harbour fright rant

[SnowRidge]

I believe it's a violation of federal law to refuse cash as payment for any debt.

The key term is debt.

There is no debt until something is actually owed. A retailer who refuses to take a check isn't owed anything unless he lets the customer walk out of the store without paying for the merchandise. He can refuse to sell for cash, if he wishes. Car rental companies have been know to do this, among others.

 

[kthompson]

I believe it's a violation of federal law to refuse cash as payment for any debt.

Well, I use to think so but I can tell you that there are large companies who do not take cash. Some changes have hit since 9/11 on cash payments due to the law's requirement of proving who the customer is. Some forms of payment must come for YOUR checking account to suit the legal requirements today. Now, not sure these laws affect your normal retail business, but do many of the financial businesses.

 

[tractordriver]

I believe it's a violation of federal law to refuse cash as payment for any debt.

The key term is debt.

.

I will look into this and the company's are debt owed company's such as insurance company's. I'd tell you why i did't have my cc with me but I'm not going to "wrestle with the pig". because everyone knows I'll lose and he'll have all the fun no offense intended just a analogy.

 

[JB4310]

If they say they take personal checks, it's not there business to check your balance, you might be making a deposit later that day, but especially if I had enough to cover it, and they went through a clearing house then denied me I'd be very POed.

As long as your a regular guy with at least avg credit and there's no serious problems your not mentioning I think you have a right to rant. There is risk in taking personal checks but if they are not willing to accept any risk, they should just require certified bank checks!

I went there to return a small ticket item, had the receipt but not my wallet with credit card I used to make the initial purchase. Had my 10 year old kid with me and promised him a little gadget of his choice for the same price as the thing I was returning ($10).

They would not give me store credit for the purchase, said I needed the card for exchange, I was starting to get a little agitated, then the manager intervened and smoothed things out and OKed it.

JB.

 

[JB4310]

If they say they take personal checks, it's not there business to check your balance, you might be making a deposit later that day, but especially if I had enough to cover it, and they went through a clearing house then denied me I'd be very POed.

As long as your a regular guy with at least avg credit and there's no serious problems your not mentioning I think you have a right to rant. There is risk in taking personal checks but if they are not willing to accept any risk, they should just require certified bank checks!

I went there to return a small ticket item, had the receipt but not my wallet with credit card I used to make the initial purchase. Had my 10 year old kid with me and promised him a little gadget of his choice for the same price as the thing I was returning ($10).

They would not give me store credit for the purchase, said I needed the card for exchange, I was starting to get a little agitated, then the manager intervened and smoothed things out and OKed it.

JB.

 

[LBrown59]

1*if I was running a business and a customer who did not have a credit or debit card and whose check wouldn't pass muster happened to have a checking statement on him, I would smell a rat.
2*It's your fault that you did not have an acceptable form of payment available, not HF's fault.

1*There wasn't anything wrong with his checking account.
2*A checking account is an acceptable form of payment at HF.
It's the check verifer scrweing up that's at fault.

1*I don't agree with the last post on it was your fault. Maybe but probably not.
This morning stopped for gas. Debit card did not work at pump. Tried it twice and went in store. Oh, run it as credit card, our debit system may or may not work.

1/It is the merchants fault in situations like this.
It's he who has the power to select who verifies checks for him .
If a merchant is going to use a verifier he dang well sure ought to hire a competent party that has their act together.

If they took checks and mine was rejected id be ticked. More importantly id be on the phone to find out exactly why. Id definitely be checking my credit report. In this day, you cant be too careful.

Finding this out is like pulling teeth and is time consuming.
The check writer should be given the exact reason before he ever leaves the store and I don't mean being told some meaningless code number.
The law is way to lax on the check verifiers..

it actually was a teller machine statemeant most folks have one if not many in your wallet and i did have a valid payment method they accept checks all they require is a drivers license.
*They ran it through some checksys type thing.
**I did nothing wrong. god forbid your in this situation you'd be psed to. And i do run a business.

*The versifier and the merchant screwed up and dropped the ball on the check.
**I strongly detest customers getting the blame for others screw ups.
I have had it happen to me two different times at 2 different merchants on 2 different checking accounts from 2 different banks located in 2 different states .
I certainly was infuriated and incensed both times.
It's destroyed my confidence in my checking accounts because I have no way of knowing when or if it will happen again.
It's a terrible feeling standing at the check out counter holding your breath wondering if your check is going to survive.

I might have been PO'd, but it would have been at myself for not having my credit/debit card with me and possibly the check verification company. I have been denied a couple of times due to administrative error on someone's part, but *I have never gotten angry at the retailer for something beyond their control.

*It is not beyond the retailers control .
He's the guy who hires /fires the verifier .

 

[BobRip]

I believe it's a violation of federal law to refuse cash as payment for any debt.

I thought that to, but sometimes people will refuse to take cash. This should mean the debt is canceled. Cash is legal tender to all debts, public and private.

 

[shvl73]

I believe it's a violation of federal law to refuse cash as payment for any debt.

We buy shavings at the store run by the state prison and they will not accept cash. I'm not sure about checks, as I never carry them, I pay with my debit card.

 

[George2615]

As a side note went to harbor freight and they did not want by business.
I forgot my debit card so i asked if they took a check yes with ddl.
so i shopped picked up a few things went to pay bill came to 146.87
wrote the check then they had to call a number of some company certegy
they denied me i have never written a bad check for gods sake i have 11k in my checking account the asst manager refuses to do nothing even after i showed him my checking statement. meanwhile embarrassing me in front of the other costumers. Mind you I've done 1,000,s in business with them and the manger Knows it. I went for a 3 point quick attach so i bought it for 69.99 but i asked the manger to knock some of for my trouble says he can't do it. i told him i'll never shop there again. Then i corrected my self and said i'll be back for clearance at the going out of businesses sale. they clearly are having problems judging by the coupons Ive been getting lately. I did not want to buy the qh after that but i would have been punishing myself.
also i called certigy they say nothing was wrong with me or more credit or me having bad checks. It was just there computer model rejected it and it routinely rejects good checks my guess is because i don't write many checks.
Thankyou for the relief

I had something similar happen at a different store many years ago. Bought an item and went to pay by check. They called some number and gave them check info. My check was refused since it was a check drawn on a new checking account I had opened. Apparently their computer suspected a problem with a new checking acct. and a low check number. Perhaps this is what they thought on your check.

 

[jk96]

SnowRidge it sounds like you've dealt with the public as much as I have. I should bite my tongue and not reply to these type of threads but I just can't help it.

1. Accepting personal checks is a privilege to the consumer - not a requirement. I can tell you that after owning 2 businesses and running 2 others that the retailer gets burned quite often by accepting personal checks. They simply have to evaluate whether not accepting them will cost them more money in lost business than the bad debt they collect.

2. Because of all the bad checks passed, retailers have had to find ways to minimize that risk. One way is check verifiers. Yes, on occasion they may be wrong but I can tell you they are right more often than not. And on occasion a check with a high dollar amount and no or little info in the system may get flagged. I can also tell you that the type of checks they flag more often, even with no negative history are the ones that are most often returned. (i.e. newer accounts, joint accounts, low check #'s, out of state checks, etc)

3. Many check verifiers guarantee a check they authorize up to a specified dollar amount. One we used paid us the full value of the uncollected check after 90 days up to $50.00. So the verifying company also has a reason to protect themselves as well.

4. There are plenty of free checking accounts available now that offer free use of debit cards from your checking account as well. You may not want to carry a debit card for personal, safety, or other reasons however its your choice not to have one as a backup to your paper check, not the retailers fault.

5. A bank statement or ATM balance stub is not worth the paper it's printed on. Even a call to the bank itself is not worth the phone call. The clerk can verify a balance to cover the check and the customer can then stop at the nearest ATM and withdraw the balance a few minutes later. Heck, I can transfer from one of my accounts to the other from my cell phone using my banks automated phone system in a few seconds.

If you want to blame someone, blame your fellow dishonest consumers who have created the market for check verifiers.