Do we need a bigger sign

[bainsidhe]

I guess they were just going to write me a bad check.

Back when it took a few days to process a check, floating checks was common (my dad did it ALL the time). But nowadays, many stores scan them through and they immediately process, much like a debit card. We had oh so many complaints when *big box retail* switched to the newer method and customers were upset because we were to blame for their bounced checks.

And the reason for not taking checks? Fraud. It's a real problem around here.

[wolfie]

Many years ago, I read about a case where someone who knew how the system worked came out with the "perfect" way to kite cheques. He opened an account with a bank in New York City, and another with a bank in California, then had cheques printed with one bank's information in human-readable form, and the other bank's information in machine-readable form.

When a cheque was presented for payment, it went into the automated system, and the machine-readable information resulted in the cheque being shipped to the bank in California. When it got to the processing stage where it was actually seen by a human at the branch it was drawn on, they'd see the human-readable information for the NYC bank, and chalk it up to a mistake. The cheque would then be shipped to New York City, and at some stage in processing, would be re-inserted into the automated system. Cue another trip to California.

Because the repeated cross-country trips took time, the "hold" period at the presenter's bank would time out without a "this cheque is no good" message being generated, and the funds were made available for withdrawl. The fraud was only caught when the physical cheque became too worn out to be processed by the automated system, and the discrepancy in the information was discovered.

More recently (still several years ago) in Canada, there was a rash of chemically-treated cheques being presented in stores. The chemicals involved would break down the paper before the cheque could be sent to the bank for payment, and if the cheque never reaches the bank, no "bounce" message can be generated.

[downforit2008]

A big neon sign with searchlights saying that your store does not accept checks wouldn't even get a customer's attention at all on store policy.

And all the while, your electric bill is up 100 times higher because of it!

[dalesys]

Accept / except... don't they mean the same thing?

[Krysalis]

A bigger sign wouldn't work.

It could be as big as the sky, with flashing lights, ginormous speakers capable of razing a skyscraper to subatomic particles by turning on, broadcasting "WE DO NOT ACCEPT CHECKS" non-stop 24/7, with laser beams tattooing "NO CHECKS" across their eyeballs, and people would STILL claim they didn't see it.

All I can think of his Disaster Area from Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Why yes, I am a nerd.

[Jay 2K Winger]

All I can think of his Disaster Area from Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Why yes, I am a nerd.

HAH! I was picturing something like that without even thinking of that.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I remember right after I got out of retail for good -- late '89 -- I was doing some Christmas shopping.

...I had just been born.

My birth marked your escape from retail! Whoo!

[RetailWorkhorse]

Many years ago, I read about a case where someone who knew how the system worked came out with the "perfect" way to kite cheques.

<snip>


More recently (still several years ago) in Canada, there was a rash of chemically-treated cheques being presented in stores. The chemicals involved would break down the paper before the cheque could be sent to the bank for payment, and if the cheque never reaches the bank, no "bounce" message can be generated.

Holy crap. In a way that is genius. I hope this person/these people never try to take over the world because we would be so frelled.

[EricKei]

re: Fraud...Yeah, that is an extremely common reason not to take those things any more.

Someone stole a checkbook from my dad about a decade ago -- we found out within about 5 minutes, and the associated account was shut down with extreme prejudice within half an hour. We got one (and only one ) phone call from a grocery store five states away a month and a half later asking about a sizable bad check that had been written on said account. We just told them to talk to the bank, as the account had been closed for six weeks by that point >_> Never heard back from them. Maybe they weren't using a verifier service?

At AccountingFirm, we *did* use checks all the time for non-payroll purposes...but they were invariably for times where we needed to send a payment somewhere via mail. If da Boss sent me down to the store, he handed me a credit card.

Accept / except... don't they mean the same thing?

I'm gonna assume yer joshing us, because, well...It's you.