apple Pay until I called the activation number.

[rmduhon]

There's a difference between registering the card for online access and activating the card. Some companies activate when registering and some it's a separate step. I've never heard of having to activate a card separately for use in a brick and mortar store. Once it's activated it's activated for all purchases.

[AverageJoesCredit]

Wow Joe, really curious about the wallet Sounds like a great deal

[Meanmchine]

I always carry at least 2 credit cards and my debit card just for those raare occasions you get declined at the register. Glad it worked out for you.

[pipeguy]

Actually Walmart is getting kind of funky with their cards, requiring a PIN at least for the MC version. Wife accepted the upgrade from her store card last month and as soon as the card arrived I activated it online. The note online and in the papers said that once you activate the new card the old card is void and any balance(s) and charges will automatically transfer to the new card - didn't happen.

She went to use her new card, declined. Store said she needed to use a PIN which she didn't have so she called customer upport online and made sure the card was activated and set up a pin. Second trip to Walmart, card declined - this is a $10k CL card with no balance - she used the PIN (made sure she complained to me about using a PIN) ... declined. 

In addition a $200 payment on the store card they credited to the MC even though there was no balance on the MC, Walmart then pulled another $200 payment on the auto-pay (balance) on the store card. She spent 5 or 6 calls tryng to get if fixed, the answewr is that NO they can't take the $200 credit from one account and apply it to the other account even though the accounts are so-called "linked". Every time she calls they give her a different answer with the last one "we'll send you a check for the over payment and you can then pay the balance on the other account.

Wife said, this isn't worth it and closed both accounts (we have a $10k Sam's club card which can be used at Walmart). Her account today still show one with a $200 balance and the other with a -$200 credit. I really have no idea what's going on with Walmart cards, but its a major mess right now. 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-visa-lawsuit-idUSKCN0Y12MO

[Anonymous]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Wow Joe, really curious about the wallet Sounds like a great deal

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It's the George (Walmart house brand) jumbo billfold, I don't think it shows up in the online catalog (I checked). It holds my existing cards (including ID's and store discount cards) pretty well, but I think I'm going to have to get a specialized cardholder for the store discount-program cards if/when I get any more CC's.

I haven't been asked for a PIN with the Walmart store card yet, and I have no plans to get the Walmart MC (though if Synchrony decides to upgrade me later on I won't say no either). I'm just going to play it all conservatively for the next few months and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Looks like you can easily double your money if you buy two of these at Walmart and turn them on eBay

https://www.ebay.com/p/Bifold-Wallet-Jumbo-George-Mens-Genuine-Black-Leather-16-Card-Slots/103309125...