LEGO Bans - Open Discussion

[TheBrickClique]

As for operating with a single account to stay within the vendor’s technically-enforced limits, I believe this is the current state of things.
 

Cliff notes: you’ll be fine as long as you don’t go on a spending spree at Target.com, and try not to bring attention to your buying patterns by dealing with online customer service for small gripes that can be dealt with in store instead.

Target - the easiest place to get banned based simply on purchase volume online and the most aggressive against resellers in store — employees trained to identify resellers loading up carts for example.  Can still use red card in store after online ban, but using with a new email account will result in repeat ban — start receiving auto cancellations and email about possible issues including payment purchase method.  Some people have bans lifted after a period in timeout. Others indefinitely. The amount of purchases that may identify you as a reseller and get a ban? One data point: I have been unable to purchase online going on 18 months now after two months of $5k purchases on the red card. Same red card still works fine in store.
 

LEGO shop at home — with the purchase limits mechanics implemented a few years ago, it is much more difficult to get the SAH ban hammer. If you exceed a limit on any item based on past purchases of the same item, they will cancel your entire order. Be warned that if they cancel an order with a VIP Rewards purchase, the reward is not automatically credited back to your account. Also, if they cancel an item due to inventory issues, the system still tracks it as qty purchased. Qty purchased in brick and mortar stores that are purchased with VIP accounts are not counted towards SAH limits and and limits in store are done at the individual store’s discretion. If you do have to call customer service to resolve an issue, they do have easy visibility to all of your previous orders and will make comments about you “really liking LEGOs”.  No indication that that is how the ban process starts, but unless you really have an issue that needs CS, might be best to just let the small things go. 
 

Amazon — shop away. Their limits are tracked to the second on a 168-hour FIFO.  Limits apply and are tracked in that window only to items sold and shipped by Amazon.com. Buy as many third party items as you wish. Anecdotal stories of bans for excessive returns, but no clear information on the metrics used. Generally, probably best to save the returns for the really bad boxes.  Creating multiple accounts will get noticed and is the quickest way to get the warning shot emails. 
 

Barnes and Noble — similar to LEGO, has a five qty per item lifetime limit online. Exceed that amount and just that item will be cancelled from the order. No reports of bans. In store purchases do not appear to be tied to online memberships as far as adding to your 5-count quantity.  
 

Walmart — most LEGO are limited to two per order, but they won’t say how often that limit is reset.  Doing a couple of multiple limit orders in the same day has worked.  Doing dozens has resulted in order cancellations of those specific items but no bans that I am aware of. Generally, I have found one limit order per day has never resulted in a cancellation. 
 

ShopDisney — some items have limits but they are selectively enforced. If you put in multiple limit orders at the same time, they might cancel those items. If you space them out, they will be fine. I ordered a dozen castles (limit one per customer) last year and they all went through. Sometimes two in two consecutive days. 
 

Costco — has item limits on some items, but I haven’t seen any on LEGOs. Even with items with limits, possible to space them out without issue.  In store limits are usually “per day”. 
 

Best Buy — unsure on LEGO as I’ve never pushed the limits on them. In the past, I would make 50 purchases at a time of 2-dollar items that had limits and they would all go through.  I have tried to make multiple purchases of Xbox consoles and those were cancelled.  So YMMV. But no reports of bans.

Anyways, those are my observations.

[Ed Mack]

5 hours ago, Val-E said:

Could be a secure countermeasure incase of stolen CC or account details.

The credit card security algorithms are definitely getting annoying.  Our most used Bank of America card has locked the account several times recently because we used it on products/services that we never used it for before...an eye doctor and BJ's.  Go figure.  

[Bold-Arrow]

1 minute ago, Ed Mack said:

The credit card security algorithms are definitely getting annoying.  Our most used Bank of America card has locked the account several times recently because we used it on products/services that we never used it for before...an eye doctor and BJ's.  Go figure.  

TMI

[Phil B]

Oh those Super Escort Girls ....

[Ed Mack]

2 minutes ago, Bold-Arrow said:

TMI

I had to look that up....LOL

 

[redcell]

5 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

The credit card security algorithms are definitely getting annoying.  Our most used Bank of America card has locked the account several times recently because we used it on products/services that we never used it for before...an eye doctor and BJ's.  Go figure.  

Get an American Express...they are 10000% better than any other card I've ever used when it comes to their fraud algorithm.  When I used to use Citi or Chase cards primarily, I would have to call in after every third or fourth purchase.  With Amex, I haven't tripped a fraud alert in several years.

[Ed Mack]

1 minute ago, redcell said:

Get an American Express...they are 10000% better than any other card I've ever used when it comes to their fraud algorithm.  When I used to use Citi or Chase cards primarily, I would have to call in after every third or fourth purchase.  With Amex, I haven't tripped a fraud alert in several years.

Just don't want to pay the yearly fee, but I might change my mind if it gets worse.  It's embarrassing really.  People think you are a deadbeat when the card is refused.

[bigboy61]

56 minutes ago, Ed Mack said:

 People think you are a deadbeat when the card is refused.

I work in fast-food and I can attest to that. When I run a card and it gets declined, I think "Really?!? Can you not keep track of your finances?".

[Achilles]

A couple years ago, during post Christmas Walmart clearance shopping, I had made a few medium sized purchases. From experience, I expected to trigger my card's fraud prevention, so I actually called them before my next purchase, explained the situation, and requested my fraud detection be turned off or whatever flag they could turn on my account. Customer service said they understood, no problem, etc - Get to the next store, make a $600 purchase, and of course, card declined. So maddening. 

On a side note, I love you guys casually talking about ordering a couple thousand sets off Walmart. I am not sure if you're just big time flippers or there's something obvious I am not seeing, but I have no idea what stuff is being bought at this time of year for 15-20% off en masse, not sure if I should be scared or not.

 

[redcell]

Just don't want to pay the yearly fee, but I might change my mind if it gets worse.  It's embarrassing really.  People think you are a deadbeat when the card is refused.

I used to be adverse to paying the fee, but go over it quick when I realized I wouldn't have to call Citibank so often to confirm charges.

[zskid00]

I have bought close to a thousand sets over the past two weeks and many thousands more over the past few years all on the same account without any issues. I'm just glad that they lifted their per limit purchase orders so you can order 100 sets at a time.

Toy Planet/Planet Fun Toys, is that you?

[Sfcommando14]

Toy Planet/Planet Fun Toys, is that you?

He prefers to go by Chowren or Grendels...or is it Matts Bricks and Books? I'm sure whichever of you those are will get a chuckle

Toy Planet/Planet Fun Toys, is that you?

He prefers to go by Chowren or Grendels...or is it Matts Bricks and Books? I'm sure whichever of you those are will get a chuckle

[redcell]

Toy Planet/Planet Fun Toys, is that you?

No, I'm not that big. Still a solo operation and don't do any convention retail.

[cmartin33]

On 11/7/2017 at 6:13 PM, redcell said:

 

I can personally attest,to the fact that WM does not have any kind of limitations on Lego sets. I have bought close to a thousand sets over the past two weeks and many thousands more over the past few years all on the same account without any issues. I'm just glad that they lifted their per limit purchase orders so you can order 100 sets at a time.

 

Here is the ban email I received from Walmart today.

My name is [removed] and I am with the Tier 2 Escalations Team. I will be assisting you today.  I first would like to apologize for the overall experience with your recent order.  I would like to resolve this matter for you and restore your faith in our level of Customer Service.

 

I wanted to speak with you in reference to the feedback that you were generous enough to provide.  I am very sorry for the frustration that we have caused and I would like to try and make things right for you.  I have researched your order and the reason for your orders canceling is due to the system flagging your activity on your previous orders as bulk buy.  Based on our terms of use , Walmart.com unfortunately does not allow bulk sales and reseller accounts.  For this reason, your account is no longer accessible to place orders.  I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience

 

If you have additional questions, please reply to this email and we'll be happy to assist

[LegoBro]

Everyone must be busy checking their emails...

Can you still make another account? Is this IP traced...

[cmartin33]

1 minute ago, LegoBro said:

Everyone must be busy checking their emails...

Can you still make another account? Is this IP traced...

I haven't tried yet.....as I'm still upset about losing my tax exemption. I will probably try this weekend and report back. This is a big blow though....Walmart was nice because you could order in greater quantities which made storage and packing time very easy.

[redcell]

I haven't tried yet.....as I'm still upset about losing my tax exemption. I will probably try this weekend and report back. This is a big blow though....Walmart was nice because you could order in greater quantities which made storage and packing time very easy.

What did you order to trip it?

[ichiroll]

I got a "warning" email from Jet on just my second order.

1st order was for 10 of the LBM Copack, and the 2nd was for 10 of Friends Puppy Daycare... Go figure

Is Jet.com this strict to everyone?

On the other hand, I've order 50 times as much on the other sites and no issues... Go figure

 

 

[Pokeshop]

On 11/7/2017 at 5:46 PM, Ed Mack said:

I had to look that up....LOL

 

+1 Intellect 

[minicoopers11]

37 minutes ago, ichiroll said:

I got a "warning" email from Jet on just my second order.

1st order was for 10 of the LBM Copack, and the 2nd was for 10 of Friends Puppy Daycare... Go figure

Is Jet.com this strict to everyone?

On the other hand, I've order 50 times as much on the other sites and no issues... Go figure

 

 

I thought they only banned redcell repeatedly. Hm.

[redcell]

7 hours ago, ichiroll said:

I got a "warning" email from Jet on just my second order.

1st order was for 10 of the LBM Copack, and the 2nd was for 10 of Friends Puppy Daycare... Go figure

Is Jet.com this strict to everyone?

On the other hand, I've order 50 times as much on the other sites and no issues... Go figure

 

 

When they first started, they banned my accounts within 2 or 3 orders like that.  With my latest account, I was able to place probably 10-15 orders before they dropped the hammer.  I opened a new one, but haven't placed any orders yet.  I wonder if they monitor them more closely around this time of year than they did a month or so ago.

 

[newbie77]

14 minutes ago, redcell said:

When they first started, they banned my accounts within 2 or 3 orders like that.  With my latest account, I was able to place probably 10-15 orders before they dropped the hammer.  I opened a new one, but haven't placed any orders yet.  I wonder if they monitor them more closely around this time of year than they did a month or so ago.

 

Looks like you got off easy. From the sound of it, seems like soft ban :).

i have not been that fortunate. Got the hard ban i.e. Ban on address. So unless I move from current residence it's not going to work i guess. 

It's hard to see those deals go by

[thermos]

Hi Folks.

I browse the forums a lot but haven't chimed in before.

Anyhoo, I got myself banned from LEGO Shop at Home. I was foolish enough to buy 8 x same item (limit 2) in single purchases to get 8 nutcracker bonuses (sad that I got myself banned for these lame bonuses and sets that were not even on sale). 7 orders went through and the 8th was in warehouse when I got the dreaded ban email (E10) on Nov 27. I knew nothing about bans before that.

I tried to place an order using my VIP points and it was immediately cancelled.

Here is the strange part. The 8th order that was "in warehouse" at the time of the ban, did end up shipping. I got the email confirmation yesterday and the parcel today.

So all 8 came between yesterday and today. I guess I am still banned??

Oh well, LEGO Shop at Home is not that great anyway. Aside from the Christmas bonuses and rare half-decent sales, there is not much worth buying there vs somewhere else. So many boxes have arrived beaten up. I had a sand crawler and several other expensive sets with major dings. I have returned 2 if not 3 times. That may have been my yellow card. Why the huge boxes with insufficient air pillows? Boxes fair far better with boxes that fit and they would save on shipping.

Are these bans indefinite?

[newbie77]

53 minutes ago, thermos said:

 Hi Folks.

I browse the forums a lot but haven't chimed in before.

Anyhoo, I got myself banned from LEGO Shop at Home. I was foolish enough to buy 8 x same item (limit 2) in single purchases to get 8 nutcracker bonuses (sad that I got myself banned for these lame bonuses and sets that were not even on sale). 7 orders went through and the 8th was in warehouse when I got the dreaded ban email (E10) on Nov 27. I knew nothing about bans before that.

I tried to place an order using my VIP points and it was immediately cancelled.

Here is the strange part. The 8th order that was "in warehouse" at the time of the ban, did end up shipping. I got the email confirmation yesterday and the parcel today.

So all 8 came between yesterday and today. I guess I am still banned??

Oh well, LEGO Shop at Home is not that great anyway. Aside from the Christmas bonuses and rare half-decent sales, there is not much worth buying there vs somewhere else. So many boxes have arrived beaten up. I had a sand crawler and several other expensive sets with major dings. I have returned 2 if not 3 times. That may have been my yellow card. Why the huge boxes with insufficient air pillows? Boxes fair far better with boxes that fit and they would save on shipping.

Are these bans indefinite?

Btw, welcome to the dark side.

if you got email mentioning that you are banned then it's not only the purchase history or because of placing 8 orders. 

In the past, based on my experience TLG does and verifies; your reselling activity before taking final ban decision I.e. Those dreaded emails. 

Lego ban are hard ban which means changing name, credit card won't work. It's the physical address that has been banned.

Edited November 30, 2017 by newbie77

[Jackson]

LEGO bans are real. I have been banned for a long time and have not been able to find a workaround. Who has ideas?

[LegoBro]

Btw, welcome to the dark side.
if you got email mentioning that you are banned then it's not only the purchase history or because of placing 8 orders. 
In the past, based on my experience TLG does and verifies; your reselling activity before taking final ban decision I.e. Those dreaded emails. 
Lego ban are hard ban which means changing name, credit card won't work. It's the physical address that has been banned.

How do they verify reselling activity?