Target policy changed on GC

[DizneyMommy]

I had saved up several of those $5 and $10 gc with purchase cards from target and went to purchase a Disney gc today, and the policy has apparently changed. I’ve done it tons of times, never had a problem, and always use self checkout. Today the self checkout terminal bonked at me and said a team member was coming to assist me. When she came she said I could not use a gc to buy a gc. My actual purchases of items was way more than what the gc value was, so that should not have happened. She had to remove the Disney gc from my order so that I could pay for everything else using the gift cards and then ring up the Disney gc separately so I could pay with my target card. No big deal, I spend enough at target I would use the gc’s anyways, but if anyone is saving up or purchasing large amounts of target cards to use on Disney cards, you may not be able to now. She said it was company wide because of money laundering (which makes no sense, target GAVE me those gift cards) and I tend to believe that as the registers are now programmed to decline the transaction.

 

[Marionnette]

I had saved up several of those $5 and $10 gc with purchase cards from target and went to purchase a Disney gc today, and the policy has apparently changed. I’ve done it tons of times, never had a problem, and always use self checkout. Today the self checkout terminal bonked at me and said a team member was coming to assist me. When she came she said I could not use a gc to buy a gc. My actual purchases of items was way more than what the gc value was, so that should not have happened. She had to remove the Disney gc from my order so that I could pay for everything else using the gift cards and then ring up the Disney gc separately so I could pay with my target card. No big deal, I spend enough at target I would use the gc’s anyways, but if anyone is saving up or purchasing large amounts of target cards to use on Disney cards, you may not be able to now. She said it was company wide because of money laundering (which makes no sense, target GAVE me those gift cards) and I tend to believe that as the registers are now programmed to decline the transaction.

The registers are programmed to reject Target GCs if a GC is part of the order. This is being blamed on a software update that was rolled out about 2 weeks ago but according to some individuals at Target Customer Service and their FB page, it is temporary. We'll see...

 

[DizneyMommy]

Yeah no she said it was new policy to prevent money laundering, she seemed not to skip a beat when it happened so it sounded like she knew what she was talking about?

 

[lynnzrae]

https://pointstoneverland.com/problems-with-disney-gift-cards-at-target/

 

[Marionnette]

Yeah no she said it was new policy to prevent money laundering, she seemed not to skip a beat when it happened so it sounded like she knew what she was talking about?

There has been no policy change as per corporate.

 

[lynnzrae]

I would definitely try again in a few weeks and if there is more than one target near you you can always try different ones.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Hm, I’ll ask to speak to the manager next time I am there and see what she thinks, and let her know what I was told if it is wrong. But for now the register software rejects it so a different store won’t help, it’s not a person making a decision, it’s the system. Annoying!

 

[lynnzrae]

Does anyone know where the formal target policy is on this? Or is it easy to find on their FB page? You can print it and bring it in.

 

[Marionnette]

Does anyone know where the formal target policy is on this? Or is it easy to find on their FB page? You can print it and bring it in.

That won't help. If the registers are rejecting the Target GC as payment, you're just going to have to wait for the Target IT gurus (who are about as competent as the ones running the Disney websites) to undo their boo-boo or for corporate to come out and admit that there is a policy change. Either way, waving a printout of the gift card policy in front of a store manager is not going to have any effect on being able to buy a Disney GC with a Target GC right now.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Does anyone know where the formal target policy is on this? Or is it easy to find on their FB page? You can print it and bring it in.

It didn’t appear that the team member had any way to override it. Since it was self checkout I could see her screen and it just gave an error message and said to use another form of payment, there didn’t appear to be any way to override it. I asked because I had spent way more on physical items than the gift cards cost, but she said that the system won’t allow you to use a gift card to pay for any order that includes a GC, has to be a separate transaction and different form of payment.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Keep trying but I do think this is geographically specific, I've tried using my Target GC for years to buy Disney GC and my Charlotte NC area Targets have never allowed it. Was told by managers and teammates it's to prevent fraud. But do keep trying as you may get lucky.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Keep trying but I do think this is geographically specific, I've tried using my Target GC for years to buy Disney GC and my Charlotte NC area Targets have never allowed it. Was told by managers and teammates it's to prevent fraud. But do keep trying as you may get lucky.

But was it the system deciding that or store policy? This is the software, not the store making the decision.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

But was it the system deciding that or store policy? This is the software, not the store making the decision.

No idea, it's been since last August that I last tried. I don't remember if she rang the target GC up or not but I asked for the manager and was told that you cannot use Target GC to buy any GC at their store. I've tried purchasing at three different targets and I always get the same answer. It's a bummer but whether I use them for Disney GC or something else, it's offsetting my costs. Now I just basically tell my close family if you're going to give anyone of us gift cards, just get Disney and don't mess with anything else.

 

[Jimsig]

Yeah no she said it was new policy to prevent money laundering, she seemed not to skip a beat when it happened so it sounded like she knew what she was talking about?

She must have been a Disney Bus driver before she worked at Target.

 

[Mickeyismyman1]

Just wanted to add that the same thing happened to me at target today. For years I have used gift cards to buy Disney gift cards with no problem. Today, a associate had to come over. First the target gift card was applied and then I had to pay for the Disney gift card separate with my target card.

 

[DizMe]

Same thing happened to me today as well. I sure hope it's true that this is temporary!

 

[tcherjen]

Happened to me too! I got my Target gc for swagbucks and it did not work for Disney giftcard. I had a happy 11 year old , as she was able to use it.

 

[gmar1210]

Same thing happened to me today as well. I sure hope it's true that this is temporary!

Same thing happened to me. Daughter was given a $100 target gift card. Was going to get her $50 gift card for disney to use when we go in a few weeks and some books/clothes. We were able to get the books and clothes but no gift card. Manager informed me that this is a new policy. I think Walmart has the same policy.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Same thing happened to me. Daughter was given a $100 target gift card. Was going to get her $50 gift card for disney to use when we go in a few weeks and some books/clothes. We were able to get the books and clothes but no gift card. Manager informed me that this is a new policy. I think Walmart has the same policy.

No. Walmart does not have the same "policy". There have been multiple DPs of people who have been able to convert wm gcs to 3rd party (ie disney) gift cards.


As mentioned we will not know for sure if this is a new policy for a few weeks. "Policy changed" is misleading in the title of this thread, while the store managers say it's a new "policy" corporate says it is not. Certain Targets haven't allowed this for years as a store specific policy- but it hasn't been corporate policy and as of right now is NOT corporate policy. The corporate people that have been responding to managers (who have taken hours out of their day to call and work their way up the internal chain instead of just accepting what their computers are telling them must mean there is a new "policy") and bloggers who have contacted Target have been told this is a tech issue that will be fixed in the upcoming weeks. The more suspicious of us (myself included) say this is the new way Target is doing things. We will not know for a few weeks.

So: Can you redeem Target gift cards for Disney cards? No. But maybe in a few weeks.

 

[DizMe]

I wonder if they're going to see if there is much impact on sales from that decision. I buy things at Target that I would otherwise buy somewhere else just so I can save up the little $5 and $10 gc's to use for Disney cards. I won't shop at Target much if I will no longer be able to get Disney discounts.