I'm sorry, this is not a point at which you can refuse

[Imogene]

Had a lady through my line pay with a check. No big deal, until I started filling out the T, and ask her for her phone number.
L: "No."
RJ: *blink, look up from check* "I'm sorry?"
L: "No, I don't give out my phone number."
RJ: Uh... kaaaay... "I need your phone number."
L: "No!"
RJ: "Ma'am, if you don't give me your phone number, I can't run this check."
L: "I don't give out my phone number to anyone."
RJ: "FES A, what do I do in this situation?"
A: "Ma'am, the number's not for us, it's for the bank so they can track your check. You won't get any calls from anyone about it. But we do need your phone number to run it as a check."
L: *reluctantly gives me her phone number*

[gunsage]

L: *reluctantly gives me her phone number*

Thank you for your compliance, ma'am. We'll be sure to send you out a lifetime's supply of junk mail for your cooperation! MWAHAHAAHAHAAAAAHH!!!!

Edit: It could be fate...maybe karma, I don't know. As I got ready to type the INSANE LAUGHTER, I sneezed all over the place and actually had to get up to go make myself presentable again. No more laughing for me!

[GolfCart34]

Part of the reason why I don't write checks at stores anymore is because I absolutely refuse to give out my phone number on my check. There is no need for it whatsoever. If the bank needs to contact me for whatever reason, they should already have my phone number.

Believe it or not, there are lots of personal identity information you're not supposed to put on checks, such as driver's license numbers or social security numbers. That's how thieves can get lots of personal identifying information. This link gives lots of great information of what not to put on a check.

Sorry if I get a little uptight about this. I work for a bank and customer security is a #1 priority for us.

[smileyeagle1021]

I get that all the time

me- and can I get the credit card you'll be using to garuantee the room?
sc- no, I'll just give you teh card when I check in (or) no, I'm paying cash
me- I'm sorry, but I have no way of garuanteeing you a room unless I have a credit card on the reservation.
sc- well, I'm not giving you a card number.
me- if that's the case you could do a walk-in, at this point it doesn't look like we will be selling out in the next (insert reasonable estimate based on how many rooms are left at the hotel and how many calls we have been recieving for them)
sc- ok, and what's my confirmation number
me- you don't have one, without a credit card nothing is confirmed nor garuanteed, but you are more than able to take your chances on a walk-in
sc- no I need my room garuanteed

lather rinse repeat

[Listerfiend]

...How could that customer not have expected that? If I recall correctly a lot of places request phone number when paying with a check.

[Imogene]

If the bank needs to contact me for whatever reason, they should already have my phone number.

What about our store's bank? What if they're not the same bank you use to do checking?

[roguesqd]

I do not believe you can ask for a social to cash a check, but a store may ask for license number, address and phone #, and if you do not give the info they do not have to take the check

[Peppergirl]

Part of the reason why I don't write checks at stores anymore is because I absolutely refuse to give out my phone number on my check. There is no need for it whatsoever. If the bank needs to contact me for whatever reason, they should already have my phone number.

Believe it or not, there are lots of personal identity information you're not supposed to put on checks, such as driver's license numbers or social security numbers. That's how thieves can get lots of personal identifying information. This link gives lots of great information of what not to put on a check.

Sorry if I get a little uptight about this. I work for a bank and customer security is a #1 priority for us.

But see, that's where you avoid being an SC. You have a personal issue with giving your phone number, so you choose not to write a check.

The SC in this story is perfectly within her rights not to want to give out her number, but she then needs to take the responsibility of finding another form of payment due to her refusal, right?

Oh wait, I'm using logic again. We all know SC's are very anti-logic.

[Imogene]

I do not believe you can ask for a social to cash a check,

And I never did ask for a social.
I ask for a driver's license number, expiry date, and phone number. Texas at least has moved beyond allowing people to get their SSN's as their driver's license number.

[Bagga]

Try as I might, I can see absolutely no reason why a telephone number is useful as cheque security. If you steal someone's cheque book, you usually have a lot of bits of paper with a person's name printed on it. Using that name, it is often easy to get a phone number to match.

In the past, stores would often ask me to write my address on the back of the cheque. Which is useless as security for exactly the same reason.

[draftermatt]

My checks have my phone number on them.

Granted it's the wrong number now that we've moved, but still.

[texasbelle5]

I wish paper checks would just die a thousand deaths and never be used again, particularly in retail stores.
They are ponderous and dangerous to boot. Any one can grab the info off your check, print their own and now you have a mess to clean up with your bank. I buy with a bank issued VISA/MC only. I won't even use a debit card because you are not offered the same level of protection as a VISA/MC. Just make sure to budget and pay the bill in full every month.

Paper checks are da debbil.

[Primer]

I wish paper checks would just die a thousand deaths and never be used again, particularly in retail stores.
They are ponderous and dangerous to boot. Any one can grab the info off your check, print their own and now you have a mess to clean up with your bank. I buy with a bank issued VISA/MC only. I won't even use a debit card because you are not offered the same level of protection as a VISA/MC. Just make sure to budget and pay the bill in full every month.

Paper checks are da debbil.

I wish paper checks could die a thousand deaths, but too many places make it darned near impossible to use anything else. 90% of my purchases are done with a credit card or online. 9% are done with cash (groceries and restaurants). The other 1%, I have no choice but to use a check.

My mortgage company charges $12.50 to make an online payment, and will not accept a cc payment. Some of my medical bills will not accept cash, cc, or online payments.

I use my debit card only for getting cash at an ATM. They don't have the safety backing that credit cards do. I don't even like doing direct withdrawal for paying certain bills, but for one, my life insurance, I have no choice. Heck, I won't even sign up for PayPal after hearing too many horror stories about them.

I'm afraid paper checks are here for the duration.

[smileyeagle1021]

Try as I might, I can see absolutely no reason why a telephone number is useful as cheque security.

it's security for the store, not the check writer... it's the same reason that hotels get a phone number, so if the money doesn't clear they have a way to track you down to collect...

this is why I use plastic for everything except my home owners fees (there is no way in HELL I'm paying a $20 "convenience" charge on a $140 payment) and certain utilities (same thing, not paying a convenience charge for a method that actually costs the company less to process).

[Pagan]

My mortgage company charges $12.50 to make an online payment, and will not accept a cc payment. Some of my medical bills will not accept cash, cc, or online payments.

and certain utilities (same thing, not paying a convenience charge for a method that actually costs the company less to process).

Same here. I could pay my PNM bill online, if I'm willing to fork over an extra $2.95. So I drive up to the office in Rio Rathole, but they're not set up to take credit or debit cards, and I'm certainly not driving up to Bernalillo or downtown ABQ....so the only choice is cash or check. The drive up there certainly doesn't cost me $2.95 in gas, even at current prices.