Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Meijer - Prepaid Visa Offer

Read  this all the way through ... While it still may be a good offer, sometimes things aren't quite as good as they seem.

I get automated phone calls and texts from Meijer with sales updates.  I was very excited when I listened to a call this morning.  Then I did a little digging to be sure I had all the details before telling you about it.  The offer is ... between now and July 17th buy $100 or more in prepaid Visa Gift Cards and get a $10 custom coupon for your next purchase.  $10 in Free Groceries?  Yay!!  My initial thought was I would use next week's grocery money plus a little more to buy a gift card.  Get a $10 Custom Coupon.  Then use the Custom Coupon and Visa Gift card to buy my groceries.

Here's the "fine print" that I was able to obtain through 3 different phone calls.
  1. There is a charge for a prepaid Visa.  How much is the charge?  I can't tell you for sure.  One store told me it might be $4.95/card.  A second store told me it was $3.95/card.  And a third store said the charge was $5.95/card.  Could it be that the charge is different at each store? I don't know.
  2. The second store told me that there is a $2.00 monthly service charge deducted from the Visa card balance each month that it's not used, starting with month after it's purchased.  The third store (who spent more time on the phone with me so I feel is more credible information) said that the $2.00 monthly service charge begins one year after the card is purchased.  
All of that said .... this still could be a small money maker and I'm all about earning or saving the little bits.
Worst Case Senario: Buy a $100 Prepaid Visa Gift Card for $105.95 and get a $10 Custom Coupon = $4.05 Money Maker
Best Case Senario:  Buy a $100 Prepaid Visa Gift Card for $103.95 and get a $10 Custom Coupon = $6.05 Money Maker.

Let me know if you decide to do this offer and if you find out any additional details.  Oh and I'll do the same of course.

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5 comments:

Karen said...

*THANK YOU* for taking the time to research this....I got the same call and I am displeased to find that there is a "charge" to buy the card. I think that it is not very forthcoming of Meijer to omit that info on their message.

I was going to "do" this deal....but I will skip it now. It would involve a special trip to Meijer and it isn't worth the effort to me.

thanks again :)

Becky said...

You're Welcome! I have a trip planned to Meijer this week anyway so I am going to do the deal for even the few dollar money maker it will be. I agree an extra trip wouldn't be worth it though.

Just Trying To Save Money said...

Thanks for the heads up! This would be nice if there was more profit!! May still consider it, especially to turn around and just use it there at Meijer!!

Karen said...

I just realized I do have to go back to Meijer at the end of the week for another watermelon...

So please tell us the particulars...i.e. how much is the fee and do you have to buy at Customer Service or can you buy in the checkout lane?

Becky said...

3 different stores gave me 3 different answers about the amount of the fee ... anywhere from $3.95 to $5.95. I was told that the gift cards can be found in the check out lanes or customer service.

I'm planning to go tomorrow. I'll update with the full details of my trip.