Slow People (Hate!!)

[blas]

I'm really not a person who hurries. I wasn't in any big rush to get home. Nonetheless, it really irritated me that this dumb older woman felt the need to balance her entire checkbook after already taking several minutes to pay by check for her gas.

She was still fumbling around with her checkbook after the transaction that the associate opened another till for people to go to, and started serving them over there. After I paid, that woman finally packed up her purse and left!

It's not so much a hate with checks, I get that some people refuse to get with the times or are afraid of debit/credit cards. But seriously....you can't even write down the store, sign your name, anything while you wait? And do you have to balance everything out while there are several people standing behind you?!

[wagegoth]

That is soooooo annoying. The gas stations around here don't accept checks anymore, probably not once gas went over $1.50 a gallon, so that's a long time ago. And I love pay at the pump. I never go inside unless I want a snack.

I'm so used to my debit card, that when I lost it and had to write checks for a few days, my brain started to seize up.

[blas]

I don't pay at the pump anymore because of holdings that the bank puts on your debit card (anywhere from $1 to $75 for an amount of time determined by your bank), and I refuse to go by that stupid rule. I'll go inside and prove I have money, and still have enough left over to go about my business. I also avoid being charged by my bank for withdrawling cash, so I just get cash back from when I go inside and pay. But every month I get stuck with "activity charges" and "extra activity charges" because I apparently use my debit card too much. I hate my bank.

The gas station I used to work at not only accepted checks, but didn't have Telechek or any other kind of system to alert you if the check was bad or not. They'd all be accepted and stamped and taken to the bank, and sure enough, at least once or twice a week, someone would have to be blacklisted from writing checks there.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't know what bank you have (or what gas stations you visit), but they suck.

I use debit at the pump pretty much exclusively and have never had any money held.

^-.-^

[blas]

I knew about those holds when I worked for a BP gas station, I've only really paid at the pump when I had to fill up late at night or was in a hurry or didn't need anything else. You don't see it on your statement when you check online, I never have.

My cousin is a manager for the bank I do business with. I think I'll shoot her a PM or call her and ask why it seems we customers get penalized for using our debit cards (I just got my statement from December.....Christmas shopping and all that mixed in with my normal errands of getting gas/groceries/ciggs/necessities). I almost never have cash, I don't feel safe having a lot of cash. I only keep enough cash for lunch money at work or emergency cab fare. I don't see the point in charging people for using their own debit card vs checks or cash, or charging outrageous fees for ATMs because no one wants to go 20 miles to the only ATM for that bank, or to the banks themselves.

[Andara Bledin]

I knew about those holds when I worked for a BP gas station, I've only really paid at the pump when I had to fill up late at night or was in a hurry or didn't need anything else. You don't see it on your statement when you check online, I never have.

Actually, I can see the holds when I check online. There's a link to the daily holds available from the sidebar when I check my current statement. It's called "Account Balance History" and it shows every hold and charge as it happens. Only hotels appear to take more than a day to go from "hold" to "charged" or "cleared."

As for everything else, my banking is feeless unless I need to go into the bank more than three times in a single month. I haven't managed more than three trips inside in the last two years.

^-.-^

[Sapphire Silk]

It's not so much a hate with checks, I get that some people refuse to get with the times or are afraid of debit/credit cards. But seriously....you can't even write down the store, sign your name, anything while you wait? And do you have to balance everything out while there are several people standing behind you?!

I hated people who paid with checks even before debit cards came out. It never goes quickly.

[Ree]

But even if you pay by debit, don't you still have to record it in your book so you know how much money you have?

I know I've been embarrassed a time or two because I was shopping and using hr debit card, and forgot to record a couple of purchases. I wasn't keeping very good track in my head, either, I guess, because I went to use my debit card and came up NSF.
I called my automated banking line and went through all my transactions and realized what I had done.

I don't sit and record every little detail, but a quick jot in the book and some math keeps me on track.

If I know others are waiting behind me, I sure as heck don't hold anyone up. That's just rude.

[MoonCat]

I also don't like to carry around much cash. I use my debit card often, but I always have a pretty close idea of how much is in there. I check at least once a week, sometimes more often if I'm spending a bit more than usual. Have to because I screwed myself in the past by not paying closer attention, and ended up paying fees for insufficient funds. When the new bank rules went into effect, I opted for the "decline" feature where if I don't have enough in my checking account, it will decline. But I'm still going to keep close track of the money!

[blas]

I don't ever use the register in my checkbook. I check my balance online every day, so I always know how much I have in there.

[BrenDAnn]

Add me to the list of debit card users, and the ones who check their balance online rather than in a check register. I'm certain my mother would have my head for it were she still alive, but I've found that it's easier for me this way, and I've not had problems for a few months. Also, the C-store I work at does still take checks. We also have a system where you put the check through the reader and if customer has had an unpaid returned check it comes up and tells us to ask for other forms of payment. Of course, no one ever knows WHY that would EVER happen to them.

[Andara Bledin]

But even if you pay by debit, don't you still have to record it in your book so you know how much money you have?

Add me to the list of debit card users, and the ones who check their balance online rather than in a check register.

I haven't kept a register since just after high school.

^-.-^

[Solumina]

I keep a register (after all not everything goes through right away, most notably my apartment complex can take anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks to deposit my check so if I just went by my online balance I could get in trouble, plus I find that it makes me more aware of my money to consciously add and subtract everything) but I don't put things in it while I'm holding up a line, if say my groceries are being bagged then I'll note the expense but otherwise I just keep the receipt and put it in the register when I get home.

[Barefootgirl]

I don't think there are any shops around here that still accept cheques. The window cleaner does, and when I had my horse, i paid my farrier by cheque. I also send a cheque every week for the kid's school lunches - but that's it. Supermarkets and shops no longer accept cheques round here. It speeds things up marginally, but since none of the little old ladies can remember their PIN numbers, they all have to dig out their diaries to look up their PINs when paying with their debit cards, so its sometimes even slower than in the days of cheques (especially if you go on a Thursday, which is Pension/Benefit Day).

[Kogarashi]

Hubby and I use our credit card and a budget to avoid having to write too many entries in the register. We stick to the budget and pay by CC (netting us reward points, yay!), then pay it off at the end of the month with a check/debit payment, and that's what gets written in the register. We can double-check online to see what the CC balance is at the moment, just in case.

The lady in the OP is the reason why when I need to do something right after paying and getting my receipt, usually putting my wallet away or something similar, I scoot away from the register first so I'm not holding up the next person in line.