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  • Of Seizures and Scammers

    About a week ago, a young couple passed through the Store and made a purchase. They paid for this purchase with a check. The cashier, unfortunately, wasn't particularly incredulous and put the transaction through. Had I seen it, I would've told them in no uncertain terms that I wasn't going to accept a check for this transaction, because there were a large number of red flags indicating that this was a bad check;

    * Low check number (#109, when most checking accounts start at #100)
    * The purchase amount was just barely below the amount that would require supervisor approval for a check purchase
    * Almost the entire purchase was non-food or non-perishable items that could easily be resold
    * There were five packs of cigarettes on the order

    Moreover, as I mentioned, the couple was young. Young people, as a general rule, don't write personal checks to pay for groceries. The majority of people who write checks at the Store are old-timers who've been doing things the same way since the '60s. As I mentioned above, if I'd been made aware of this transaction, I wouldn't have taken the check - but the cashier did anyway.

    And that's when things really got interesting.

    I was covering the customer service counter for the clerk's lunch break when the husband of the duo ran back in with the cart and the receipt. He declared, in a panicked tone, that his wife (whose name the check was in) was having a seizure and he had to get her to the hospital, and he needed to return the groceries for cash. He noticeably didn't ask for the check back - he wanted a cash refund.

    (This was another red flag to me - you're telling me your wife is seizing, and rather than call 911 or try to flag someone down for help, your response is to leave her unattended and try and get your money back?)

    I told him I couldn't do a cash return right then and there and told him we could hold his groceries in the cooler if he'd be coming back later that evening. He agreed to this. (We noticed later that the cigarettes were missing from the cart.)

    He didn't come back that evening. I made a photocopy of the check his wife had written along with a duplicate of the receipt, because I was 99% sure at this point that this was some sort of scam. Bookkeeping went ahead and preemptively put her on the hot list so that any further attempt to write a check at any of our locations would come up blocked.

    Flash-forward to the following evening. I get paged up to customer service, and the couple has returned, with their receipt, asking for a return. We still have their cart in the cooler, so I personally retrieve it and bring it back to them and assure them that everything in the cart is just as they left it. The wife is disappointed by this. She says "Can't we just return it?" I tell her that since it was paid for with a check, we can't do any returns on it until the check clears. The man asks how long that'll take. I tell him it depends on the bank but it usually takes a few days to a week or so.

    You'd think that'd be the end of it. They ripped us off for the product, but at least we're not out the cash.

    About 10:30 that night, the husband comes back wanting to buy two cartons of cigarettes with a check from the same account. I wasn't involved with this transaction, but my fellow supervisor who was there recognized the guy and asked how he was paying for the cigarettes. He said he was paying with a check. The supervisor denied the sale.

    Today we finally got the notice in our computer system that the check they'd written last week had been returned, and the account it was written on was closed.

    If only the cashier who'd first interacted with them had been a little more savvy, we could've nipped this in the bud. In a way, you kind of have to admire the chutzpah of the husband who realizes we're going to find out his check bounced and tries to pass another one before the boom gets lowered. In any event, we've got all the information we need to take them to collections and we'll get ours in the end.

    Bonus LOL: At the risk of getting political

    Last night I got called to the receiving dock to open up the gate and sign some paperwork for a driver that was dropping off a load for us. He's a risible old guy who delivers to us five nights a week, who we've nicknamed "Buttercup" for reasons that escape me. As I unlocked the gate and pushed it up to reveal the back of the trailer he'd brought in for us, we discovered that someone had used their finger to write "TRUMP" in the layer of dust that naturally accumulates on trailers over time.

    I took the flat of my hand and erased the "T" so that it instead read "RUMP".

    Buttercup cracked up laughing like he was about to keel over and die.
    Last edited by Smapti; 05-01-2018, 06:21 PM.

  • #2
    The cashier, unfortunately, wasn't particularly credulous

    Typo watch, you've reversed the sense of this: The cashier was credulous, they were not (among other antonyms) skeptical, suspicious, or wary. In any case, these two were clearly a scammer team, and those tend to be fairly good at spotting and disarming a potential mark.
    Last edited by Mental_Mouse; 05-01-2018, 12:20 PM. Reason: more comments

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    • #3
      Wow. I was born in the mid-FIFTIES and even I don't use cheques anymore -- debit cards and online banking have relieved me of questions like "When's the cheque gonna clear? What are the service charges gonna be this month? Why is the last cheque in my book #251 but the one in my chequebook is #254?" and so on.

      Right now the only people I'm dealing with who accept cheques are the people who own the storage lockers I'm using ... they accept cash or post-dated cheques, period. (Not sure about automatic withdrawals.)
      Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
      ~ Mr Hero

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      • #4
        I don't think I have EVER seen anyone under the age of mid-fifties write a check in this day and age, and many of those will use debit/credit instead. Amazes me people still do that.

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        • #5
          Actually a lot of the clients we do the accounts/bookkeeping for still use cheques. While a lot have moved over to direct debits and standing orders, many of them still prefer writing the cheque and sending it as it gives them a bit of control over when the payment goes out.
          "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

          Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

          The Darwin Awards The best site to visit to restore your faith in instant karma.

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          • #6
            Most people don't even know what checks are anymore. They forget their debit card is tied to a checking account! They don't use checks, they don't own checks, and when they need to provide a routing number and account number are stupid cause they don't know what that stuff is. "duh.... I have my debit card!"
            https://www.youtube.com/user/HedgeTV
            Great YouTube channel check it out!

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            • #7
              I have had customers ask to open an account with a debit card, and when I ask, "so... a checking account?" they get confused.

              But yeah, if your partner is having a seizure that requires a trip to the hospital, getting a refund for groceries should be the last of your concerns.
              "I look at the stars. It's a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near. That's where I'll be going soon. "We are all star stuff." I suddenly remember Delenn's line from Joe's script. Not a bad prospect. I am not afraid. In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all."
              -Mira Furlan

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              • #8
                Quoth telecom_goddess View Post
                Most people don't even know what checks are anymore. They forget their debit card is tied to a checking account! They don't use checks, they don't own checks, and when they need to provide a routing number and account number are stupid cause they don't know what that stuff is. "duh.... I have my debit card!"
                I don't even write checks for my daycare provider anymore. I just went online and set up an auto pay, via check every week. Only a dollar per check, I spend more time looking for where the damn checkbook went.

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                • #9
                  I used checks when I had my first bank account in the lat 90's early 2000's. Up until around 2003/2004 when my bank started offering online banking and bill pay and then I haven't ever used a check since.

                  I have since switched banks within the last 5 years and they didn't even ask if I wanted a check book.

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                  • #10
                    I was using checks to pay rent up until a very few years ago. Just sayin'.
                    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, you speak with the Fraud department. -- CrazedClerkthe2nd
                    OW! Rolled my eyes too hard, saw my brain. -- Seanette
                    she seems to top me in crazy, and I'm enough crazy for my family. -- Cooper
                    Yes, I am evil. What's your point? -- Jester

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                    • #11
                      Checks I've (I'm not quite forty) written in the past two weeks:

                      Paying for kiddo's summer camp (credit card fees for registration are no fun)
                      Paying for school carnival-related stuff to school PTO (not sending cash with kiddo to school)
                      Field trip fees for school (ditto)
                      Paying a friend for their old dishwasher in the $175 range (didn't have that much cash on hand)
                      Paying a recycling company to haul away our old dishwasher (had to leave payment inside the appliance since I wasn't going to be home... not leaving cash, too easy for it to go missing with no proof)

                      Granted, we usually write one check every month or two, so this was a heavy check-writing period... but there are times it's useful.

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                      • #12
                        Property taxes, auto tags, donations and Christmas money to the niece and nephew.. I have written 12 checks out this book of checks, in just over two years.
                        Life is too short to not eat popcorn.
                        Save the Ales!
                        Toys for Tots at Rooster's Cafe

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                        • #13
                          I am 69, and I write about 6 checks a month. Two are for the cleaning lady, the rest are for payments made by mail.

                          I use a credit card for most purchases when I am out and about. It is so much easier than carrying a lot of cash or a checkbook.

                          I also have automatic debit for many utility bills. It's very convenient.
                          "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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                          • #14
                            About five years ago I switched banks and never got checks with the account. I could get free ones if I needed but I can do everything either through my account or with my debit card, even pay my rent. For someone lazy like me, it works better. I have a coworker who is in her 30's and pays her bills with checks and a few customers that aren't in AARP use checks frequently.
                            I would have a nice day, but I have other things to do.

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                            • #15
                              67 here. I just looked in my checkbook; the most recent check was written not quite a year ago. Which reminds me; I need to hit the bank website and pay some bills . . .

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