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.

[Alpinemaps]

Lacey Chabert?

https://www.google.com/search?q=lacey+chabert&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=inv&sxsrf=ALeKk03lmDFgyboFf9MexY0W55LR5mGxbg:1600903133102&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUzsX0tIDsAhWQhJ4KHXMwBMQQ_AUoAXoECCIQAQ&biw=414&bih=715

Lacey Chabert?

Yes. Damn autocorrect

[fuzzy_bricks]

3 hours ago, Alpinemaps said:

https://www.google.com/search?q=lacey+chabert&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=inv&sxsrf=ALeKk03lmDFgyboFf9MexY0W55LR5mGxbg:1600903133102&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUzsX0tIDsAhWQhJ4KHXMwBMQQ_AUoAXoECCIQAQ&biw=414&bih=715
Yes. Damn autocorrect

Didn't she try to make "fetch" happen?

[Achilles]

6 hours ago, coelian said:

I usually buy online and the nearest lego store is 2 hours away. Before I make a drive out to grab some stuff, do physical stores impose any sort of limit on purchases? 

I've never heard of or seen a limit on in store purchases, but if there are promos they will usually limit/cap those.

[gmpirate]

8 hours ago, coelian said:

I usually buy online and the nearest lego store is 2 hours away. Before I make a drive out to grab some stuff, do physical stores impose any sort of limit on purchases? 

Lints are 2 and 5 for exclusive/HTF items and normal items.  Generally they will limit GWP's to 2 max.

Since you obviously do not frequent the store often, you may be given a little leeway, but that's generally how it goes . . .

[coelian]

5 hours ago, Achilles said:

I've never heard of or seen a limit on in store purchases, but if there are promos they will usually limit/cap those.

 

2 hours ago, gmpirate said:

Lints are 2 and 5 for exclusive/HTF items and normal items.  Generally they will limit GWP's to 2 max.

Since you obviously do not frequent the store often, you may be given a little leeway, but that's generally how it goes . . .

Thanks guys. The last time I went I picked up two diners and two treehouses, along with six brickheadz sith/kylo and a dozen lucky cats. The store assistant even told me "well played, sir" lol

I'm planning a bigger purchase this time round with an empty boot and am not sure how they will react, I see some stuff not available online but available in the store.

[MotorCityMuscle]

5 hours ago, gmpirate said:

Lints are 2 and 5 for exclusive/HTF items and normal items.  Generally they will limit GWP's to 2 max.

Since you obviously do not frequent the store often, you may be given a little leeway, but that's generally how it goes . . .

Is this per trip? Could I go in a few days later and pick up some more sets with the same GWP’s? Wondering what their system shows if I attempt to use VIP? 

[exciter1]

39 minutes ago, MotorCityMuscle said:

Is this per trip? Could I go in a few days later and pick up some more sets with the same GWP’s? Wondering what their system shows if I attempt to use VIP? 

Disguise game 100!

[gmpirate]

On 9/24/2020 at 4:22 AM, MotorCityMuscle said:

Is this per trip? Could I go in a few days later and pick up some more sets with the same GWP’s? Wondering what their system shows if I attempt to use VIP? 

per day.

[TheBrickClique]

On 9/24/2020 at 4:22 AM, MotorCityMuscle said:

Is this per trip? Could I go in a few days later and pick up some more sets with the same GWP’s? Wondering what their system shows if I attempt to use VIP? 

I don’t visit LEGO stores often, but when I do, I avoid the VIP card on items if I’ve already reached the limit at SAH. 
I imagine if you visited regularly without a disguise, they may wonder why you used the card one day but not the next — can be awkward. 

You can try, ”My horoscope warned me not to use loyalty cards today”, but YMMV. 

[coelian]

I just looked at my purchases logged and it goes back about 3 months, maybe the buying limits resets after that. 

[Bricklectic]

Hope this is the right thread - To anyone banned by walmart - Did you receive any notification that youre account was deactivated. or did your orders simply stop going  through? I think I may have just been banned for making duplicate orders my orders no longer go through and I get these emails: im afraid to call and ask them as I really dont want them looking at my order history 

[minicoopers11]

44 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

Hope this is the right thread - To anyone banned by walmart - Did you receive any notification that youre account was deactivated. or did your orders simply stop going  through? I think I may have just been banned for making duplicate orders my orders no longer go through and I get these emails: im afraid to call and ask them as I really dont want them looking at my order history 

Yes, that was what a walmart ban looked like and I guess it still does. Sucks!

[river41]

1 hour ago, Bricklectic said:

Hope this is the right thread - To anyone banned by walmart - Did you receive any notification that youre account was deactivated. or did your orders simply stop going  through? I think I may have just been banned for making duplicate orders my orders no longer go through and I get these emails: im afraid to call and ask them as I really dont want them looking at my order history 

what did you do to get that ban (you mentioned multiple orders but alot of people do multiple orders how many in a row did you do?)

[Bricklectic]

21 minutes ago, river41 said:

what did you do to get that ban (you mentioned multiple orders but alot of people do multiple orders how many in a row did you do?)

yeah its weird, ive done multiple orders before with no issues, as many as 15 straight orders.

Maybe because it was at 1 AM, i wonder if that raised the flags..

[Bricklectic]

47 minutes ago, minicoopers11 said:

Yes, that was what a walmart ban looked like and I guess it still does. Sucks!

 That is bad news indeed.

But, I just tested another order and now it does go through.

Minicoopers: Have you tried reordering recently? 

I guess the smart thing would be to tread lightly and not send tons of orders in a short time and to mix up total amounts by adding random sets.

[Bold-Arrow]

4 minutes ago, Bricklectic said:

 That is bad news indeed.

But, I just tested another order and now it does go through.

Minicoopers: Have you tried reordering recently? 

I guess the smart thing would be to tread lightly and not send tons of orders in a short time and to mix up total amounts by adding random sets.

give it few days , or a couple of weeks. Many times it reset.

[Banjoman]

Not to try and beat the system but usually it only takes 10 minutes to senda shipping notification.  I think once it is in shipping you are good to place another.  Ordered 10+ orders of the Technic Porsches when they dropped to $112 with no issue

[Bricklectic]

1 hour ago, minicoopers11 said:

Yes, that was what a walmart ban looked like and I guess it still does. Sucks!

 

1 hour ago, Bold-Arrow said:

give it few days , or a couple of weeks. Many times it reset.

 

50 minutes ago, Banjoman said:

Not to try and beat the system but usually it only takes 10 minutes to senda shipping notification.  I think once it is in shipping you are good to place another.  Ordered 10+ orders of the Technic Porsches when they dropped to $112 with no issue

Thanks guys. There's not a ton of data points about this online so all info is very helpful. I'll continue to update if I have relevant useful information that can help others.

[minicoopers11]

1 hour ago, Bricklectic said:

 That is bad news indeed.

But, I just tested another order and now it does go through.

Minicoopers: Have you tried reordering recently? 

I guess the smart thing would be to tread lightly and not send tons of orders in a short time and to mix up total amounts by adding random sets.

Never been banned by Walmart, just read about it on here.

[redcell]

11 hours ago, Bricklectic said:

Hope this is the right thread - To anyone banned by walmart - Did you receive any notification that youre account was deactivated. or did your orders simply stop going  through? I think I may have just been banned for making duplicate orders my orders no longer go through and I get these emails: im afraid to call and ask them as I really dont want them looking at my order history 

Delete the credit card that you used, re-enter the number, and try it again.

[Bricklectic]

2 hours ago, redcell said:

Delete the credit card that you used, re-enter the number, and try it again.

Didn't help. I'm back to having all my orders cancelled again.  But a few did sneak through today. I made about 8 today and 6 were cancelled.

[exciter1]

1 minute ago, Bricklectic said:

Didn't help. I'm back to having all my orders cancelled again.  But a few did sneak through today. I made about 8 today and 6 were cancelled.

How about taking a break?

 

[Bricklectic]

9 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

How about taking a break?

 

Walmart's my primary source so kinda anxious to find out if I'm really banned or not. Since a few went through, I figure if I try a buncha different stuff like order amounts and different cards maybe that'll help. I don't know if waiting a day or 2 makes any difference. I guess thats my last option to try.

[exciter1]

1 minute ago, Bricklectic said:

Walmart's my primary source so kinda anxious to find out if I'm really banned or not. Since a few went through, I figure if I try a buncha different stuff like order amounts and different cards maybe that'll help. I don't know if waiting a day or 2 makes any difference. I guess thats my last option to try.

2 per order is a primary source?

[Bricklectic]

3 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

2 per order is a primary source?

I haven't had any issues in the past making duplicate orders. For example when the Beetles were on sale last week at 80$ I bought 70 of them from Walmart.