What is it with people writing checks!

[Kathi OD]

Actually I love my Chase credit card with the "Blink." I just held it up to the machine at CVS and paid. Nothing to sign, no buttons to push, it was great! I wish more stores would get the machines.

Just be careful how quick you are to use Blink. On the radio this morning, the DJ was telling how he was in line to pay at the grocery store and the woman in front of him was in such a hurry to swipe her card that she actually paid for the person in front of her's groceries. Some stores, like Target, you can swipe your card before the sale is finished being rung up. Guess she swiped before the other lady's things were totalled.

Of course they had to void the sale and then ring it up again. And people here are talking about being annoyed by check writers! That would annoy me more than someone writing a check.

 

[Mkaz]

I write checks all the time, and I use coupons. I bet people just love standing in line behind me.

If the next person in line was complaining about it, I would be tempted tell them that I would be happy to put my checkbook and coupons away if they would like to pay for my groceries.

 

[OK!]

I can't believe anyone writes down transactions. With online banking, what is the point? Most banks will show that the money has been authorized and held from your account and charges post within 2 business days. The entire concept of a "statement" and "balancing a checkbook" is completely pointless to me..

Um, some of us still actually write things down in the check register because sometimes things go wrong online and accounts aren't always accessible, and sometimes merchants get the totals wrong (for the ones who have to hand-key in amounts, like on the portable card-swipe machines) and you end up overcharged, and sometimes if you use your debit card a TON, charges can show up that might not be noticeable immediately on a quick online scan of account activity, but if you have your own hand-balanced listing of all activity, you'll notice a discrepancy. That's why.

 

[4cruisin]

Here is a different take on this issue.

I write checks when I shop at the grocery/retail stores. I do not have a debit card/ATM card and have resisted getting one. DH and I agree that we are more comfortable with checks. I do pay most of my bills on line etc so I am not exactly a dinosaur.

I asked our secretary to total up and fill out a deposit slip for the company I work for.....she almost started to cry. She never had to fill out a checking account deposit slip and did not know how to do it. This is a college educated 24 y.o. with previous employment experience. I thought she was kidding. She even had trouble filling in a check when the boss asked to to write one while I was on vacation.

Kids nowadays have grown up with debit cards and do not know how to use the "old fashioned" ways. It is all what we are comfortable with I guess.

For the record, I always have the check ready before the total comes up so all I have to do is fill in the amount and hand it to the cashier. It really comes down to being thoughtful/thoughtless of others.

And, as other's have said, if you are that pressed for time that 2 minutes makes a big problem for you, do your errands when you are not as pressed for time.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

I do use a debit card, but for cryin' out loud, when I'm using the card machine and you're the next customer in line, BACK OFF. It never fails...I'm swiping my card, punching in my PIN, and the person behind me is literally breathing down my neck and watching very closely what I'm doing. I've actually had to ask many people to please give me some space and at least let me stand in front of the machine, not swipe from the side!

 

[Katieinwonderland]

I was in a LONG LONG line at an outlet center today. I had a dress I'd seen last winter at $120 that was now $20 and that I wanted badly, or I'd just have left. . .

And older lady had some placemats she was buying. And she argued with the clerk over the price and then had some sort of something that had to be done with the receipt and this and that. Finally, she got the placemats for .20 less EACH than what they were marked. I think she had 6 place mats so, 1.20 off.

And then this dear, older lady (in her 70's, I'd guess) pulls out an Amex BLACK card.

She has a BLACK card and she harrassed a poor sales clerk into getting a manager over $1.20??????

I and the 7 or so people in line with me were gaping and just. . .just. . .we ALL wanted to throttle her. I kept trying to remind myself that she might have survived really hard times in the Depression or something. . .but it didn't work. I asked myself if maybe she was getting a bit senile. I don't think she was. I think she was just cantankerous and didn't give a big whoop that most of us were on our lunch hour or WHO she bothered so long as SHE got what SHE wanted.

I hate to say this, but my mom, dad and both grandma's all have black AMEX cards...and they would probably all argue over that extra dollar. My dad says it's the principla of the matter, which was his reasoning for standing in Publix for 45 minutes arguing over the price of lemons. Seriously. I was mortified.
With my grandmas, I think it's just a money thing - no matter how much they have, they don't want to pay more if they think it is marked wrongly. And that I kind of understand.

 

[OK!]

I hate to say this, but my mom, dad and both grandma's all have black AMEX cards...and they would probably all argue over that extra dollar. My dad says it's the principla of the matter, which was his reasoning for standing in Publix for 45 minutes arguing over the price of lemons. Seriously. I was mortified.
With my grandmas, I think it's just a money thing - no matter how much they have, they don't want to pay more if they think it is marked wrongly. And that I kind of understand.

I was gonna say...my grandmother, having lived through the Depression, still would have argued over that $1.20 despite the fact that she could well afford whatever price they were trying to charge for them. She scrimped and saved until the day she died, and we were STUNNED when going through her financial material to discover how much money she'd socked away over the years because of it.

 

[MoniqueU]

I've never heard of a check writer admit they were slow, just ike I have never met anyone that admitted they were a bad driver, but they are out there.
I hate the grocery store and my mom goes for me thank goodness. The worst is when they go through the whole check writing thing and their check is declined which happens so often.

 

[Ephany]

I can't believe anyone writes down transactions. With online banking, what is the point? Most banks will show that the money has been authorized and held from your account and charges post within 2 business days.

2 days? My credit union shows the transaction pending before I walk out the door. I've been at a restaurant waiting on a to-go order and DH will call b/c he was online and saw the transaction pop up; he wanted to make sure I was bringing him home something too.

Seriously though, it's amazing how much easier banking is than when I opened my first account, my bank didn't even have an atm and you had to talk to a real live person for everything. Things have certainly changed.

Oh, I do still write checks occasionally, but I always fill out the info and put my DL # and phone # on it before I get to the cashier. I've worked retail way too long and try to make it easier for everyone involved.

 

[Chicago526]

It's almost as bad as people who don't have their tollbooth money ready when it's their turn to pay.

Oh THAT drives me up a freakin' WALL. It's a toll road, you knew you'd need 80 cents at the ramp toll to get on the dang thing, WHY WHY WHY are you taking 1, 2, 3, 5 minutes to dig through your car for that last penny! (tolls in IL take penny's go figure...)

Thank heaven for I-Pass, since those without I-Pass pay double the toll, cash payers are almost non-existant now.

 

[Stitchfans]

I can't believe people are complaining about the time it takes to write a check Must be a slow day today

I was thinking the same thing. That seems to be the going thing lately- people complaining about the simplest things. Life is to short to worry about silly little things. To many people in other people's business.

Too much negative crap.Life shouldn't be all negative. So sad.

 

[blissventure]

I was thinking the same thing. That seems to be the going thing lately- people complaining about the simplest things. Life is to short to worry about silly little things. To many people in other people's business.

Too much negative crap.Life shouldn't be all negative. So sad.

And there is a little something else. I've noticed a not so thinly veiled annoyance/disgust at "older people" that appears in some posts. It's a prejudice, just like racism, sexism and the like.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

i am not sure about people that are slow in order to be mean. that is dumb. but here is a hug for you because i think that you are nice.

aren't you sweet? I was almost afraid to open this thread today. thank you for brightening my day! you are nice too!

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I can't believe anyone writes down transactions. With online banking, what is the point? Most banks will show that the money has been authorized and held from your account and charges post within 2 business days. The entire concept of a "statement" and "balancing a checkbook" is completely pointless to me.

By checking my account daily and sometimes multiple times a day, I know that the minute anything unauthorized is charged, I'll be on the phone with my bank.

Thank you for posting this! I thought I was the only person on the planet who didn't write down my debit card transactions! I've been feeling fiscally irresponsible for years!! I check my account online once a day. I know exactly what's going on. Have I ever screwed up and had an overdraft fee or 2? You bet. But it's so infrequent, that I can usually call the bank and ask them nicely to remove the fee and they always have. Now if I did it once a month, then they wouldn't be so nice. But since it has only happened twice in three years, they have been good to me and I am always very appreciative of that. I tell them I know I deserve the fee, because I do. I suppose I'm abusing the system in some way...so thats not good.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I was gonna say...my grandmother, having lived through the Depression, still would have argued over that $1.20 despite the fact that she could well afford whatever price they were trying to charge for them. She scrimped and saved until the day she died, and we were STUNNED when going through her financial material to discover how much money she'd socked away over the years because of it.

If it hadn't been at the outlet and with only 1 cashier and 7 people behind her who were all on their lunch hour, it would be different if she wanted to argue over $1.20. . .but no, the $1.20 was worth far more than anyone else in the store.

If she'd even paused, realized she was holding up the young man who was obviously buying white dress shirts for work, the young woman who was buying a good spring dress for a wedding, the middle aged woman who was buying a pair of new pumps, ME with my cute, cute dress, two or three more middle aged women with their clothing purchases. . .but nope. Nope. That $1.20 was worth far more than anyone else's time/effort. I don't mind slow. Write a check, figure out how the bill is off. I had to get my receipt adjusted at Rite-Aid this afternoon b/c a hair clip that was supposed to be 75% off was not ($8 difference!) and a pair of earrings that were supposed to be BOGO BOTH showed up on the receipt.

But you know what? I let the man buying a disposable camera and sunscreen go ahead of me. I apologized to the young man with the coke and condoms for taking so much time.

$1.20 with 7 people behind me? I'd either leave the placemats or bite the $1.20 after a minute or two. . .

 

[sarasotamom]

Your life must be great if that is all you have to complain about. Take a deep breath... and SMILE>>

 

[ArelysAdriana]

I see the whole holding up the line while you take your sweet, precious time doing whatever it is you are doing as being completely inconsiderate of others. That whole "stop and smell the roses" is quite frankly a bit dumb. Who honestly wants to stand around in a store when you can be doing other, better things? I'd much, much rather be spending time with my loved ones or lurking the DIS

 

[squirrlygirl]

For those who have never written a check, what do you do if you want to order pizza delivery but don't have any cash?

Go without?

 

[dejr_8]

For me, the issue is not using checks. The issue is NOT BEING PREPARED to use a check.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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