Check Numbers

[DrFaroohk]

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we can't accept your check."

"Why in heavens not!?!?"

"Because its from a bank in CHINA, ma'am. We only accept local checks."

"But I've never bounced a check."

"Store policy ma'am. I'll be happy to accept another form of payment such as American cash or credit card."

"But, this check is good, I just put money in the bank this morning."

"I'm sure you did ma'am, but it's store policy."

"But, look here my check numbers are in the 8 thousands!"

-----

That one always gets me. Since when does that mean anything? You can open up a brand new account and start it at number 8175 if you want to.

[Zell]

Me: Ma'am, can I see your driver's license?

CS: Sure

CS: ....I can't seem to find it. Can you just run it through?

Me: No, it will come back from the bank and I will get in trouble for it. I absolutely have to have this ID. Unfortunately, it's our store and bank policy.

CS: But you all should know me by now! I come in here all the time!!

-----

Oh my GOD that is one of my most hated lines. Nobody knows you, lady. You can come in here every day and I can bet that I will never know you because you'll go to a different cashier every time. You're one of millions of customers that the company has; you're not unique.

[WorkAtBBuy]

I can't talk. I committed a check sin today and accepted a check dated for 7/28 (the day in question is 7/25). WHY MUST I ALWAYS SIN?!

[Geek King]

I can't talk. I committed a check sin today and accepted a check dated for 7/28 (the day in question is 7/25). WHY MUST I ALWAYS SIN?!

A little tip:

The banks don't care about the dates on the checks. They usually don't even look at them before running them. Two days or a month, they will submit that check at the moment it gets through the clearance house.

[strawbabies]

Most places won't even accept a check from a different state. Why would you take one from another country?

[Becks]

You can open up a brand new account and start it at number 8175 if you want to.

Not at MY bank.

[Soulstealer]

I can't talk. I committed a check sin today and accepted a check dated for 7/28 (the day in question is 7/25). WHY MUST I ALWAYS SIN?!

Sometimes I post-date my car insurance check by a few days, but I also know that by the time they do cash it the date will have already passed. It happens whether I post-date or not.
By the way you sin because the dark side has granny cookies and easy bar wenches.

[digilight]

Not at MY bank.

But you can go and order new checks from the back of a magazine or the sunday coupon section and specify whatever starting number you want.

[Andara Bledin]

A little tip:

The banks don't care about the dates on the checks. They usually don't even look at them before running them. Two days or a month, they will submit that check at the moment it gets through the clearance house.

There's absolutely no point in post-dating a check. Once it has been written, the date on it essentially comes down to "sometime before this second" and that's all that matters. The only time post-dating is useful is if you're dealing with someone you know and trust, and the date is just a reminder of when the payment is supposed to go through or something similar.

Not at MY bank.

But you can go and order new checks from the back of a magazine or the sunday coupon section and specify whatever starting number you want.

Get on the Internet, search a few of the check companies pattern lists until you find one you really like, place your order and choose any number your little heart desires. You don't have to be beholden to what the bank will let you have.

^-.-^

[bigjimaz]

A little tip:

The banks don't care about the dates on the checks.

That is why simply post-dating a check will not guarantee that the check will not be cashed before the date on the check.

If you write "Void Before" above the date you put on the check (and put your initials near this) and it is cashed before the date, you are (supposedly) not libel for any charges for overdrafts.

[Sliceanddice]

That is why simply post-dating a check will not guarantee that the check will not be cashed before the date on the check.

If you write "Void Before" above the date you put on the check (and put your initials near this) and it is cashed before the date, you are (supposedly) not libel for any charges for overdrafts.

yeah well i learn the hard way some banks wont accept checks until the post date, especially before a holiday.
I was broke on the 4th because of this (farking ex job and the getting payed on the 5th!!! They always give us our checks on the 2nd or 3rd and then we cant cash it!!)

[Barefootgirl]

Get on the Internet, search a few of the check companies pattern lists until you find one you really like, place your order and choose any number your little heart desires. You don't have to be beholden to what the bank will let you have.

^-.-^

This is another of those little qurks of the US financial system that I don't understand. I don't "get" buying cheques from some sort of commercial company, and choosing the pattern of whatever. Over here, cheque books are issued by the banks and ONLY by the banks.

Is it just bout inserting one more level of choice into the system, by "allowing" the customer to pay for pieces of paper that they could otherwise get for free? Do you pay for your chequebook if you just get an ordinary one from the bank?

My bank automatically sends me a new chequebook as soon as i reach the last few cheques in an old book. I don't pay for it, I don't get to choose the design.

Doesn't having custom designs on cheques and cheques that are not issued directly by the bank increase the risk of cheque fraud?

[draftermatt]

Not all banks give free checks here. So its either pay $16 for the plain white checks with the bank name, or pay $20 and get fancy checks with Snoopy & Charlie Brown on them.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Most places won't even accept a check from a different state. Why would you take one from another country?

I know grocery stores around here don't accept out of state checks.

Case in point: WD Cone several years ago . . Memorial Day Weekend to be exact. Busy as Hell, guy comes through my line with an overflowing buggy of groceries.

All is fine . . . I'm scanning, got a bagger with me. Guy seemed pretty nice and all. Transaction was fine until he hands me a check.

The check was from a bank in New York State, the name and address on the account belonged to a woman from Queens (I think that was the area.) The guy had also handed me his driver's license (local at that.)

No go. I politely explained that we didn't take out of state checks, and also the check belonged to someone else other than him. I call over a CSM to back me up on it.

CSM took one look at the check and said the same thing. Guy took his ID back and left. We got stuck having to put back the order, as he had no other way to pay.

Another reason why I like to have my checkcard . . . if I"m out of town, I can either use it as credit or get cash from an ATM.

[Bella_Vixen]

But you can go and order new checks from the back of a magazine or the sunday coupon section and specify whatever starting number you want.

Not neccessarily. When I opened my last bank account, the bank told me that their numbers started at 001. So I tried to ordersome checks online from some thing from the coupon section. Plus a couple others. Not one of them would let me choose the number my checks would start at.