I was in attending a conference in Washington, DC yesterday and happened to stop in a CVS drugstore.
Out of habit, I checked the gift card rack, even though I had not seen Vanilla reload cards in Northern Virginia for a couple of months.
Everyone was picking up chocolate Halloween candy yet I was in search of vanilla!
There were no Vanilla reloads on the gift card rack, but when I was checking out I noticed boatloads of them by the cash registers in the front of the store.
Yum.
I was able to purchase two cards, and the manager said that I could purchase two more.
However, the additional purchases were declined on two different Chase credit cards.
When I got home there were some messages from fraud prevention. The bank wanted to verify some attempted purchases: “Had I been traveling out of state?”
Apparently, if you live in the DC metro area, you need to let the bank know in advance if you are shopping in a nearby jurisdiction, or your charges may not go through. Strange indeed.
Which CVS in DC?
Woodley Park.