Now, since you can read and write, get a duplicate non-activated card and flash the activated card's information to it. Use it somewhere other than where you picked up the card. Preference for a first use would be at McDonald's to buy lunch. You can swipe the card yourself at the register and never show it to the cashier. If it doesn't work, simply pull out a different card or cash.
The problem with this, is that I can't seem to write to certain card without getting an error, Walmart cards specifically. However, I can write the data to other cards, and then use those cards. So it'll work, but a person has to use a self checkout because the barcode on the back of the Walmart cards has to be scanned when they are being used.
Other cards, I am not sure about the process when they are used, but I do know that sometimes I can't just slide the card myself, I have to actually give it to the cashier. So, I need to find out why some of these cards can't be written to. I could always just print them out myself though...