What is the solution for checks being rejected?

Question

When writing a personal check to pay for purchases at a retail store, the woman at the counter took down all of my information and after waiting for several minutes she told me that the check was rejected. This happened once again at a different store. I have never had any problems with using checks in the past and even when i went to my bank (chase) the teller had no idea what the problem could have been. however, the confusing part is that checks seem to work in other places, the only problems i have had is with those two stores and only that once. i dont know if this is a problem with the stores connecting to the bank or what but i would like some feedback on why my checks seem to not be working.

Thanks

Answer 1

Try making a complaint with customer service at that store.  Tell them no one else has a problem with your checks and since you do not want to carry large amounts of cash, they can either give you the real reason they are not taking your checks or you will take your businesss elsewhere.

If I were doing it, I'd start ranting and raving and waving my arms around and making all sorts of incoherent statements about Chinese communist slave labor and corporate greed... I have done this and it works, but that is theater and a personal decision.

Answer 2

Well I'm assuming you had enough money to cover the checks. So that means the checks didn't bounce, they just were rejected. Whatever merchant service the stores use probably wasn't able to get the information they needed (like if the check would clear or if its even a valid account number), so they just rejected the payment. That's all I can think of.

Banks now-a-days are becoming increasingly harder on everyone when it comes to verifying checks.

Ps - get a debit card.

Answer 3

Yes, I agree with gobonzzo's answer. Talk with customer service and find out why. If you know you have money in the bank and you have already talked to the bank and they don't understand either, then it must be on the store's end. Find out why and if it doesn't get straightened out then tell them you will never shop there again.Although I don't ever deal with checks. For this reason and b/c its a hassle. Use a debit card