Unclear on the Concept: Cashier's Check

[Ghel]

I don't know it this guy was just thick or if he thought I was lying to him.

Caller: Can you tell me whether a cashier’s check is good?
Me: I can look it up for you, if it’s drawn on our bank.
Caller: I don’t know if it is. I haven’t gotten it yet.
Me: Then, no, I have no way of looking it up. Do you have an account with us? Will you be depositing it here?
Caller: No, I don’t bank with you.
Me: Ok, well, you should talk to your bank because they’ll likely want to put a hold on the check. You should also talk to them about the way you’re getting the check because there’s a lot of scams that use cashier’s checks. (I wasn’t going to spend the time to tell him about them, since he doesn’t have an account with us.)
Caller: Yes, I know. That’s why I’m asking.
Me: You can also call the bank the check is drawn on to see if it’s legit. (Except that most banks won’t give information about checks, even cashier’s checks, to non-customers.)

He doesn’t have an account with us and the check’s not drawn on us. What the hell makes him think that I’m going to be able to help him?

Then he calls back about 2 hours later, and we go through almost the exact same conversation.

Caller: You wouldn’t be able to tell me about any cashier’s check?
Me: Only if it was drawn on our bank.
Caller: Not if it was from another bank?
Me: No, I wouldn’t have any information on a check from a different bank. (duh)
Caller: So just <old bank name>?
Me: No, we’re not <old bank> any more. We’re <new bank>. Our main branch is in <new location>.
Caller: So you can only help me with <new bank> checks?
Me: Right.

I could have offered to open an account for him to deposit said cashier's check, but (1) I don't want to open an account with a suspect check, and (2) based on these short conversations, I think this guy would be more trouble than he's worth.

[Raventhistle]

I can see it now:

"What do mean that check from Africa(Or insert random place here) Didn't clear? My long-lost second-cousin's Aunt's sister died and left me money!"

[Ghel]

The one I was imagining was:

"I cashed the guy's check and wired him the extra money. Now when's he going to pick up this boat that I advertised online?"

[EmilyRose1982]

Ugh, I used to work as a bank teller at one of the bigger banks. I would get customers like this all the time, but it was more common that they were not account holders and wanted to cash a check that was from another bank. Sorry! Our bank only cashed checks from an account that we held for non-account holders. And then there was always the lovely conversation of, "yes, I do need to forms of ID from you AND I need your thumbprint on this check." So many catbutt faces at that one. Sigh.

[bankworking]

I hate that some banks won't verify their own cashier's checks for non-customers. If someone calls asking me about a cashier's check drawn on my bank, I'm allowed to verify the details.

It's not like a personal check. I can see that being a privacy issue to verify over the phone. After all, the person asking might not actually have a check and just be trying to get an idea of someone else's account balance. But a cashier's check is already withdrawn from the account. It doesn't give any private information out to verify that the check sounds legit.

[EmilyRose1982]

Oops, I should have clarified in my story that I was talking about personal checks. If the customer and the personal check are both from different banks, they're SOL. If only the customer is from another bank, then we need the 2 forms of ID and a thumbprint.

[taxguykarl]

He doesn’t have an account with us and the check’s not drawn on us. What the hell makes him think that I’m going to be able to help him?

In his SC logic You're a bank and you can always answer that query.

I could have offered to open an account for him to deposit said cashier's check, but (1) I don't want to open an account with a suspect check, and (2) based on these short conversations, I think this guy would be more trouble than he's worth.

You're probably right about that. He's either a scammer or an idiot...an SC in either case.

[MoonCat]

I wonder if that check had been sitting around for a long time and he was wondering if it was still good? Or perhaps he'd never heard of this form of payment and wasn't sure if it was legit (as opposed to a personal check)?

[underemployeed]

I love when people come into my store and complain that "I just got this coffee down the road at competitor X (and as far as I'm concerned even competitor Y who is now someone part of the corporate umbrella of big brother still is not MY COMPANY!!!!! ) IT is horrible you need to replace it free of charge!!!!"

I'm sorry, we can't do that you have a problem with X we are Z. If you went to our companys location 2 and had bad service you REALLY have to take it up with location 2 however, we can sometimes offer to let you switch it out at which point we call and complain to location 2 quit screwing up we don't need to get dinged on reviews becasue THEY aren't doing things right. but when a completely unrelated company screws up I hardly see how we have some form of quality control.... Pretty sure that is on topic with you being able to do anything with another banks check that has nothing to do with your accounts, ESPECIALLY when he isn't even going to try and open an account to deposit it.