Selling Gift Cards with Automatic Activation (Do it Best, True Value, and In-Store Gift Cards)

(ProtoBase required for Do it Best and True Value gift cards)

Use the following procedure to sell and automatically activate gift cards, or add funds to an existing card, in POS. Before you begin, you must have already completed all setup for Do it Best Corp,  True Value, or In-Store gift cards. The option "Force Gift/Cash Card activation" (ID#5980) must be set to Yes in Options Configuration. If you set this option to No, do not use this procedure; instead, see the topic "Selling Gift Cards with Manual Activation."

If you're issuing a gift card as a merchandise credit return, see the first tip at the bottom of this topic.

1. In POS:

• Enter the Gift Card SKU for each gift card being purchased (you can sell up to 996 gift cards on a transaction),

or

If you are adding funds to an existing card, enter the Add Funds SKU.

•  Total the sale.

• Collect the money for the gift card(s).

2. In the Activate Gift Card dialog that displays automatically, enter the gift card/add funds amount. Then tab to the Number field, and swipe the gift card to enter the card number.  

The card must be swiped in order to enter the card number. Manual entry of the card number is not allowed.

The Sale Document # field is filled in automatically.

True Value and Do it Best gift cards only: the gift card information is submitted to the processor for approval and activation for the specified dollar amount. The Credit Authorization Progress Bar displays while the gift card is being processed. This simply indicates that POS is waiting for ProtoBase to respond to the activation request. If the gift card is approved, a message similar to the following displays: "Gift Card Activation complete. $20.00 stored on card 123456789. Write this amount on the back of the card. Press Y to activate another Gift Card or press any other key to return to POS." A Gift Card receipt prints and indicates the card number and dollar amount.   

3. If you sold more than one gift card, the Activate Gift Card dialog displays again automatically. Repeat step 2 to activate the additional gift card(s). If you use Eagle Alerts, the system generates an alert whenever a gift card activation is attempted.

4. Do it Best and True Value gift cards only: If the gift card/add funds activation was declined, try activating another card. If the second card activates, then there was probably a problem with the mag stripe on the first card. Try doing a  balance inquiry on the first card; if it shows as 0.00, then destroy the card. If it shows a different balance, call the Eagle Advice Line. If the second card is declined, Do it Best Corp. members should call 260-748-7174, and True Value members should call FDMS at 888-273-3778

5. If you need to void the activation for any reason, click here for the procedure.

• If you are issuing a Merchandise Card to a customer returning merchandise, here's an example of how to process the transactionIf the customer paid $50 for the item being returned, ring up the $50.00 credit, and press Total (Kpad +) to see the grand total with tax. Press Clear (F12) to return to the Posting screen. Then on the same transaction ring up a Merchandise Card for the total that you just displayed ($50.00 plus tax) so that the total transaction is $0.00. Then activate the card for the grand total ($50.00 plus tax). Use a card that says "merchandise credit" (if you have them available) instead of one that says "gift card."      .

• You can abort a gift card activation if you have security bit 758 - "(MO)Gift/Cash Card - ability to cancel out of gift card activation." If you do not have this bit, a manager's override is required to cancel out of the activation process.

• You can re-activate previously-used gift cards. The card must have a zero balance to do this.

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