3v Voucher Probs

ninebeanrows · 12-03-2006 9:20pm #1

Hi i bought myself a 3v voucher today and planned to buy a few things with it
but nowhere will accept it! It says you bank has declined etc etc...

I have tried around 5 locations.

Does anyone have any experience with these. Is there something one must
do to activate them or something? I think i've done everything but i just
cant purchase anything .. but even at that Paypal have managed to nick
80c from the account..

Can anyone help me?;)

The OP · 12-03-2006 10:10pm

What's a 3V voucher?

DoctorEdgeWild · 12-03-2006 10:11pm

You cannae use 3v vouchers at locations where there is a terminal if that is what you are trying. It's for using online and mail order.

MrVestek · 12-03-2006 10:17pm

LOL.... yeah you can't use them with proper credit card reading equipent as it's not a credit card, just a voucher card to enable you to buy 3v VOUCHERS... that's all.

I bet you didn't even read the website and or what it was about before ordering, did you?

plonk · 12-03-2006 10:17pm

Go to the 3v website and it will give you a list of shops where you can lodge money into it. Its more of a debit card thean a credit card as you have to put the money in first. It costs a fiver to lodge money to it and then another 1.50 to reuse whatever money you have left on it. So only put in as much as you need.

DoctorEdgeWild · 12-03-2006 10:22pm

The not so definitive guide to 3v vouchers:

Go to the www.3v.ie website and order your card - this entails giving your name and address, no money.

When you receive your card in the post - Go to the nearest location (listed on the 3v site) and top up your card.

Follow the instructions on the voucher to activate it and use the card to buy stuff online. The card is accepted anywhere that accepts VISA but they reserve the right to refuse it as always.

Note that the sites you use do get your name and address just like a normal credit card so it's not like an anonymous credit card designed for p0rn.;)

Dave! · 12-03-2006 10:52pm

DoctorEdgeWild, can they be used to buy things on Ebay? I presume they can...!

I got one a couple of weeks ago, haven't put money on it yet though.

ro_chez · 12-03-2006 11:38pm

Where have any of you guys been able to top yours up, I've been into several shops on the northside listed on the website and they had never even heard of them, albeit the employees looked as if they had only arrived in the country the day before!

MrVestek · 13-03-2006 12:16am

I usually get mine topped up when I'm in the Square, or at a corner shop in Crumlin just across the road from my college. I am having a problem at the minute tho, accidentially deleted the text they send you out with CVV2 code and expiry date so have to wait till tomorrow to talk to the supervisor.

Also paypal stupidly refunded me some money over a disputed transaction back to the credit card instead of into my paypal account... so now that money is locked in an old card that has expired... have to talk to the supervisor about that one too.

To be honest 3v cards are good and everything but we should have something more along the lines of what UK credit card companies do, and that is give you an actual credit card (Visa or Mastercard) which is prepayed and you top up at the bank with actual money. Seems like a much better idea to me than getting slips of paper and having a different bloody credit card number all the time.

AngryBadger · 13-03-2006 12:22am

I've used 3V online a bunch of times, never had any problems, but it can only be used for online purchases, as everyone else has already said.

mayhem# · 13-03-2006 12:41am

I've been using 3V vouchers for months now and had no problems whatsoever.
They are a great solution for anyone who doesn't or can't get a creditcard.
I've made purchases in online shops with them, setup a Paypal account, paid for Ebay purchases and booked flights so far.
All without any problems..

E.

DoctorEdgeWild · 13-03-2006 12:57am

DaveMcG wrote:

DoctorEdgeWild, can they be used to buy things on Ebay? I presume they can...!

I got one a couple of weeks ago, haven't put money on it yet though.

Yep, E-Bay is fine with 3v as the poster before me mentioned. They ain't as good as credit cards but not everyone is able to get credit cards or indeed wants one.

You cannae use them on gambling sites to the best of my knowledge. Mores the pity really.

Fighting Irish · 13-03-2006 12:58am

Weathercheck wrote:

Hi i bought myself a 3v voucher today and planned to buy a few things with it
but nowhere will accept it! It says you bank has declined etc etc...

I have tried around 5 locations.

Does anyone have any experience with these. Is there something one must
do to activate them or something? I think i've done everything but i just
cant purchase anything .. but even at that Paypal have managed to nick
80c from the account..

Can anyone help me?;)

poker sites??

they don't allow gambling sites

Dave! · 13-03-2006 11:16am

Achilles wrote:

I usually get mine topped up when I'm in the Square

Hey what shop does them in the square? What do you ask for exactly?

Thanks

I might set up a Paypal account with it, and get somethin on Ebay

Yay!

jimmycrackcorm · 13-03-2006 12:51pm

I think they are a scam - €5 to put money in and 1.50 to access your change! The only good use is for those porn sites that never seem to accept Paypal, only your credit card but which are inevitably impossible to cancel.

lodgepole · 13-03-2006 1:23pm

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

I think they are a scam - €5 to put money in and 1.50 to access your change! The only good use is for those porn sites that never seem to accept Paypal, only your credit card but which are inevitably impossible to cancel.

It's a small price to pay for those of us without credit cards. I never got one while I was in college, and won't be in a position to get a card for at least another three to six months.

MrVestek · 13-03-2006 5:29pm

Hardly a Scam, if you had a normal credit card you'd amas more than that in transaction fees and interest so it all balances out really. If you're getting like €20 on the card then a fiver is asking a bit much but if you're getting €100 then €105 aint so bad. As for where to get them in the square, level three just outside the square as if you were talking towards the McDonalds outside, there's a little newsagents there forget what it's called, inbetween the multi story and the atm machine. Just go in and ask for a whatever amount 3v voucher.

Giblet · 13-03-2006 5:31pm

You can also get them in the Spar just outside the Tesco carpark in the Square. Tuamsgate.

KdjaCL · 13-03-2006 8:01pm

If its on the website they have them in store.

handy little things annoying at 1st only shops in town had top ups, now my local hardware shop has it

kdjac

Fighting Irish · 13-03-2006 8:06pm

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

I think they are a scam - €5 to put money in and 1.50 to access your change! The only good use is for those porn sites that never seem to accept Paypal, only your credit card but which are inevitably impossible to cancel.

:rolleyes:

they are worth it if you need something offline a few times a year, if you are getting them constantly its a little expensive but still buying online is much cheaper and buying in the shops.

cormie · 13-03-2006 8:10pm

If it's poker sites you are trying to deposit on, try www.ukash.com, you basically buy money which is put into an online account and you can then transfer to poker rooms and the likes:) Just recently available in Ireland but available in loads of places already:)

DoctorEdgeWild · 13-03-2006 10:20pm

Cheers for that Cormie - any ideas of betting sites which might use the same sytem? Mainly for football/motor racing betting?

cormie · 13-03-2006 10:36pm

Well we accept Ukash at the poker.ie poker room, I wouldn't be too sure of football or motor racing unfortunately, I'm not a gambler;)

DoctorEdgeWild · 13-03-2006 10:38pm

Cool thanks mate - not much of a poker player myself, I tend to go home shirtless when I do.

cormie · 13-03-2006 11:10pm

hehe, well good luck with whatever way you spend your money:)

jimmycrackcorm · 13-03-2006 11:20pm

Achilles wrote:

If you're getting like €20 on the card then a fiver is asking a bit much but if you're getting €100 then €105 aint so bad.

But €5 for a €100 transaction is dear - especially considering that with a credit card you can do the same transaction for €0 cost if you pay it off within the allotted time. Then if you have a need to do another few transactions, you end up having to fork out more fivers.

The bank makes money on the credit card transaction regardless but also this lovely extra €5 for almost each transaction given that people will generally deposit cash for a single transaction at a time. They must be laughing themselves all the way, well, to the bank...

Adam · 13-03-2006 11:24pm

No, there are no transaction fees whatsoever actually.

13-03-2006 11:33pm

I'm puzzled as to why someone would buy a 3v voucher to buy something in a shop... (when you can jsut use the cash anyway)
Seems silly to me.

cormie · 13-03-2006 11:37pm

it actually works out to be cheaper than a normal credit card, the voucher expires at the end of the month after you buy it, so if you buy it Jan 1st, it will expire feb 28th. So you have it for 2 months basically, 2 months at €5 x 6 2 month periods = €30+6 €1.50 charge if you get your change every time = €39 max, €30 minimum. A credit card has a government charge of €40 per year. Unless your going to be spending over the limit, this is a really good alternative. It's a bit of a pain you have to get a new number each time, but for once off buys it's quite good, if you think you'll be spending more in a 2 month period, just buy the max amount allowed on the card and if need be, pay the €1.50 to get your change, or perhaps you could set up 2 paypal accounts and pay one account the change:)

Adam · 13-03-2006 11:37pm

Earthman wrote:

I'm puzzled as to why someone would buy a 3v voucher to buy something in a shop... (when you can jsut use the cash anyway)
Seems silly to me.

You shall henceforth be known as 'Special Paddy'. :rolleyes:

jimmycrackcorm · 14-03-2006 12:23am

fade_to_grey wrote:

No, there are no transaction fees whatsoever actually.

If you use a credit card to pay for something ( as this is) the retailer has to fork out between 1% and 5% in fees on the transaction. I.e. the banks make money on each transaction and you implicitly pay this as part of the price.

jimmycrackcorm · 14-03-2006 12:31am

cormie wrote:

it actually works out to be cheaper than a normal credit card, the voucher expires at the end of the month after you buy it, so if you buy it Jan 1st, it will expire feb 28th. So you have it for 2 months basically, 2 months at €5 x 6 2 month periods = €30+6 €1.50 charge if you get your change every time = €39 max, €30 minimum. A credit card has a government charge of €40 per year. Unless your going to be spending over the limit, this is a really good alternative. It's a bit of a pain you have to get a new number each time, but for once off buys it's quite good, if you think you'll be spending more in a 2 month period, just buy the max amount allowed on the card and if need be, pay the €1.50 to get your change, or perhaps you could set up 2 paypal accounts and pay one account the change:)

All that hassle to save €1 and you have to purchase enough value up front to cover what you will be spending for the two months (max €350?). I reckon most people would buy vouchers for specific purposes and then have to buy more for other purchases. As has been said, it suits those who aren't in a position to get a credit card, but it penalises them in a heavier manner. Some credit cards have a deal whereby if you spend enough money with them you get the €40 refunded. Still a much better deal.

Scruff · 14-03-2006 9:17am

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

The only good use is for those porn sites that never seem to accept Paypal, only your credit card but which are inevitably impossible to cancel.

speaking from a bad experience are we? Why anyone would pay for porn is beyond me...

Dave! · 08-04-2006 2:40pm

How exactly do I 'Add Funds' to my PayPal account with it?

I just registered and put the voucher number etc as my primary card, but when I go to Add Funds, this comes up...

Add Funds is Not Available
PayPal does not currently offer the ability to add funds from your bank account. You may, however, use other funding sources to make a PayPal payment, including credit cards and your PayPal account balance.

Did I do somethin wrong?

EDIT:

Do I have to 'Enroll in Extended Use'? I thought that was optional

I didn't do it cos of this

"On your next credit card statement (monthly transaction history), find the 4-digit Expanded Use Number that will be printed in the item description section of the charge. It may take 3-4 business days for the number to appear on your statement."

Will that Expanded Use Number appear when I log into 3v.ie with the voucher?

Danke!

Dave! · 08-04-2006 2:54pm

ok had a bit of a search and found out how to get the expanded use number, and I entered it, but I'm still getting that message!

Umaro · 08-04-2006 2:55pm

DaveMcG wrote:

How exactly do I 'Add Funds' to my PayPal account with it?

I just registered and put the voucher number etc as my primary card, but when I go to Add Funds, this comes up...

Add Funds is Not Available
PayPal does not currently offer the ability to add funds from your bank account. You may, however, use other funding sources to make a PayPal payment, including credit cards and your PayPal account balance.

Did I do somethin wrong?

no you havent done anything wrong

you actually don't Add Funds to the paypal account - when you want to buy something you just put in your paypal details at whatever site your at and the money will be taken from the 3V and go through the paypal account and pay it that way. if you want to buy something that is say €1000 and you have 3 €350 cards what you have to do is set up 2 Paypal accounts, one with all the cards and one with none and then transfer the money to the one without the cards. I know thats kind of difficult but I amnt aware of a better way.

Do I have to 'Enroll in Extended Use'? I thought that was optional

I didn't do it cos of this

"On your next credit card statement (monthly transaction history), find the 4-digit Expanded Use Number that will be printed in the item description section of the charge. It may take 3-4 business days for the number to appear on your statement."

Will that Expanded Use Number appear when I log into 3v.ie with the voucher?

Yes it will and you'll get €1.50 credit added to your Paypal account once you've put in the Expanded Use Number. I think it's worth it.

Hope I helped - I only figured these out through trial and error myself.

Dave! · 08-04-2006 3:00pm

Thanks for that!

So should 'Current Total in Euros:' have €1.50, since I did the Expanded Use thing?

Cos it's currently empty!

And check this out....

 08.04.2006  	 [numbers]PAYPAL--*EXPUSE [numbers] GB  	 Purchase Approval  	 [numbers] AuthCode:[numbers]  	 &#8364; 1.50  	  &#8364; -1.50
08.04.2006 	PAYPAL [numbers] US 	Purchase Approval 	000774580701 AuthCode:[numbers] 	$ 1.00 	&#8364; -0.83
08.04.2006 	PAYPAL [numbers] US 	Purchase Approval 	005550408821 AuthCode:[numbers] 	$ 1.00 	&#8364; -0.83

They've take money off me 3 times

EDIT:

So when this voucher expires, I'll have to get a new one to use PayPal? I was under the illusion that I could transfer the money from my 3v to the Paypal account... That was my plan, cos this voucher expires next month! :mad:

Umaro · 08-04-2006 3:16pm

if i remember correctly it does take several days for the money to be added to your account. also you've done it today (or friday evening?) so it might only start being processed on monday

i dont really know why youve been charged 3 times - sorry

So when this voucher expires, I'll have to get a new one to use PayPal? I was under the illusion that I could transfer the money from my 3v to the Paypal account... That was my plan, cos this voucher expires next month!

You wont have to get a new one to use Paypal - just set up another Paypal account like I mentioned above and send the money to that. Then there's no expiration on it.
I tried to transfer money from my 3v to my Paypal account but it would never work for me - so unless someone else knows..
I agree that it is quite annoying that they expire so quickly but from May 1st they're extending it after getting lots of bad feedback about it. (Thats all 3Vs bought from may 1st)

ninebeanrows · 08-04-2006 4:05pm

Would it not be simple to make 2 paypal accounts and send funds from one
to another?

you might be charged 1 or 2 euro ( due to fees) but its better than the card expiring;)

aphex™ · 08-04-2006 5:00pm

Weathercheck wrote:

Would it not be simple to make 2 paypal accounts and send funds from one
to another?

you might be charged 1 or 2 euro ( due to fees) but its better than the card expiring;)

Yeah I do that but I don't think it is that much cheaper. But you never know how long the cheque will take to arrive from 3v so I suppose it is better.

Adam · 08-04-2006 5:16pm

DaveMcG wrote:
Thanks for that!

So should 'Current Total in Euros:' have €1.50, since I did the Expanded Use thing?

Cos it's currently empty!

And check this out....
 08.04.2006  	 [numbers]PAYPAL--*EXPUSE [numbers] GB  	 Purchase Approval  	 [numbers] AuthCode:[numbers]  	 &#8364; 1.50  	  &#8364; -1.50
08.04.2006 	PAYPAL [numbers] US 	Purchase Approval 	000774580701 AuthCode:[numbers] 	$ 1.00 	&#8364; -0.83
08.04.2006 	PAYPAL [numbers] US 	Purchase Approval 	005550408821 AuthCode:[numbers] 	$ 1.00 	&#8364; -0.83
They've take money off me 3 times

EDIT:

So when this voucher expires, I'll have to get a new one to use PayPal? I was under the illusion that I could transfer the money from my 3v to the Paypal account... That was my plan, cos this voucher expires next month! :mad:

Would it honestly kill people to read up on how the card words before doing something like this and presuming it works?? :rolleyes:

Dave! · 08-04-2006 6:24pm

Thanks for your input, fade_to_grey, you're a legend!

Adam · 09-04-2006 12:53am

Oh, smart come back on that one! :rolleyes:

Tbh though, that wasn't a direct hit on you, there's a suprising amount of people who just wont RTFM, so to speak... Its a tad nonsensical(sp?)...

Corholio · 09-04-2006 1:55am

Just one little question on 3v, couldnt find an answer to this on the website.

How can you use one on PayPal, dont you have to register a credit card with PayPal ? do you have to change the credit card number in your details on PayPal every time you buy a voucher?

Any help would be appreciated thanks

aphex™ · 09-04-2006 8:32am

Corholio wrote:

do you have to change the credit card number in your details on PayPal every time you buy a voucher?

Yeah, but, it only takes about 30 seconds to do.

Dave! · 09-04-2006 10:45am

fade_to_grey wrote:

Oh, smart come back on that one! :rolleyes:

Tbh though, that wasn't a direct hit on you, there's a suprising amount of people who just wont RTFM, so to speak... Its a tad nonsensical(sp?)...

I did read about the card, and people have said that they use it with PayPal, so I took it as it being possible -- and I posted in this thread to find out how. It's not a big deal, is it? If someone can help then they will, if they can't then they won't. Evidentally they can, and thanks to those who did.

rabbitinlights · 09-04-2006 2:15pm

aphex&#8482 wrote:

Yeah, but, it only takes about 30 seconds to do.

What about the code you normally get off your bank statement? or is that not used anymore?

aphex™ · 09-04-2006 2:21pm

rabbitinlights wrote:

What about the code you normally get off your bank statement? or is that not used anymore?

You only have to do that on one card, once. When adding your second/third/tenth visa number you don't have to do that.

You can see the statement online at www.3v.ie any time.

Samsung · 13-04-2006 11:12pm

Lads, I got a bit confused reading this post.
Im going mad trying to find a CC to buy something on ebay through PayPal.
Some people on this thread are having problems and some can say its fine.

WILL IT WORK IF I DO IT?
How did you get on Dave?

Thanks

Dave! · 14-04-2006 11:06am

Hey Samsung,

Just get your voucher, register an account on PayPal (putting the voucher number in for your CC), then register another account (with a different email address), and send money from 1 account to the other. It's fairly easy, except, I accidentally rejected the transfer, and Paypal said it will refund me, but it hasn't :mad: I'm gonna have to ring up 3V to get it sorted I think. Of all the mistakes....

crazyamoebs · 23-08-2008 5:36pm

When I went into a newsagents to buy a 3V voucher, the shop assistant disappeared through the back of the shop before I could hand my card over. When she came back she just said that she didn't realise that I had a card, but said the voucher would still work. Now, of course, I haven't had my CVV2 number or expiry date emailed to me, because she didn't scan the card.

On the voucher it says 'activate this voucher within 90 days' but I don't know how to do this, and I have searched the 3V site, but ot doesn't say anything about it.

Can anyone help me?

And just to clarify, before I get shouted at, I thoroughly read up on the 3V card before I even ordered one, and there isn't anything like this mentioned.

3v Voucher Probs

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