Tuesday, March 02, 2010
What's with the people writing checks?
How many times have you waited in line at a cash register, only to have the person in front of you rip out a check book? Number one. Why are you still using checks? Why not use a debit card or cash so you don't hold up the rest of us? And if you are going to use a check, please fill out the pertinent information while waiting in line with the rest of us! And then don't balance your check book while we are suffering through your ancient time transaction. Thank you. Now have a nice day.
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21 comments:
Why not have a *checks only" check out line and not allow any cecks written in any other line?
relax and smell the roses Richard. This is a good time to chat with community members.... :-) People are in too much of a hurry these days. Technology has made our society feel like we have to do more things in less time.....just slooooooow down.
Patience is a virtue.
I try to pay with cash as that is best for the merchant.
Although checks are faster to process, they typically have a much lower processing fee than credit/debit cards. Even with an extra minute added to a transaction to write a check, it typically costs the business more money if the same transaction had been finished a minute earlier by credit/debit card.
The reason for this is credit card companies have jacked up the rates of credit/debit processing to a high percentage of a transaction. For a large transaction, a valid check means higher profit for the merchant.
The only discrepancy here is bounced checks. Bounced checks typically cost merchants not so much any actual fee but in the employee time it takes to reconcile a transaction that has bounced. The main reason why many businesses refuse to take checks as it is too much labor to deal with fraud once it occurs.
In real terms, a debit transaction can run 1%, a credit transaction 2-5%, and a check transaction $0.10-$0.50 depending on how many transactions are reconciled per day. With a large volume of check transactions, individual transactions are cheap whereas with a small number, they are relatively expensive.
More and more you will see businesses which sell very low cost items not accept checks or plastic. It is not because they are too lazy to process them, it is expensive. Even a base rate of $0.25 per transaction can wipe out profits on small credit purchases.
Now, as for people writing checks in line, yes they are quite annoying. Still, I would not favor credit/debit as that is racket designed to milk small businesses for the benefit of large banks.
Wow and you are a democrat?
4:08 wrote, "Even a base rate of $0.25 per transaction can wipe out profits on small credit purchases.
Yes, it does, to some extent. I can't help but think most businesses have the fees built into their prices, though.
That said, I used to accept PayPal payments from customers. Stopped taking them some months ago when PayPal started charging me for the transactions. Forget the rate they charged but I just didn't feel it was worth it. I would save money by using checks and regular postage.
Still, I'm with Richard and I can't believe I let him beat me to this issue. I get really annoyed when people hold up the line writing checks and balancing their check books, especially with those who wait until they're given the total to even open up their check book.
If they fill out all the info but the amount before they get to the cashier, it can actually be quicker to use a check than a debit card sometimes. That's what I do the rare times I write checks nowadays.
What I hate is getting behind the person who doesn't know how to use their debit or credit card and takes forever to finish the transaction. That takes even more time than writing a check.
OMG is this the most important topic to talk about? A couple of months after you take office and you're this uptight? Relax Richard.
I agree.
Relax Richard. There's a lot more to life than getting through a line in the store. I hope I never drive under the speed limit in front of you.
This post is now tied for 1st place as the dumbest post of the year. It's only March but I think it's got legs and come December it will still be Number 1, all by itself.
Nope. Nothing wrong with venting about annoying things people do.
Another annoying store thing. Just dealt with this an hour or so ago: People block the middle of the aisle with their shopping cart and stand there talking with someone on their cellphone.
At least in this case it sounded like the conversation had something to do with the shopping she was doing. Most of the time it doesn't.
How dare strangers be in the line of where I'm going! And the nerve, making me wait for them ! Why just the other day, someone took a long drink at a fountain, and made me wait !
But I'm planning to become important so I won't ever have to wait for anyone else. Maybe I'll run for public office. Thats what being important means, only "little people" have to wait.
A cashier at Winco told me that one customer waited until her groceries were rung up and then announced that she left her checkbook in her car. She then left to go get it.
Now THAT would be worth a blog posting !!
Yep, that's Winco.
And then there was the gal with a ton of groceries that had already been checked. Her side of that conveyor belt thing is backed up all the way to the scanner and the checker gal is trying to deal with the next customer. But this gal, who has already had her groceries scanned and should be bagging it is standing down by the bagging area talking on a cell phone, laughing and joking, and not bagging any of her stuff.
She totally clogged up the whole line and couldn't have cared less. Everybody, including the checker, was visibly annoyed with her.
I HATE PEOPLE TOO,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
First come ,first served,RIGHT.
Wait your turn !
Hey even if I'm paying with pennys, If I'm there before U . Then to bad. Wait your turn !
How I pay is how I pay.to bad if U have to wait. I;m sure someday I'll be behind U somewhere,And it will be U holding me up . Slowdown world !( LOL good stirring post funny side tracker )
I agree totally!! As far as Winco, the one and only time I went there was to purchase rock salt as I couldn't find it any where else. I didn't have cash and went to use my debit card (the one with a cash guarentee). I was told the scanner I attempted to use was for EBT cards (food stamps) and that I needed cash or a check. I left and never went there again.
I'm so sorry you fell this way.I also
voted for you.I also write checks.I make sure the checks a filled out. And If people have less then me to buy I let them go first.Maybe if it was a woman writing the check she has a husband at home that is not nice to her or he does not write down any money in a check book so the bills can't get paid.I'm sad to thing maybe a good woman might go home if she does not write a check what might happen to her.Some people use there bank cards like candy, then when it's time to pay bills there is not the money in the bank. I would hope you would not do this to your Family. Maybe next time ask to help her if it is a woman because you are a good man?
I was told the scanner I attempted to use was for EBT cards (food stamps) and that I needed cash or a check.
No. They accept debit cards or food stamps. No credit cards, but there's an ATM over by the Leonardi's Pizza kiosk where you can use a credit card to get cash.
soon enough they'll just have a chip in your hand so you can pass it over a scanner as you leave the store to go back to your job as a govt slave.
I find it kind of ironic and funny that the last few times I have been at store since this post, I have in fact had someone in front of me writing checks. It is Karma. So I just remind myself of the posts and relax. Thanks for all of your input.
No irony here Richard. We, the check writers of America, are stalking you. Soon we will just hold our potato chip over the scanner and it will deduct the clams from our sand bank. Until then we will be in front of you wherever we can and we will have two forms of i.d., somewhere, I had it when I left the house, maybe it's in this pocket, excuse me for taking so long folks, I'll find it here in just a minute, did anyone see my pen?
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