The Check Customer

[protege]

I will get people who write checks and ask me "Do you need my ID?"

I'm not one of those people. Since I write checks for most of my hobby stuff or things for the car*, I always have my ID ready. I know they're going to ask for it, so why delay things?


*If you're all wondering why, I hate putting that kind of stuff on my credit card. I'd rather get it over with, than waiting until the end of the month when the statement comes.

[purplecat41877]

The other day, a customer wanted to write a check to purchase a chicken. At first, I didn't see the chicken so I thought the customer wanted to cash the check. I informed her of our cash back policy on checks and she seemed confused. I saw why when I saw the chicken in her cart.

[purplecat41877]

Yesterday, a customer wanted to cash a check which got declined which the customer would not accept. I gave him a slip with a number to call and he called the number while he was in the store.

[simplyanother]

If they have a chequing account why don't they just get a bloody cheque card/debit card?

Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but the reason I don't have a check card or debit card is that my credit union does not offer one.


Whenever someone writes a check at my register, I always tell them that I need their ID when they are finished writing the check. Two responses to that annoy me.

The first is when they get it out right away and thrust it at me, expecting me to do...Something...with it while they write their check. I can't do anything until after, when I have to scribble all over their checks.

The second is when they write the check, tear it out...and hand it to me...and then do nothing but stare at me. And then get pissed at me when I remind them that I need their stupid ID.


I get a lot of customers who tell me how they hate going to walmart, because now they do thing where they cancel the check...and give it back to you with your reciept. It aggravated one woman because she'd found someones check drifting around the walmart parking lot. Because it's obviously the stores fault when a customer loses something.

My grandmother is a sucky check customer. She only writes checks, and every few times we go to walmart, she is asked to show her ID. She gets all indignent and grumbles..."I've been trading with youall for years..."... Because the cashier totally has control over that.

She's also the type to shout that the cashier overcharged her, which really irritates me, unless it's because the cashier actually scanned something more than once or something. Usually, it's because she mis-read a sign or because the sign and the price in the computer didn't match up. Niether of those have anything to do with the cashier.

[MoonChild2007]

If they have a chequing account why don't they just get a bloody cheque card/debit card?

Cause people don't like debit cards even though it is just a simple piece of plastic that you just slide.

[Boozy]

I suspect that more than a few cheque users prefer cheques to debit because debit cards take the money out of your account right away - and cheques take a few days to clear. Kiting is illegal, but most people are able to get another cheque (like their pay or whatnot) into their accounts before anyone finds out.

[purplecat41877]

Yesterday, I got a customer who's check got declined. I let him know that we couldn't accept his check and he wanted to know why. I told him I wasn't sure since that was true. I asked if he had another form of payment and he didn't. I gave him a number to call. He gave the number back and left without the groceries which happened to be in one bag.

[Bloodsoul]

I hate checks with a passion, but I had to pick up a checking account because I wanted a debit card to use for online purchases (which I'm very much thankful for). As for real world purchases I've only ever used cash just because, well.. to be honest, checks and cards do tend to confuse me! I like things simple!

..and it's fun seeing the look on peoples faces when I pay for something with a $2 bill. ^_^

[Lioness Blackfire]

Huh, I guess you learn something new every day.

I live in southwest ohio, and nobody seems to react oddly when my mother uses checks to pay for just about anything. (Clothing, perscriptions, hygiene products, and especially groceries.) In fact, the only grocery store in the whole city that I can think of that doesn't accept checks is a fairly young specialty foods store. I had no idea cashiers hated checks so!

As for me, I personally am fond of checks. "Plastic money", as it were, never feels quite right, and I'd prefer to only have a credit card for emergencies (and the occasional purchase over the internet). Also, carrying too much cash makes me nervous.

<snip>
If they have a chequing account why don't they just get a bloody cheque card/debit card?
<snip>

I can't speak for other people, and I'm unfamiliar with check cards, but I know that I have one friend who hates her debit card because many places of buisness around here refuse to take debit cards for no discernable reason! (I've been with her several times when she was told she couldn't use her debit card... and then offered the alternatives of check or credit card. )

PS - first post!

[Boozy]

Credit card companies don't charge much for one of their machines, but debit systems can often be very pricey to maintain, especially for small businesses. That's why you see places accepting charge cards but not debit.

[Estil]

Been yelled at because we don't accept starter check, but "every other store accepts them."

Luckily we can never take starter checks (since after all, you could just write Joe Blow 123 Sesame Street Beverly Hills, 90210 for the address), but I once had a customer who not only tried to use one, but use it to purchase ONLY a $100 AMEX gift card. Bye, bye.

"Every other store accepts them"?? No smart retailer would even touch them. In fact, I wonder why banks even bother with them anymore.

[Andara Bledin]

Well, that whole "starter check" thing is really out of date. I've had accounts with a couple of different banks, and they both gave me the option of starting my checks at any number I felt like. When you know that starter checks can start at any number at all, then you know that the smart crooks start high, and only the innocent or stupid ever use them any more.

As for the non-acceptance of the debit card, does the card in question have a Visa or MC logo on it? The only place I've run into that had any sort of issue with my debit card (which has a Visa logo, so it's basically a secured credit card) is most car rental agencies.

I don't do the check thing. It's just too much time and hassle and the debit card is just so easy. Of course, since I don't use a register, I also make a point of checking my bank balance quite regularly.

^-.-^

[Noelegy]

I love my little brother's wife. Truly, I do. But this weekend I was up visiting the folks, and we made a Hobby Lobby/Wal-Mart run together. We each had a few items, like 3 or 4, so I suggested we go through the self-checkout registers. She scanned her envelopes of photo prints...

...and then took out a checkbook and started writing a check, which apparently automatically flags the cashier for assistance, thereby kind of defeating the purpose of self-checkout lanes...

If I'd been a little quicker on the ball, I'd have thrown her stuff in with mine, paid for it myself, and then let her pay me back. Turned out she had no cash on hand.

[BookstoreEscapee]

not an hour later, lo and behold, our bounced check writer shows up at our store, with the merchandise she'd purchased with the bad checks. she was thoroughly expecting to return these items for a *CASH* refund (sorry, even if it were legit, she'd only get store credit, since cash refunds are for purchases of $25 or less, and she had passed that mark by about $255).

I had a guy once try to return $300 worth of professional-type medical books that had been paid for earlier that day "by his partner" at a different store, with a check. On Labor Day. He said they didn't need them "for his office" and he wanted the cash back. At around 8pm on Labor Day. At the time the policy on check returns was that you had to wait 5 days (or 10, I can't remember) for the check to clear or get store credit. He refused to take store credit and insisted he wanted a refund. I refused him 2 or 3 times and then had to get my manager involved. We suggested that he could take them to the store where they were purchased (it was about 20 minutes away) and they could cancel the transaction and just give him the check back, as long as he did it that night. No, he didn't want to do that, he just wanted us to give him the cash. Yeah, that's not fishy at all. He finally gave up and left with his bag o'books. Bye

On the debit card question, if it's just a plain debit without the Visa/MC logo, and the store doesn't have a PIN card reader, they won't be able to take it. If it's a logo card, if they can take a credit card, they can take Visa/MC debits. BN only got the PIN card readers a few years ago; before that we would occasionally get people with regular debits and we couldn't take them.

The last 3 checking accounts I've had (PNC, Summit, and a credit union) automatically gave a Visa/MC debit card with the account. If you wanted a regular debit card (that can only be used with a PIN) you had to request it. The last time I wrote a check at at store was a couple Christmases ago; I used checks on my employee purchases so my mom could just go and put the money back in my account for the stuff I bought for her (there was a branch of the credit union where she worked and her name was on my account just in case, since I opened it when I was living out of state).

We weren't supposed to take starter checks (under #200, I think), either, or checks that didn't have the name and address printed on them, but we could make judgment calls and occasionally would take them for small amounts (like under 30 or so). It really depended on the customer and if they had ID and all that, and how much they spent.

-ams-

[Delphae]

I have gotten 3 different people trying to buy gift cards with cheques. Not allowed by company policy. One of them claimed that our manager let her. Another was deffinatly trying to scam us. He said he was comming back, but didn't.