Check Rejected Due to Low Number

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klneutral
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Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by klneutral »

Today I went to a drugstore chain that I have done business with for over a decade to mail a box at their post office. I gave them check # 279 for $2.41 and they refused to accept it because it was numbered less than 1000. Another location in town of the same chain has taken my checks at their post office for many years, no questions asked--not even an ID.

Luckily I had enough cash to cover the package, but not the $200 worth of stamps I had planned to buy. I promptly called my bank and asked them to print new checks starting at 11000.

I am wondering whether this occurs to others across the country because in all my life I had not encountered it until today.
Alan S.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Alan S. »

Never heard of such a thing. I just wrote my ck # 297 last week. Maybe they want to raise your blood pressure so they can sell you high blood pressure meds? :wink:
livesoft
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by livesoft »

This is so 1970's. What's funny is that banks are aware that places do this, so that my check numbers always started in the thousands whenever I opened a new checking account in the past decade or so.
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Dutch
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Dutch »

That will teach you not to write checks for $2.41

Kind regards from the guy behind you in the check-out :D
Last edited by Dutch on Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
vital15
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by vital15 »

I don't know why they rejected it but I do know that it is expensive and time consuming to process checks. Why did you want to write a check for such a small amount?
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JamesSFO
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by JamesSFO »

Most banks seem to start checks at 1000 as a result of this, I've seen it before. Basically bad checks are really expensive for businesses and so a new account might be more susceptible to fraud etc.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by surfstar »

What's a 'check'? :mrgreen:


99% of mine are for rent payment. The address currently listed is from two moves and 10 years ago! My checkbook never leaves the house! Swipe a card and you have exact change everytime, then you make one payment, once a month!

Enjoy your newfound time!
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by FrugalInvestor »

This was pretty standard practice in the 70's and 80's. As a result we've always ordered our checks to begin in the thousands. We order them online, not from the bank, as the price is MUCH less. We use very few checks so one order lasts us many years - typically until our next move.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by nisiprius »

JamesSFO wrote:Most banks seem to start checks at 1000 as a result of this, I've seen it before. Basically bad checks are really expensive for businesses and so a new account might be more susceptible to fraud etc.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa. How on earth is the first check in an account any less risky or susceptible to fraud just because the bank starts the numbering at 1000 rather than at 1? It's still the first check written on a newly opened account.

You're telling me that there's some office somewhere that write policies for check acceptance that has never heard of banks issuing checks that start at 1000?

"Ha-ha, fooled you, you thought I'd written 999 checks on this account, didn't cha?"

Next you'll be telling me that people look at their account numbers and believe Vanguard has over 9 billion clients.
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by FrugalInvestor »

nisiprius wrote:
JamesSFO wrote:Most banks seem to start checks at 1000 as a result of this, I've seen it before. Basically bad checks are really expensive for businesses and so a new account might be more susceptible to fraud etc.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa. How on earth is the first check in an account any less risky or susceptible to fraud just because the bank starts the numbering at 1000 rather than at 1? It's still the first check written on a newly opened account.

You're telling me that there's some office somewhere that write policies for check acceptance that has never heard of banks issuing checks that start at 1000?

"Ha-ha, fooled you, you thought I'd written 999 checks on this account, didn't cha?"

Next you'll be telling me that people look at their account numbers and believe Vanguard has over 9 billion clients.
Some things defy rational explanation nisi but that doesn't mean they don't exist.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by manwithnoname »

JamesSFO wrote:Most banks seem to start checks at 1000 as a result of this, I've seen it before. Basically bad checks are really expensive for businesses and so a new account might be more susceptible to fraud etc.
That makes no sense at all. I have a number of accounts at a TBTF banks where the first check is numbered 101. Never had one rejected. If the TBTF bank issues a check book with checks beginning with 101 they expect the check to be accepted.
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Post by pinecrest »

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Last edited by pinecrest on Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sscritic
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by sscritic »

Vanguard doesn't charge you for checks, but then you can't write one for $2.41. All my Vanguard checkbooks start at 1001, but a money fund from another firm started below 100 (the lowest numbered check I can find is 81)
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Alan S. »

Feel bad for the OP - now about those 200 stamps............. :P
MathWizard
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by MathWizard »

Yes this happened to me too.
They also rejected 'starter checks'
Always order starting at 1001

Seems dumb but I've seen lots of dumb
policies over the years

I rarely write checks though my wife does
A check for under 20 would be quite rare
though.

I have the hardest time with checks
over a thousand , in having enough room
to write the amt. These would
be for cars or CC bills after a big trip
MathWizard
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by MathWizard »

Alan S. wrote:Feel bad for the OP - now about those 200 stamps............. :P
Didn't you go out and by 100 stamps?
I sure did. We kill our supply each Christmas
That's just an expense of having a large circle
of friends/ family. I like getting Christmas cards
and the yearly family letters.
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Watty
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Watty »

Alan S. wrote:Feel bad for the OP - now about those 200 stamps............. :P

You buy those at the grocery store so that you get a rebate on your credit card.
sscritic
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by sscritic »

Alan S. wrote:Feel bad for the OP - now about those 200 stamps............. :P
But did they reject his check for $202.41? When I pay at the post office, they let me pay for my total purchase at one time. I don't have to pay for each stamp separately. How long would it take to buy 435 stamps individually and pay to ship a package?

$2.41 package
$0.46 stamp 1
$0.46 stamp 2
...
$0.46 stamp 435
$202.51 total

I think my arm would drop off if I had to write 436 checks at one time.

P.S. My post office takes credit cards, so I always pay with my cash back rewards card, unless the total is under $1.
Last edited by sscritic on Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cosmo
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Cosmo »

pinecrest wrote:
FrugalInvestor wrote:This was pretty standard practice in the 70's and 80's. As a result we've always ordered our checks to begin in the thousands. We order them online, not from the bank, as the price is MUCH less. We use very few checks so one order lasts us many years - typically until our next move.
You PAY for checks?

I order them through my brokerage for free.

(But that presupposes doing online banking with the brokerage.)
And I would guess that is one of only a few things that would be free with this brokerage.
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Epsilon Delta
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Epsilon Delta »

MathWizard wrote:
Alan S. wrote:Feel bad for the OP - now about those 200 stamps............. :P
Didn't you go out and by 100 stamps?
I sure did. We kill our supply each Christmas
That's just an expense of having a large circle
of friends/ family. I like getting Christmas cards
and the yearly family letters.
Get your Forever stamps before the increases on Jan 26th.

SO did not like this years designs so it was a good thing I had a stash of last years. If they don't have anything nice at the PO on Friday it'll have to be definitives next Christmas.
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by FrugalInvestor »

pinecrest wrote:
FrugalInvestor wrote:This was pretty standard practice in the 70's and 80's. As a result we've always ordered our checks to begin in the thousands. We order them online, not from the bank, as the price is MUCH less. We use very few checks so one order lasts us many years - typically until our next move.
You PAY for checks?

I order them through my brokerage for free.

(But that presupposes doing online banking with the brokerage.)
Yes, otherwise our checking is free (with a min. $250/mo auto deposit). Since we use so few checks and buy them online the cost is next to nothing.
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Cut-Throat
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Cut-Throat »

I had a $2 Bill rejected at Burger King a few years ago. I then tried to swipe my credit card, but now their guard was up and they refused service to me. They were going to call the cops on me for counterfeiting, until a Manager came in and cleared up the situation. Most of the youngsters there had never seen a $2 Bill.

I lost my appetite and didn't remember what I was going to order.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by joe8d »

Dutch wrote:That will teach you not to write checks for $2.41

Kind regards from the guy behind you in the check-out :D
Think that's bad? I had a guy at the library that wanted to put a 10 cent print job on his credit card.
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Post by pinecrest »

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letsgobobby
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by letsgobobby »

livesoft wrote:This is so 1970's. What's funny is that banks are aware that places do this, so that my check numbers always started in the thousands whenever I opened a new checking account in the past decade or so.
Exactly, don't they know that everyone knows this and no one orders checks without starting at 1000 or 10000 any more?

Ok, not literally everyone... :wink:
manwithnoname
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by manwithnoname »

letsgobobby wrote:
livesoft wrote:This is so 1970's. What's funny is that banks are aware that places do this, so that my check numbers always started in the thousands whenever I opened a new checking account in the past decade or so.
Exactly, don't they know that everyone knows this and no one orders checks without starting at 1000 or 10000 any more?

Ok, not literally everyone... :wink:
But what if you open a new account and the checks issued start at 101? You don't get the opportunity to request that your checks start at 1001. As I said previously I have never had a check rejected because the check number was below 1000. I am going two write another check on my TBTF account in a few days without worrying that it will be rejected.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by cheese_breath »

vital15 wrote:I don't know why they rejected it but I do know that it is expensive and time consuming to process checks. Why did you want to write a check for such a small amount?
Right. You could have charged it on your Discover card and earned 2 cents on the transaction. :P
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by livesoft »

manwithnoname wrote:But what if you open a new account and the checks issued start at 101? You don't get the opportunity to request that your checks start at 1001.
Yes, you do. Or at least every bank that I've asked for initial checks with my address printed on them has granted my wish. If you don't ask, you don't get.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Small Change »

Epsilon Delta wrote:Get your Forever stamps before the increases on Jan 26th. ...
...and get them at Costco since Costco charges $45.75 for 100 46-cent Forever stamps, for a savings of 25 cents.
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klneutral
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by klneutral »

Some have questioned why I wrote such a small check. Actually I write very few checks and try to use my credit card for just about everything. Because of this I have just about quit using cash and don't carry much. So when credit cards are not accepted, I write checks. Another reason for avoiding cash is that I use cloud software to capture my credit card and check transactions to track expenses. Using cash places an additional burden on me to remember and then to enter the transaction as part of the tracking process.

My financial institution called me back this afternoon informing me that they could not begin my new checks at 11000, but could start at 1711. At the same time they told me that they see this problem of checks with low numbers being rejected all the time.
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by FrugalInvestor »

livesoft wrote:
manwithnoname wrote:But what if you open a new account and the checks issued start at 101? You don't get the opportunity to request that your checks start at 1001.
Yes, you do. Or at least every bank that I've asked for initial checks with my address printed on them has granted my wish. If you don't ask, you don't get.
Or, as I've mentioned previously, you aren't required to order your checks from the bank. There are many places online where you can order checks for much less than the bank will charge you.

Such as here (not a recommendation, just an example)....
http://www.bradfordexchangechecks.com/
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by livesoft »

Checks are free at our bank, so "much less" than free is gonna be hard. :)

Also, I don't think anyone needs to justify using a check or a credit card or cash even if I try to put them on the spot for it. I have charged 2 cents of gasoline a few times in order to get a $10.00 rebate: "Use your credit card 3 times for gasoline and we will credit your account with $10." And I did the 3 times within seconds of each other.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by FrugalInvestor »

livesoft wrote:Checks are free at our bank, so "much less" than free is gonna be hard. :)
Yes, that would be difficult. :oops:
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frugaltype
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by frugaltype »

klneutral wrote: At the same time they told me that they see this problem of checks with low numbers being rejected all the time.
How is it that in my entire life of writing checks I have never seen this insane policy.

As to the 200 presumably forever stamps, the price goes up in a few days.

When there's a Christmas stamp design I like, I stock up enough for a few years of Christmas cards. The post office does many things well, but Christmas stamp designs, not so much. They are better than the ugly U.S. currency, though.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by random_walker_77 »

Alas, check reorders aren't free at my bank. But they reimburse ATMs, and actually pay interest similar to your typical 1 yr CD, so it all evens out.

~$16 can get you 300 duplicate checks printed over at costco.com or walmart.com... and you get to specify what number to start from. Or get "hello kitty" in the background, if you want to press your luck further with check acceptance at vendors :happy
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by JamesSFO »

manwithnoname wrote:
JamesSFO wrote:Most banks seem to start checks at 1000 as a result of this, I've seen it before. Basically bad checks are really expensive for businesses and so a new account might be more susceptible to fraud etc.
That makes no sense at all. I have a number of accounts at a TBTF banks where the first check is numbered 101. Never had one rejected. If the TBTF bank issues a check book with checks beginning with 101 they expect the check to be accepted.
I've come across this at a number of places, not in the last 3-5 years, but I've also noticed that new bank accounts seem to start at 1000 when I get checks.
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whaleknives
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by whaleknives »

livesoft wrote:
manwithnoname wrote:But what if you open a new account and the checks issued start at 101? You don't get the opportunity to request that your checks start at 1001.
Yes, you do. Or at least every bank that I've asked for initial checks with my address printed on them has granted my wish. If you don't ask, you don't get.
I remember being asked once what number I wanted for the first check, then having the bank employee explain why I might want to pick a higher number. Now my thought is "Checks? We ain't got no checks. We don't need no checks!"
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by cfs »

Leaders, good morning/afternoon/evening

Good conversation, and here is my input to keep things going.

I just paid a property tax bill via electronic check because I had no other choice, running out of time for the payment. My next bill on line to be paid is the water bill, and I have check number 7824 ready to go for that one. Now, going back in time, the first check we wrote was over three decades ago, and it was check number 0001.

Thanks for reading.
~ Member of the Active Retired Force since 2014 ~
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Gnirk »

The same thing happened to me. I was really embarrassed. The check number was in the 1500's. When I got home I called the check guarantee company, and was told the reason it had been refused was that I didn't write checks on that account very often. Which is true because I use it only to buy my mom's long term care supplies. Ugh.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by manwithnoname »

JamesSFO wrote:
manwithnoname wrote:
JamesSFO wrote:Most banks seem to start checks at 1000 as a result of this, I've seen it before. Basically bad checks are really expensive for businesses and so a new account might be more susceptible to fraud etc.
That makes no sense at all. I have a number of accounts at a TBTF banks where the first check is numbered 101. Never had one rejected. If the TBTF bank issues a check book with checks beginning with 101 they expect the check to be accepted.
I've come across this at a number of places, not in the last 3-5 years, but I've also noticed that new bank accounts seem to start at 1000 when I get checks.
I have written 25 checks from one account in the last 6 months using numbers 101-124 and all have been accepted. I never encountered a bank or payee that rejected a valid check just because the check # is below 1000. IRS has no problem accepting checks with low check #s.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by sscritic »

I think we should distinguish between checks used at point of sale and those mailed to pay a bill. I doubt your county tax collector is going to reject your check for $2647.13 because it has a low number. The fact that the checks that I mail off get cashed isn't really relevant to the issue of a clerk in a store rejecting my check (not that it has ever happened).

Does the OP have a beard? That could be the real reason for the rejection.
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by FrugalInvestor »

sscritic wrote: Does the OP have a beard? That could be the real reason for the rejection.
My first thought was "what if the OP is a woman?" My second thought was, "then you're probably right."
Last edited by FrugalInvestor on Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Rainier
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by Rainier »

If you come into my retail store your checks will be rejected, doesn't matter what the check number is either.

I can't fathom the need to ever accept checks in a retail store. Checks are from a different era.

Ps, I don't have a retail store, just saying if I did...
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by manwithnoname »

FrugalInvestor wrote:
sscritic wrote: Does the OP have a beard? That could be the real reason for the rejection.
My first thought was "what if the OP is a woman?" My second thought was, "then you're probably right."
May be it was rejected for the most obvious of business reasons - it was too small an amount to justify the cost of processing/depositing the check and the clerk used the low check # as an excuse to refuse the check. I know of very few businesses that accept checks because of the risk of forgery/rejection for insufficient funds. Most small businesses accept only cash or CC. No checks.
Last edited by manwithnoname on Fri Jan 24, 2014 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
takeshi
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by takeshi »

klneutral wrote:I am wondering whether this occurs to others across the country because in all my life I had not encountered it until today.
It can certainly happen as you've found out. I've had it happen once or twice in my entire check writing history but I rarely use them these days so odd of running into this again are unlikely for me -- especially since I always start at 1001.
nisiprius wrote:whoa whoa whoa. How on earth is the first check in an account any less risky or susceptible to fraud just because the bank starts the numbering at 1000 rather than at 1?
No one prior to post claimed that it was. Checks can get rejected for having a low check number. Banks do issue checks starting at 1001 to avoid this. Whether or not it make sense to reject low check numbers is an entirely separate matter. The post you quoted was just pointing out why many start numbering at 1001.
nisiprius wrote:You're telling me that there's some office somewhere that write policies for check acceptance that has never heard of banks issuing checks that start at 1000?
Are you saying that all policies make sense? Yes, there are such policies that don't take that bank practice into account.
Rainier wrote:I can't fathom the need to ever accept checks in a retail store.
Try running a business and then tell us that you don't see the point in income.

This seems obvious to me but "I can't fathom" and "I have never experienced" (you're not the only one to post such sentiments) do not mean "does not exist".
Last edited by takeshi on Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:07 am, edited 6 times in total.
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by FrugalInvestor »

Rainier wrote:If you come into my retail store your checks will be rejected, doesn't matter what the check number is either.

I can't fathom the need to ever accept checks in a retail store. Checks are from a different era.

Ps, I don't have a retail store, just saying if I did...
You can't fathom that some people may be comfortable with habits they have developed over their entire lifetimes and find it difficult to develop new ones? Look at the ages of those writing checks at the grocery store and I think you'll better understand. I get impatient waiting behind them in line but will probably still be swiping my charge card when most others are waving their cell phones.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by manwithnoname »

takeshi wrote:
klneutral wrote:I am wondering whether this occurs to others across the country because in all my life I had not encountered it until today.
It can certainly happen as you've found out. I've had it happen once or twice in my entire check writing history but I rarely use them these days so odd of running into this again are unlikely for me -- especially since I always start at 1001.
Rainier wrote:I can't fathom the need to ever accept checks in a retail store.
Try running a business and then tell us that you don't see the point in income.
Every small business I walk into has a prominent sign stating NO CHECKS because thy don't want to deal with check processing or collecting when a check is rejected. Large retail establishments only cash checks of pre approved customers who have sufficient funds in their bank account to cover the check.

Today everyone can get a CC or debit card to pay bills. Merchants prefer plastic because the CC co deposits the net amount a couple of business days after the transaction and the customers like to get points for the purchase. There are no comps for paying with checks.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by sscritic »

Also, whether legal or not, I still see signs that the store won't accept charges under $10. Small payments are more costly to process, check or credit card. While not related to the size of the purchase, my gas station charges $0.45 for using a debit card.
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Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by nisiprius »

Clearly, there is a business opportunity here: a check-printing company that prints checks with a starting number of 10001. Or 31416. Imagine how impressed the clerk will be at seeing such a big number! Looks like there might not be room for more than five digits in the MICR area. Too bad, "sixdigitchecks.com" has a nice ring to it.

I take the point about there being policies that don't make sense.
Last edited by nisiprius on Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
sscritic
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Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:36 am

Re: Check Rejected Due to Low Number

Post by sscritic »

nisiprius wrote:Clearly, there is a business opportunity here a check-printing company that prints checks with a starting number of 10001. Or 31416. Imagine how impressed the clerk will be at seeing such a big number! Looks like there might not be room for more than five digits in the MICR area. Too bad, "sixdigitchecks.com" has a nice ring to it.
I will accept any six digit checks you want to send my way, no matter how low the number.
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