Do you have good check writing history?

[Disneyglobegirl]

I had something happen to me today that has NEVER happened to me before and I must say that I am shocked and outraged.

I went to Sears Optical today for an eye exam and to order new glasses. I usually always pay for things with my debit card but today decided to write a check. I wrote the check for $275.88 and the clerk was trying to put it through and it was not accepted!! I panicked at first because I thought maybe someone had gotten into my account but I pulled out my debit card and used that and it went through just fine. The clerk gave me back the check and told me to call the number that had printed on the back and they would tell me why I was declined. The companies name is Certegy and I called them when I got home and was told that I was declined because I had no check history with them!! I have had my bank account for 10 years and I do write a few checks for bills every month but because this company has never processed a check from me I had NO HISTORY with them. I am outraged that a third party is approving my checks without verifying the funds with my bank. I have plenty of funds in my account and I have never written a bad check but yet this company was saying because I have no history through them that they decided to decline my check. I immediately called Sears and told them this was unacceptable to me and I canceled my order for my new glasses and told them to credit my debit card and that I will be in first thing tomorrow to pick up my prescription and that I will be taking my business elsewhere. Sears had no problem accepting my checks when I paid my credit card with them (which is now paid off in full with no intentions of using ever again)

I thought I had good check history and if you ask my bank I suppose I do but I guess that doesn't count anymore with stores using third parties to deal with checks and approvals. Things like this make me want to throw my checkbook away and only use my debit card for now on.

 

[thelionqueen]

That is ridiculous!!! I've never written a bad check and would be mortified if this happened to me

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

That is ridiculous!!! I've never written a bad check and would be mortified if this happened to me

Oh I was mortified ....I think I said "excuse me" 3 times to the clerk before it sunk in that they would not accept my check. That has never happened to me before.

 

[plummer925]

I would be OUTRAGED about this - and I totally agree about you cancelling your order! Make sure to speak to the managment about it (Sears Optical may not be owned by Sears - they may be a contractor - check that and if they are indeed owned by Sears, write letters to the corporation!).

Thank you for sharing with us - I, for one, will not use their service now because of the way they treated you!

And one thing is totally bugging me - HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO GET A CHECK HISTORY WITH A COMPANY IF THEY WON'T TAKE YOUR CHECK!?!? Duh!

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

I would be OUTRAGED about this - and I totally agree about you cancelling your order! Make sure to speak to the managment about it (Sears Optical may not be owned by Sears - they may be a contractor - check that and if they are indeed owned by Sears, write letters to the corporation!).

Thank you for sharing with us - I, for one, will not use their service now because of the way they treated you!

And one thing is totally bugging me - HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO GET A CHECK HISTORY WITH A COMPANY IF THEY WON'T TAKE YOUR CHECK!?!? Duh!

I have already emailed Sears and plan on writting letters also. I will be asking the clerk tomorrow if they are owned by Sears also and for the managers name as they will all be getting letters.

I went rounds and rounds with this Certegy place asking them the same question about how do I get a check history since I thought by having a bank account for 10 years with no bad checks was my check history - LOL I also asked them how long they plan on staying in buiness since more and more people are using debit cards over writting checks now. The whole thing just makes my head spin. It is crazy!!

 

[littleeyz]

Sears Optical is not owned by Sears. It is owned by Luxoticca. But I am impressed by your short-sightedness in taking your frustrations out on people who do not control how your check is processed. If that is how you choose the people who care for your eyesight, you get the care you deserve.

 

[decaff38]

This happened to my Mom (78) at Target. Same company , Certergy. They are a check clearing agency and their explaination to me was that it is a security issue to protect her. They told me it was because she did not write checks over 100.00 so when she did it kicked it out. She lives in a town of 1000 people. She never needs to write a big check to a merchant. The lady said I could write to the company and have that security removed. I thought it was a bunch of junk. They are not connected to your bank at all. They are a merchant paid company making $$$ from us. I had one kicked out because of the large check # 101450. The machine would only take the first 5 numbers. Go figure. Just use the debit and write it doen like a check.

 

[runwad]

Geez I NEVER write checks anymore. I pay bills by automatic withdraws or online banking with my bank. Since I've got a credit card with rewards I charge whatever I can instead of even using my debit card now (I always pay balances in full every month). Guess eventually checks will become obsolete and everything will just go to credit/debit cards.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

Sears Optical is not owned by Sears. It is owned by Luxoticca. But I am impressed by your short-sightedness in taking your frustrations out on people who do not control how your check is processed. If that is how you choose the people who care for your eyesight, you get the care you deserve.

Thank you for that information I will send them a letter also as I think they need to be aware of what is going on. And just for your information I did NOT take anything out on the people at the vision center. I was calm and very polite when talking to them. HOWEVER since it was the register at their location that declined my check I have every right to take my business else where since I was declined by the company that Luxoticca/Sears choose to approve checks. The clerk also told me that this was the third time today that this has happened and she didn't blame me at all because she would do the same thing if it happened to her. I have a feeling that this place will continue to have many customers angry if they continue to use the same check clearing company. The Dr that checked my eyes was in no way effected by this whole thing as she is paid seperately from the glasses order. I had no problem with the check I wrote to the Dr for the exam. Thank you for the kind thoughts about my vision care.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I've had problems with Certegy too. There was a blurb about them on one of the Consumer Alert spots on a local TV station, similar situation and Certegy's only answer was that the check writer/check didn't meet their requirements. Here's my experience:

I work at Boscov's and on 4 occasions within a six months I've had checks declined at three locations in the same town, the same as where I live only different ZIP codes. Twice was the exact same register, the first time I think I wrote a check from a second account I have and it was accepted, and on the second occasion I was able to go to another department and use by debit card with PIN. The third was at another local mall and I was stuck there with no other form of payment. I was forced in to paying with my debit card and gave up 15% off (DD had to have shoes for a funeral the next day).
Employess forfeit using their employee discount if we choose to pay with any major credit card (to cut expenses).

I rarely have cash on hand and after that incident I actually had to request a new charge card for when I shop where I work (I cut up the old one to prohibit spending)...but I've promised myself that I will not buy unless I have the money to pay for what I charge right away - they have no problem accepting my checks for payments on my charge. The fourth and final straw was when we went to purchase a new TV at the store where I work. The check for payment was declined (can't say I didn't see it ocming) and I was stuck again. I ended up paying on my charge at the very same terminal and used the now open balance to pay for the TV.

 

[Minnie824]

We had this happen a few years ago...coincidentally at Sears. Never ever had a problem before and write tons of checks. Very very annoyed. We got it cleared up after awhile on the phone, but it was a huge inconvenience.

 

[sk!mom]

Sears Optical is not owned by Sears. It is owned by Luxoticca. But I am impressed by your short-sightedness in taking your frustrations out on people who do not control how your check is processed. If that is how you choose the people who care for your eyesight, you get the care you deserve.

Wow! I don't get your hostility at all.

To th OP, I've never heard of this and would have done exactly what you did- Calmly cancelled my order and then sent letters to management detailing why. If you don't care for the way a company conducts business then you let your dissatisfaction be known by taking your business elsewhere.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

Wow! I don't get your hostility at all.

To th OP, I've never heard of this and would have done exactly what you did- Calmly cancelled my order and then sent letters to management detailing why. If you don't care for the way a company conducts business then you let your dissatisfaction be known by taking your business elsewhere.

Thank you Sk!mom! I was very calm and polite when I called to cancel my order and the person I talked to was very understanding. I do agree that the company needs to know why they are losing my business. If they get enough complaints maybe they will stop using a company like Certegy to process checks.

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

Sears did the same thing with hubby's credit card a week ago. They rejected it despite having $2000 available credit. He was only buying a $200ish item. Had to break out the back up card because of that same company. They said it was his fault but later changed their story and said they had a bad link to mastercard's clearing system, that's why the visa worked....they were just bs.ing, the new company stinks....that's what you get when you're taken over by k-mart i guess....

 

[amburger]

I'm sorry to hear that your check was not approved. However, I do feel it was a bit much for you to cancel your business with them just because of that. You had another way to pay for it, so I don't get what the big deal is. So your check doesn't go through. Oh, well. Now you know why. Now if you had just whipped out your debit card in the first place, you would have never known that the check wouldn't have gone through. But I may be biased as I work at Target and I've had this happen with only two checks, but still. These people were like oh, okay. And then paid for it in another form. I don't know. It wasn't the person who was helping you fault. They don't even tell us why the system does that. It just does. They only give us the number that prints on the back.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

Sears did the same thing with hubby's credit card a week ago. They rejected it despite having $2000 available credit. He was only buying a $200ish item. Had to break out the back up card because of that same company. They said it was his fault but later changed their story and said they had a bad link to mastercard's clearing system, that's why the visa worked....they were just bs.ing, the new company stinks....that's what you get when you're taken over by k-mart i guess....

Join me in writing a letter to complain about Certegy! If enough of us write in to voice our complaints just maybe Sears will stop using Certegy.

 

[Teacher03]

This happened to me twice...both times at Kaufmanns. I couldn't believe it! I called the company the first time, they assured me it would be corrected. I tried to write a check about a month later, same thing. I was mortified. The sales clerk at Kaufmanns the first time did everything she could to help me. I finally charged it to my credit card. The second time the sales clerk looked at me like "yeah, right." I walked out, red faced and all. I made a couple of calls, and it is supposedly straightened out, but I don't think I will write another check there anytime soon.

 

[kikakeko]

I had a run in with this company just last week - with my Amazon.com acount. I have had the books that they said I didn't pay for for over 4 months and sent the account to collection . I had recieved emails from them and phone calls. I called Amazon and they told me there was nothing wrong with my account. They thought it was a phishing email and not to respond. After they kept calling I finally freaked out and listened to what they had to tell me. finally when I did go back and looked they were debited from my other bank account. I was so mad. We are seriously trying to keep our credit clean due to bankruptcy in the past and to have a collection over $28.00 . (Please no flames on the bankruptcy.) SO that was our run in with them....

 

[bizzychick]

I agree with you. This has happend to me twice at Mervyns. Not because of history, but because of lack of. We lived in a small town 3 hours away and I would spend the weekend twice a year and buy my girls entire wardrobe on those 2 trips. We would do 2 older girls one day 2 younger girls the next. The frustration of spending HOURS selecting and fittting a whole seasons clothes while trying to entertain my twins only to find at the register that I didn't write enough checks. Since I only came twice a year, they didn't consider me a regular customer. I said "Call the bank and verify the check" They actually said, "Oh, that would be a violation of your right to privacy!" What about the fact that you're tracking the frequency of my visits? Hmmm.
I would have cancelled my order as well. It's not that the clerk "did something to you" I would consider it a protest of their business practices.

 

[PlutoPony]

So how DO you get a "history" with a check clearing company ? What exactly are they checking - if it's a good checking account, are there funds available, are you who you say you are - what?? I'd assume you'd have to *gasp* WRITE A CHECK for them to start this process. Having never had this happen I don't get the process they use..... anyone knowledgable about the specifics?
Good for you voting with your feet and telling everyone you know about it, that's really your best recourse to express dissatisfaction these days.