Checks- outdated relics of the last century?

[U2Kitten]

Just recently, I have noticed how much of a burden writing checks in stores is compared to ATM/Debit cards or check cards. I've had a check card for 6 years and I quit writing checks in stores about 2 years ago. Now, I am becoming irritated with people in front of me in lines who do. Checks are so old fashioned and slow now! Not only do they have to be written by hand, the cashier makes you write your phone number and social on the front, then stamps the back and wants more of your life history there, then she writes on it herself, then she sticks it in the cash register, and it all takes so much more time than the debit or check card would. To add to this, it seems most people don't even dig out their checkbook or begin writing until all their shit is rung up and the cashier announces the total. Then it seems they will wait for all the things that have to be done to the check before they ever start writing the record of the purchase in the backs of their checkbooks! It seems women are more guilty of these things than men, and the older they are the more likely they are to do it.

Checks can still be good for paying bills by mail (especially if you need to 'float' one until payday if anyone has ever been as poor as me) I know paying online is faster but I have trouble with the passwords and stuff and they usually don't work for me. But if you do pay online, why have checks at all?

Anyone who has a bank account also has access to a check card or ATM card, and almost all stores accept them and some prefer them to checks. A check could turn out 'bad' (bounce) but with the check card, you and the store both know right away if it will be okay! So why doesn't everyone give in to technology and electronic purchases? They're faster and easier for us all. I would love to hear your imput or comments on this, pro or con. Thank you

 

[U2Kitten]

If this should be in FYM or something please move it!

 

[Chizip]

get rid of checks

and get rid of paper money and coins

lets get with the times people

 

[U2Kitten]

Someone please move this to FYM?

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

i use checks still. i need to use them to pay my rent and to pay certain bills.

besides that i use my check card for everything. i hardly use credit cards anymore as well. for good reason.

 

[U2Kitten]

I still pay my bills with checks, I just mean in the line in stores they hold things up when you could use a CHECK card or a debit card that also comes out of your bank account the same way a check does, but it's faster because it works like a credit card in the machine. I'm talking about the ones that have a Visa logo but are really from your bank and deduct from your account like a check does.

I no longer use CREDIT cards, I can't. I abused them and lost them, thanks mostly to U2, but it was my own fault of course.

 

[AvsGirl41]

One pro thing about checks--all that info they want prevents some piece of trash from writing a million stolen checks.

With Debits, shopkeepers never check ID, just like they don't with credit cards.

If the slimeball who stole my wallet had gotten my checkbook instead, they wouldn't have been able to cause so much damage, so fast.

I think Debits are great, I love mine because it's so fast, but they need to get with the times and put photos on the back--same with credit cards.

 

[U2Kitten]

For awhile they were asking for ID to use the debits but then they got lazy.

Oh and I miss the 80's too

*resists temptation to post hot JT pics*

 

[bau2fan]

I have always hated to ring up people with checks, but I always checked for ID if they used their debit/visa and someone once thanked me for that.

 

[arw]

I never write checks except for bills. One reason is because I'm too lazy to get my driver's license changed to my new address. The only time anyone cares is when I write a check and they see my address is different on the check than it is on my driver's license.

 

[ILuvLarryMullen]

I only usually use checks for bills. Every once in a while I will use checks at stores, if I know that I need to transfer money from my savings, or I don't want something to go through right away . When I worked retail I always checked people's ID, but I know a lot of people don't which really annoys me. If you write check ID with a black marker in the signature line cashiers are more likely to actually check it. I would have people thank me fairly regularly for checking their ID, but I would also get people that were annoyed by it.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

I hate it in work when there's a huge queue of people waiting to pay for something and someone decides to write a cheque. They always take like half hour to find their cheque book, then even longer to find their guarantee card, then the till always decides not to print the cheque properly, then the person wants to examine the atomic make-up of the cheque in great detail before they'll sign. ARGH!

But cheques are a wonderful thing when you have no money until pay-day and you need to buy groceries.

 

[Ms. I-Lo]

i can tell you what is an outdated relic of the last century:

80's mullets!

 

[U2Kitten]

i can tell you what is an outdated relic of the last century:

80's mullets!

Well by the same token, so are crewcuts and short greasy wet head hair, because they are from the 1950's! There is no such thing as outdated when it comes to hairdos or clothes because everything comes back eventually. Look at the women's clothes on the racks this fall. I'd swear it was 1976 again

 

[U2Kitten]

Glad to see I'm not the only person who has resorted to writing "floating" checks a few days before payday (but sorry you have to, I know the feeling) That is a major advantage, they take more time

 

[U2Kitten]

But they do take up more time in line, and and I have had many incidents like Fizzing's. Once I got money back on my ATM card at Wal-Mart, but the girl forgot to give it to me. She said she couldn't open the drawer until the next customer paid, and it would be 'just a minute.' Well, the customer was this old lady, so slow to dig out her checkbook, shaky hands could hardly write, she could hardly see either and kept complaining. Then her check got stuck in the machine and she had to rewrite one! Then it had all kinds of trouble going through. There I stood, it must have been 15 minutes, my ice cream melting, boiling over. Argh! (really if the old lady was that bad off she should have had someone she knew and trusted come to the store with her to help)

I also wondered if retail clerks were as annoyed as customers by this type of thing, and yes some of you are! So I was right, there is no more use for a check in a store unless you need to buy time

 

[melon]

Why not do it all? I write checks, use the debit card, and do online banking.

I never write checks in stores.

Melon

 

[meegannie]

My checks still have the address where I lived two years ago.

Of course, it doesn't really matter since I VERY rarely write checks since I can only use them in the US.