Bad Check

[Parts_Drone]

I took a bad check last Monday, in hindsight it should have seemed suspicious but neither me or the new manager (who's really green with cash procedure) caught it in time. So today the manager calls me into his office and says "guess what?, the check bounced" and proceeds to read off a nasty message the cash control woman at head office sent him, basically implying I was a moron and then he proceeded to write me up. Whats funny is that counter people are not formally trained in cash procedure in our company, but we still have to deal with all that bullshit. Of course all the bean counters at head office care about is the bottom line. So now after 5 and a half years of exemplary performance reviews, I have a permanent blemish on my record, all because of one momentary lapse into stupidity.

[Dave1982]

I've screwed up a couple check transactions in my time, though to my knowledge the checks didnt' bounce.

Gotta love how the damn bean counters will work themselves into a frenzy over a single bad check, but then turn around and hand out a totally undeserved refund/credit/freebie to a customer just because they can yell loudly

[JustADude]

Personally, I'd have told them that if they want me to be held responsible for bad checks then they'd better give me training first, and refused to sign the write-up. Of course, that's always easy to say when it's happening to someone else.

[Parts_Drone]

I found him.

Today, I drove by the house he put the address down of on the back of the cheque, and lo and behold the white 96 grand prix he was buying all the parts for was parked in the driveway! He put his real address down, so obviously he was either really stupid, or just clueless to whether his cheque would bounce. And houses are not exactly cheap in this town, so I'm thinking he's probably not a lowlife. I might have a knock on his door after I talk to the higher ups about whether they will take action.

[RammsteinGirl]

You must work somewhere that doesn't use an automatic check approval system like Certegy, which is what K (where I work) and other large retail stores use. If the check is declined, it will print a big long spiel on the back of the customer's check telling them to call Certegy to find out why their check was declined.

[adarhysenthe]

I did a bad check recently. The result? It bounced and now our store no longer accepts checks at all, period, finito. Did I get written up? Not to my knowledge. But I should have and would not have been surprised to find out if I had.

[Parts_Drone]

Yeah I definitely should not have taken it, and incidentally the same thing happened at my store, no more cheques, unless we know the person REALLY well.

[CancelMyService]

I never understood why it's the cashier's fault that someone writes a bad check?

[JustADude]

I never understood why it's the cashier's fault that someone writes a bad check?

Me neither. If the information is correct, how the are we supposed to know if they have the funds there or not? Most places don't even TAKE them these days. If you don't have a check-card you're either A) under 18, B) a person that always pays for things in cash or C) needing to get fish-slapped into the 21st century.

[BookstoreEscapee]

BN uses a check scanner system, but it will only flag an account if it is on file with problems before...so the fact that it didn't decline the check (and I'm not sure I've ever had it happen...) doesn't mean the check is good...it just means the account hasn't had a bad check passed on it yet.

[MadMike]

It was easy where I worked -- all checks had to be approved by a manager, unless they had one of our check cashing cards.

There was also a "Do not take checks from..." list at each register, but I never saw anyone on the list come try to use a check.

[Becks]

If you don't have a check-card you're either A) under 18, B) a person that always pays for things in cash or C) needing to get fish-slapped into the 21st century.

When I used to pay for my groceries and such like with checks, it's because my check card would charge a fee after using it so many times a month. Unlimited check writing, of course. Now I usually pay in cash, unless I can convince the man of the household to use his credit card.

[Der Cute]

Partsy:

To be honest, a good manager would look at the overall behavior and work you've done - 3 or 4 positives vs 1 negative.....and ask you what you did, and if you've learned anything....and then blow it off.

ignore this, really. Then a few weeks from now, go in and ask about training for check control.

Cutenoob

[Anakah]

I've taken bad checks. I wasn't supposed to take the check because the check number was below 151. Watch carefully in the right hand corner, if the number is really low it means its a new account and it has more of a chance of bouncing. Well, thats what they told us anyway. I think her check number was 141 or something and I was busted. I got a verbal warning.

Its like when there's a counterfeit bill, nobody gives the training but expects you to know which ones are fake/real.

And yeah I don't think it should be your fault that the idiot who wrote the check had no money, how would you know?? And no training? Again, they expect the impossible.

[JustADude]

I've taken bad checks. I wasn't supposed to take the check because the check number was below 151. Watch carefully in the right hand corner, if the number is really low it means its a new account and it has more of a chance of bouncing.

Ah, but you can ask for your checks to start with ANY number, since people are often buying further checks for an old account. I, myself, had the checks for my brand new acct (bought from a 3rd party, of course) start at 660 just so I could have the childish (but very deep) satisfaction of paying off a very annoying and bible-thumping Christianite with a check numbered 666.

When they got it in the mail they actually tore it up and demanded I send a new check. I told him "Tough noogies, I tendered payment in full. It's not my business you destroyed a valid check AFTER receiving it," and he either didn't pursue matters, or was told I was correct. Oh and, yes, if he'd pushed the issue further with me I'd have cut him another check, I just wanted to pay him back for all the crap he'd put me through over some trivial amount. I don't remember exactly what, but it was under $100.