You are the person in front of me in line that makes me suicidal.

I'm always in line behind the old lady who not only has to write a check, but then write the amount down and FINISH THE MATH before moving out of line. RAGE.

Why people still use checks is completely bewildering to me. Debit cards offer more protections and take a second to swipe, as opposed to the whole "show us your ID, birth certificate, passport, iris scan" routine.

One more check writer NOT in front of me in the check out line... can't say I am sorry.

Dude, speed it up, use a card, and earn the free airline milage.

I didn't think people who wrote checks in stores knew how to use the Internet. I'm going to have to ponder this one.

Why not just use a debit card?

In his defense, not all banks have an easily-obtainable debit card. Some also have fees to go with them.

What's your opinion on people writing checks in the store?

It's irritating as hell. Credit cards and debit cards can be a PITA as well if they don't go through. I prefer cash. Quick and to the point and it always works.

Agreed. On all points. Checks have no place in retail stores. I can't wait for the grocery stores (in particular) to stop accepting them, but then Myrtle will never shop there again if they did.

Can you guys provide some background on this company and this type of practice? That is the type of thing I check Consumerist for. Are they the only company that certifies checks? Can I request a copy of my rating like with a credit report?

I would hate to be trying to get important medicine and end up dying because Walgreens refuses my check.

All of the comments so far echo my frustration with check writers. There's certain situations that call for writing a check, but the hassle from the post confirms my belief that my time is worth way more than an annoying transaction fee that might be incurred with a debit card.

I had a similar experience with AT&T Wireless which *surprise* also uses Certegy. Initially AT&T Wireless said the check was declined. DECLINED?!? I called up my Wachovia banker and she confirmed that there was easily 100x the amount of the check in the account and researched it further to show AT&T had made NO attempt to cash the check.

I called up AT&T and got a similar type answer that Certegy didn't have any information on me. AT&T insisted that I bring CASH to one of their retail stores instead. I politely suggested they at least try to cash the check, as if I had to return to the store it'd be to return the phone and cancel the account. Ultimately, AT&T eventually did cash the check, but it took them over a week of debating it before they did.

If your bank is charging you for debit POS transactions, writing checks isn't the solution - finding a new bank is.

A check?

Checks are for paying bills from home. Leap into the 21st century and get a debit card.

It appears as if the sentiments about check writing is shared by most of us. I ordered new checks when I moved into my new condo in March 2005 and still have 249 of the 250 left. I can't remember what I used the one for, maybe for a haircut.
PLEASE people, use debit cards, find a bank that doesn't charge you fees for the use of a debit card etc.
There is no excuse for a check in today's world.

There are actually stores that don't accept debit cards. There's a small chain of stores in Connecticut called XPect that takes Discover and that's about it. I found that out the hard way. However, I will not hold it against them as they are often the last hope a Connecticut consumer has in finding discontinued items like your favorite shade of foundation or the shampoo/conditioner that worked perfectly for your hair but alas is no longer made.

That said, my father taught me that if you're going to use a check in a checkout line, fill out everything else other than the price BEFORE you get in the line to make it as painless as possible. And then get the hell out of the way when you're done if you have to fill in the check register right that very minute.

Oh, God! The place where I work requires us to enter in approximately 6,000 different little numbers and codes and such to properly accept a check. It's terrible and I hate people who write them at retail stores.

That said, my father taught me that if you're going to use a check in a checkout line, fill out everything else other than the price BEFORE you get in the line to make it as painless as possible. And then get the hell out of the way when you're done if you have to fill in the check register right that very minute.

This is good advice. Or just fill it out while in line instead of reading those tabloid magazines.

I enjoy the old ladies who pay for part of their purchase with cash, and the remainder with a check.

Anyway, I hate checks, but I still use them to pay the rent and pay the utility bill (since the utility company charges extra to use the "internet" to pay your bill "online"). In the case of rent, I'm not sure how else my land lord would get paid (short of getting a money order every month, which would suck).

I doubt this was the response the submitter was expecting. Then again, one of the things that bugs me most about check writers is that they're generally oblivious to the fact that they're inconveniencing everyone around them. It's time to let go of payment methods of yesteryear, and join the rest of us here in the 21st century.

@n1ckel5: Paying bills from home? No, that's what Checkfree is for. :)

@MeMikeYouNot:

"PLEASE people, use debit cards, find a bank that doesn't charge you fees for the use of a debit card etc."

While most places I know do charge you for using a "debit card," opting to process it as a "credit card" usually bypasses the fee. My wife drilled this little tidbit into my brain after I continued to rack up $1 here, $1 there fees.

Let's be smarter than the system here.

@humphrmi:

Lol. Tell that to my wife!

I think there's still a little piece o' mind that she gets from physically writing the check.

What... well, what EVERYBODY said. Checks are a pain in the ass, but if you must use them, fill out as much as you can before you get to the front of the line.

@Joopiter, I had exactly the same thing happen to me at the North Haven Xpect. And I don't carry checks. I had to leave my cart, go to an ATM, then go back (because I really wanted that shampoo, I guess).

This seems 100% reasonable. ATT will shut your phone down if you call a suspiciuous country at a suspicious time of the night if a computer tells it to. Similarly, I have had my credit card declined a few times over the last few years because of computer algorithms saying I was doing something suspicious. I have no problem with this at all.

*shrug* Retail outlets that take checks are taking a risk since the process for getting the money from you if you bounce one can be a PITA, especially if you decide to dodge them or otherwise make it difficult.

So businesses protect themselves from that risk by contracting these check verification companies. To oversimplify it, the way the contract works is this: the check verification company will buy any bad check that they authorize the retailer to take. The retailer gets their cash and the check verification company assumes the responsibility for collecting the debt.

It's essentially the same relationship you have with a credit card company-- only there's more risk attached to the check writing.

I haven't seen a single commenter say anything interesting about the topic of this thread -- instead, we're all ragging on the submitter about his choice of payment. What business is it of ours? Maybe it's rare in this day and age that people still write checks at stores -- but they can if they want to, and maybe a lot of them have very good reasons for doing so.

It takes a little longer to get to the front of the line if there's a check writer or two in front, but are you really in that much of a hurry that it's the end of the world? Take a minute to reflect, or maybe say hello to a stranger and make someone's day, or do some other simple kindness to someone -- isn't it a waste to decide to be bitter that someone slowed you down for all of two minutes?

at my job#2 (in a copy center that shall remain nameless) we recently switched from the honor system to a card reader system for self-serve copies. Most people actually prefer it, because they don't ever have to to to the register to ring out and it charges their credit card automatically.

Among our regular customers there's one lady that always pays with a check. I guess the church reimburses her but they have to have the cancelled check as proof or something. She was shocked and horrified to find that we could no longer take checks for payment. There's a contingency plan where we can give out courtesy cards that can be paid for with a check at the register but we don't have any of the cards to give out. I told her that she could use a credit card at the machine or put cash into the kiosk and get a copy card and she about flipped her lid. Oh, and she's always on her cell phone and pretty much always rude to anyone around her. The fact that she writes checks for everything comes as no surprise. It was nice to see her come up against a logic wall where she couldn't have what she wanted.

hey, i use checks every once in awhile & that's my perogative. i understand it takes a little longer, but i figure i'm a low-annoyance shopper (no screaming kids, no 405 items in the express line, no whining that the q-tips advertised at 99 cents rang up $1.13), so i deserve the 15 seconds it takes me to fill in a check.

a debit card is not as "safe" as everyone thinks. didn't everyone read about the stop & shop PIN breach & tj maxx security breach?

also, while swiping & signing is sometimes an option, merchants have the right to require you to PIN a debit transaction. costco is notorious for this, & wal-mart was instrumental in limiting your right to choose. why? it saves them millions of dollars in interchange fees a year.

i had a similar problem with certegy. it's known as a "type 3" denial. there's one of about 6 billion reasons that fall into this category & no one can tell you specifically which one applies to you. let's just say that i never shop at journey's again b/c of that day. tried to buy a pair of shoes & had some snot-nosed 15-yr old brat tell me that if i didn't bounce checks i wouldn't have a problem. never bounced a check in my life. i could've paid cash for those shoes, but that girl's comment burned me up so much i wanted to bounce the cash register off her head.

People amaze me. If the little old lady wants to pay half in nickels and dimes, and half in a check so what? The center of her existence is not to make the queue go faster for you.

Many places still accept checks; many people still write checks. And I guarantee that they are not doing so just to inconvenience you.

And yes, I use a debit card all the time because it is faster and more convenient, but all this animosity against people who write checks is ridiculous--I know a lot of people who write checks simply because they use carbon copy checks and it forces them to write everything down, something that admittedly I don't do--but should--when I'm racing through the checkout at the supermarket with my quick and easy debit card.

My mother's a Certegy employee.

This sort of thing, while annoying, is just what companies like Walgreen's pay for-- making guesses as to what may be fraudulent, and going from there.

I stopped writing checks at Walgreens long ago-- got to be too much of a hassle.

Suggesting people use a debt card (esp. one of those Visa check cards) seems more frightful to me. If anything goes wrong, it's coming out of your bank account and you're out the money until it gets resolved. Sure, someone can try washing the check and filling it out for whatever amount they want, but the newer checks and inks resist this, but it's far easier to get your Visa # stolen and abused than a paper check.

In my case with AT&T, a photocopy of the check is what I wanted for my records, just to CYA.

I would have killed for my checkbook the other day. I was on a mission to buy a shaving brush for myself on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and wandered into a Neiman Marcus store. Maybe I'm the only one in the world that doesn't know the history of this establishment, but apparently they don't take Visa or Mastercard (only AMEX and their own Neiman Marcus card and of course cash and check). I wasn't about to sign up for another credit card just to buy this brush, so I left with a, "you have got to be kidding" and wasted another 30 minutes finding it somewhere else.

Sorry but I disagree as a check writer. When I write checks, I make sure everything is fill out and just put in the total and hand it over. Some Debit Cards has fees and Credit Cards are bad debt that can put you in a hole over time.

What banks are you people using where the debit cards have fees? I've never had to pay a fee to get or use a debit card.

I write one check per month and its for my rent. Otherwise, the last check I wrote was to my accountant and that get lost in the mail and it cost me $29 to cancel it. I went to her office and paid her in cash instead of sending another check.

I don't have a problem with check writing, it's just antiquated in my book. I'd also rather use a debit card because the money is gone from my account quicker (I know, some people like checks for the opposite reason). I sometimes have to wait two or three weeks before my landlord cashes my rent check and it's a PITA when I'm trying to budget.

When I used to work at the big red bullseye, this sort of thing would happen once in a while. Once a poor lady with a bunch of kids in tow and a large full cart had her check rejected because someone else earlier that day had given a cashier a bad check. It was absolutely horrible to explain to the irate customer that the only course of action would be to call the number on the rejected check. She just left the cart and walked right out without anything. There's nothing like being made felt like a criminal to turn a guest from ever stepping in store again.

Also, checks are useful for balancing accounts at the end of the month. Plus, my old job only let me use my employee discount only if I paid in cash or by check. But having your account info printed on a piece of paper is risky. What if someone steals your checkbook? There's your bank info, your address, and your phone number gone.

Old fashioned as checks may be, so long as schools and other organizations (Boy Scouts, etc.) have fundraisers, checks will be both needed and used as few such entities are able to handle the processing fees/hassles of getting & maintaining a merchant account for processing debit/credit cards.

Lots of debit cards have fees, not sure there are any banks in Chicago where the debit card *doesn't* have a fee. It basically recognized the store as a non-network ATM-- don't a hug majority of banks charge fees for using those (usually $1-$2)?

If you have a Visa/MC debit check card, on the other hand, you can just swipe it as a ccard and not get charged the fee-- unless you're at Costco or another store that won't let you.

Sure, someone can try washing the check and filling it out for whatever amount they want, but the newer checks and inks resist this, but it's far easier to get your Visa # stolen and abused than a paper check.

The safety problem with checks isn't so much that someone might alter the physical check. The bigger issue is that printed on the face of the check is all the information that's needed to create other checks. Routing number, account number, contact information, etc., etc.... all a thief needs to do is provide that information to a shady operation (QChex comes to mind) that will print up new checks, and they're good to go.

Also, it isn't so much that Costco requires a PIN, as much as they simply don't take credit cards with the exception of Amex. They signed an exclusive deal in return for reduced processing fees, and I'll deal with it from Costco since they really do pass on the savings.

What's your opinion on people writing checks in the store?

Maybe he does have a debit card but left it at home or lost it. I haven't written a check in months but the last time I did it was because of that.

In general, it doesn't even happen often enough to get frustrated about it: most people use cards or cash and the couple of times I can recall seeing a check written either the person had written out the info ahead of time or the store register was able to print the info for the customer onto the check.

LOL. Sorry guys, I can guarantee you that when I do write a check I do not slow down lines. I misplaced my debit card that day, so a check has to suffice, so cut me some lack.

As to the bigger issue...I am surprised that not many here are outraged that check companies you don't even know about have files on you; or that they can deny accepting your check for statistical reasons, when you might, like I did, have a perfect check writing record at the store in question.

Personally, I can't for the life of me understand why people stand there and don't even start filling out the check until the total comes up at the register. If you at least fill in everything but the amount while you're waiting, it is more forgivable.

At the same time, I'm always a little weirded out about using my debit card for purchases and some banks do charge monthly fees for check cards so...

I routinely write checks at Stop & Shop supermarkets -- yes, the same markets where debit- and credit-card PIN numbers were swiped en masse recently. If you have a store card at S&S, the cashier can run your check through the register in a few seconds and print everything except your signature, which you have already signed. It actually takes less time than some of the shoppers fumbling around with cards and keypads.

Listen... I only recently learned how to pump my own gas, and I don't own an ATM card. (blush)

@44 in a Row: all a thief needs to do is provide that information to a shady operation (QChex comes to mind) that will print up new checks, and they're good to go.

Nope--even easier. The thief just needs to buy check stock and print the checks on a handy printer.

I can tell you why a lot of older people use checks. Their eyesight is too poor for those debit card machines. My mother has low vision and she can not see the numbers on the keypads, the print on the screens or even where to sign if she's using a credit card. She's so familiar with checks that she doesn't need to be able to read it, she knows exactly where to write all of her information. When she does use her debit card she can't read the receipts and gets her checkbook register messed up.

She knows she's slow and that people get impatient and that frustrates her and slows her down even more. Most people really aren't slow in checkouts just to be obnoxious.

My goodness, I have to say I agree with middle-aged_semi-g33k here--what's with the hostility toward cheque-writers?! There are a lot of valid reasons why people still write cheques, and frankly, those reasons are no business of yours. What an unbelievably arrogant attitude it is to presume that anyone writing a cheque is stupid, backwards, etc... I realise it may come as a shock to some, but everyone else on earth isn't living with your personal convenience in mind. Waiting a few minutes longer in a queue isn't the end of the world, and people do it when your precious cards are declined, or the number must be manually typed in, etc...

I am speaking, incidentally, as someone who managed a retail store for years as well as a consumer--cheques never bothered me when I received them at my store, either (and yes, we had to note numerous things on each cheque, too).

The REAL issue in this story is a consumer database somewhere with all of our collective buying habits in it, charging consumers money to get a free pass to write cheques in the first place and avoid the humiliation of being rejected on the basis of at what time of day and in which neighbourhood we happen to be making a purchase.

Shouldn't that sort of be more troubling than the fact that someone might be writing a cheque in the first place?

(For the record, I don't write cheques. I prefer cash over anything else.)

@middle-aged_semi-g33k: So...you use a debit card because it is "quick and easy" and you want to "race" through the checkout more quickly...yet essentially state you wouldn't have a problem with someone taking five minutes just to pay for something with nickels, dimes, and a check to boot? You are a god among peons, sir.

What banks are you people using where the debit cards have fees?

Probably small ones.

I am surprised that not many here are outraged that check companies you don't even know about have files on you.

I meant to say something on that before I hit submit. 1) It's crap that they save any info beyond person X hasn't passed bad checks and person y does. 2) I would think the statistics would be of little help. Do most fraudsters use the same amount on their checks each time? 3) Why don't they use the info they collect to prove someone isn't committing fraud?

In the end though, this is on Walgreens for doing business with a shitty company and dumping problems with the third party onto the consumer. If you hand over personal financial information to a company that's going to save it you should be disclosing that. Your customers don't do business with Certegy Check Cashing Services. It's not their job to work things out with them. If you can't take their checks they can take their business elsewhere.

BTW, DudeAsInCool, which other stores were using Certegy if you don't mind me asking.

I've always thought that senior citizens (and especially senior citizens that use checks) should have their own special checkout line at retails stores so that they don't have to slow down the rest of us.

Thank you, Teapotfox - my sentiments exactly.

Thank you for asking, Rectilinear Propagation. Certegy is an international conglomerate. I know they deal with Staples and Best Buy from my online research. If I had to bet, my guess is that they have records on everyone in this thread...