# Checks Unlimited **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 12, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991 "2008-05-12T03:12:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ethanwinfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/96bed5/32.png) [@ethanwinfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethanwinfield)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/1 "2008-05-12T03:12:42Z")
Last February I noticed I was close to running out of checks. I reordered online in plenty of time so I wouldn’t be without checks. I received emails stating the progress including one that read, “Verifying account information.” I received the checks and when I ran out of the old checks, started writing the new checks. Ten checks and two weeks later I can’t figure out why none of the checks are clearly. I pull out my checks and compare them to the old deposit slips. A 9 is printed where a 0 should be. I call my bank. They politely tell me there is nothing that can be done to get the checks to go through. All the checks will end up being returned “illegible.” I call Checks Unlimited. They have no record of my February order. They can find the previous order. I tried repeatedly to explain that it was a reorder. I am told that since I submitted the information online, the error is on my end–I entered my information wrong. I tried again to explain the it was a _reorder_ so everything was already entered. Since they can’t find any record of my order, they agree to reprint it with the correct information. Well now the checks are being returned to the places I wrote them. It doesn’t matter that they were returned due to “illegible” they have assessed a returned check fee. So far: $29 $25 $25 $25 $7 And that’s just half of them. So we’re looking at upwards of $200 because I don’t notice a printing error after the check company “verified account information.” ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/2 "2008-05-12T03:19:46Z")
[QUOTE=ethanwinfield] So we’re looking at upwards of $200 because I don’t notice a printing error after the check company “verified account information.” [/QUOTE] yep, that’s why you’re supposed to verify it, just like the forms says. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/3 "2008-05-12T03:25:27Z")
Well that sucks, but it’s good to know. I only write a check once in a blue moon, to those vendors who will accept nothing else. I don’t think I’ve ever ordered checks from an outside vendor, but now that I think about it, it seems unnecessarily risky to send your account information to a third party. I was actually shopping around for an outside check vendor when Bank of America stopped carrying my beloved Rocky and Bullwinkle checks. I never found one, so now I go with boring generic checks. The bank always says to double check your account information, but I never did! I will in the future. ---
**Author:** ![ethanwinfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/96bed5/32.png) [@ethanwinfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethanwinfield)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/4 "2008-05-12T03:35:28Z")
[QUOTE=wring] yep, that’s why you’re supposed to verify it, just like the forms says. [/QUOTE] Well, you’d think after seven years and multiple check reorders they’d have the account information correct. Funny, they had it correct to debit the account to pay for the order. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/5 "2008-05-12T03:44:03Z")
[QUOTE=ethanwinfield] Well, you’d think after seven years and multiple check reorders they’d have the account information correct. Funny, they had it correct to debit the account to pay for the order. [/QUOTE] doesn’t matter how many orders/reorders. it’s all a first order \<(you may have changed stuff in meantime) **jyou** issued check, \*\* you \*\* need to check order. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/6 "2008-05-12T09:54:17Z")
[QUOTE=ethanwinfield] Ten checks and two weeks later I can’t figure out why none of the checks are clearly. I pull out my checks and compare them to the old deposit slips. [/QUOTE] That’s like reading the label after you take the pill, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/7 "2008-05-12T12:09:02Z")
I’ve had checks ordered by the bank come to my address printed wrong after getting them in fine condition before. You have to check them before using them every time you get a new shipment. ---
**Author:** ![Charter\_Member1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Charter\_Member1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charter_Member1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/8 "2008-05-12T12:58:04Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] That’s like reading the label after you take the pill, isn’t it? [/QUOTE] You can always vomit up the pill. All vomiting will do in this situation is save a few calories. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/9 "2008-05-12T15:12:36Z")
I moved to a new place in February 2007. I updated my driver’s license but not my checks. I still haven’t written a single check since then. (Everything is either paid online, or my one check for rent a month is issued directly from my bank). I’ve quickly come to think of checks like the Amish. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/10 "2008-05-12T15:28:38Z")
When I got a home equity loan to build a garage, the checks the bank sent me were wrong. (I couldn’t verify them because they were new - I didn’t have anything to compare to them.) They called me up and said “Don’t write any checks while we straighten it out!” Well, I had plumbers and people waiting to get paid! The checks did clear, eventually, but I was _pissed_ about it - their mistake, they should have made my checks work. Call your bank and see if maybe they’ll reverse some of those fees for you - can’t hurt to ask. ---
**Author:** ![Carnacki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carnacki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnacki)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/11 "2008-05-12T17:05:41Z")
[QUOTE=ethanwinfield] Well now the checks are being returned to the places I wrote them. It doesn’t matter that they were returned due to “illegible” they have assessed a returned check fee. So far: $29 $25 $25 $25 $7 And that’s just half of them. So we’re looking at upwards of $200 because I don’t notice a printing error after the check company “verified account information.” [/QUOTE] Bill them for these charges. If a 0 changed to a 9 on a re-order, that means someone is hand-punching account numbers each time you re-order? That’s retarded given the technology available today; you shouldn’t have to pay for the fact that they are hiring temps to take your account info off of one computer and keypunch it into another computer instead of just having the info transferred directly from their database to their printer. It boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/12 "2008-05-12T17:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=wring] **jyou** issued check [/QUOTE] It’s a little early in the thread to start hurling epithets around, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/13 "2008-05-12T18:07:06Z")
Yeah, call the company and scream. There’s absolutely no excuse for this on their end, even if you should have verified the information. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/14 "2008-05-12T19:19:09Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] It’s a little early in the thread to start hurling epithets around, isn’t it? [/QUOTE] My keyboard at that computer is wireless and apparently didn’t like the Chardoney that got spilled into it. Random letters appear, some other typed letters don’t. So, at that computer, I tend to write short posts, and hopefully delete all of the random letters. Missed one, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/15 "2008-05-12T19:27:08Z")
[QUOTE=ethanwinfield] Well, you’d think after seven years and multiple check reorders they’d have the account information correct. Funny, they had it correct to debit the account to pay for the order. [/QUOTE] Yeah, call and complain. And don’t give up until they fix the fees. They can make the account number correct so they get paid, but not in the product they sell you? That’s unacceptable. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/16 "2008-05-12T19:40:41Z")
It was a 🙂 anyway, **wring**. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/17 "2008-05-12T19:50:56Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] It was a 🙂 anyway, **wring**. [/QUOTE] Oh, no worries, on either end. I probably should have spilled a Merlot, instead. (easier to spell 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/18 "2008-05-12T21:33:48Z")
[QUOTE=stpauler] I moved to a new place in February 2007. I updated my driver’s license but not my checks. I still haven’t written a single check since then. (Everything is either paid online, or my one check for rent a month is issued directly from my bank). I’ve quickly come to think of checks like the Amish. [/QUOTE] Heh. While I was in Canada, I started paying all my bills online. Now that I’m back here, I have a large collection of checks with my Colorado address on them, and the only thing I use them for is to pay my rent and the State of Missouri. The driver’s license place gave me a hard time about it. “Look, you’ve got my address, right here on my brand new license. I think you can find me.” ---
**Author:** ![ethanwinfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/96bed5/32.png) [@ethanwinfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethanwinfield)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/19 "2008-05-14T01:46:41Z")
I was able to get one of the merchants to reverse the fee ($29). I’m waiting until I get all the letters in the mail saying how much in total it’s going to cost me. Then I’ll call Checks Unlimited back. On a side note, the one company told me the check came back “unable to locate account” on May 2nd so they ran it through again on the 5th. Guess what? It came back a second time “unable to locate account.” ---
**Author:** ![ethanwinfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/96bed5/32.png) [@ethanwinfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethanwinfield)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991/20 "2008-05-14T01:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] That’s like reading the label after you take the pill, isn’t it? [/QUOTE] I suppose. But if it’s your 7th refill at the same pharmacy, you’d think you were safe in a quick glance at the label. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checks-unlimited/448991.md?page=2)