Those kinds of things have avenues for dealing with them. As a business owner, IME, all of these “what ifs” are BS. The last resort is displaying the thief’s work.
When my brother-in-law’s checkbook was stolen, the merchants who foolishly accepted checks signed by “Mrs. BIL” called BIL, and he went over and talked to the merchants. I think that he took a copy of the police report, too, but I’m not sure. My husband is asleep right now and I’m not waking him up to get the details. At any rate, the merchants in this case had only themselves to blame. “Mrs. BIL” didn’t have any sort of ID that showed her as having BIL’s last name or address. And the merchants should have insisted on taking down the driver’s license number and expiration, but they didn’t.
Since it happened to me, it’s neither a “what if” nor “BS”, and the thief’s work had my name and address on it.
So, when the check “bounced” you’re saying that the merchant who deposited it wasn’t alerted that the checkbook had been reported stolen? Was the check NSF or was it not honored because the account was closed following the theft?
Back when I still accepted checks, bad checks came with additional info; “account closed”, “tried twice do not try again”, etc.
I never took a stolen check (I required ID) but it seems the merchant would know. 
ETA: I’m mixing your post with the one prior to it. You bounced a check. You failed to make good on it. What’s your complaint then? Or am I mixed up here?
This makes absolutely no sense. Displaying the check will not in any way get the money back from the person, so the costs will still be passed on to you. Displaying the check does not help the customer in any way shape or form. It’s purpose is specifically to shame someone.
I don’t get how you can spin that into showing that he cares about customers. All I see is someone going above and beyond what is necessary to make sure they aren’t defrauded again.
When the check is on the side of the register that faces the customer instead of the clerk, it’s shaming. Although I suppose it could be there so that the customer who wrote the check could see it and go “Oh my, I did that? So sorry!” and make the check good.
I don’t know if it’s “legal” or “ethical”, but I think it’s tacky, and it might be self-defeating. It alerts customers that the store doesn’t have a system in place to ensure that bad checks will be caught when written.
Interesting to see so many posters who think an NSF check must be deliberate, especially when there have been so many threads where people complain about banks that process debits before processing credits.
What would that system be? You write me a check. It is good. But after leaving me, you withdraw all funds. How could that (now) bad check have been detected when written?
Check guarantee services exist, and charge the merchant for their service. The consumer, of course, pays for that service.
The system is Telecheck, and I can’t remember the last time I saw a cash register without the Telecheck sticker.
Yes, the cost of the Telecheck service is passed on to the consumer, but it must save the store more money than it costs or they wouldn’t be using it.
You’re talking about thieves. I’m talking about honest people who make mistakes.
Telecheck is one of many. There have been scandals with a few, I can’t remember the details (selling data?). There have also been problems with checks being declined due to the way the system evaluates the payor. It guarantees the business gets paid, it does not guarantee the check is good.
The cost to use a system like Telecheck varies. There is a fee per check as well as a fee based on the total amount of checks accepted. It varies from company to company. In my area, when I evaluated the idea of subscribing to a service, it made more sense to stop accepting checks.
Honest people who make mistakes and bounce a check I have no problem with. Honest people pay the debt. The people I have a problem with are people who bounce and never pay. They are thieves, and the posting of their bad checks I have no problem with.
You’re mixed up. I’ve never written a bad check in my life. What happened was:
I had a few packs of checks left from a CLOSED account in my desk back in 1981 or 1982. Just never got around to tossing them out. My roommate at the time had a house guest (old friend from her hometown) for a week who stole a pack of the checks and lifted my license from my purse. Back then, New York licenses didn’t have photos. I didn’t drive and I rarely needed to show it, so I didn’t notice that it was missing for however long she had it, which was probably that Saturday and possibly part of Sunday.
Right after she left, my roommate noticed some jewelry missing. I checked my jewelry, and I was missing a single pair of earrings. They weren’t expensive, so I figured I misplaced them. Then my roommate said she was missing her emergency stash of money. I had noticed over the weekend that I had less cash on me than I thought, but figured I had spent more than I realized. Then I noticed a few special items of clothing missing. We were both certain we had been ripped off at this point.
Then a few days later, I start getting phone calls from local stores. That bitch had found the checks in my desk, lifted my license from my purse and bought herself some new clothes and shoes over the weekend when the banks were closed and the checks couldn’t be verified … and the checks were returned on my old closed account. The stores took the checks because of the license, neighborhood address, and listed phone number. Things were like that back then.
We went and filed a police report. I went to my old bank with the police report so I wouldn’t get in any trouble and explained the situation. Then I went around to the stores on Columbus and Amsterdam. One of the store owners would not let it go. It didn’t matter that I was half a foot taller and 30 pounds lighter than the woman who handed over my license, or that I am not a blonde. According to him, I was now “wearing heels” and could have “dyed my hair” and “lost weight”. He was in a red faced screaming rage and kept demanding I make good on the check. No reasoning with him, so I left. A few days later, someone told me he had taped the check up in the store along with a nasty note.
I ended up having to ask a police Lieutenant family member of my then boyfriend to have someone have a word with him before he would take it down.
Wow. That sucks. I would assume seeing a bad check displayed that it was “just a bad check”. I’ve received many dozens over the years. The percentage of those checks made good (often before I even got it back from my bank) was acceptable until the recent economic downturn.
Today, in my location, I wouldn’t accept a check if you paid me:D
When our business looked into telecheck we found that the cost of the bounced checks we received each year wouldn’t make the fees telecheck charged worth it. I am sure for a large retailer, it is. But for a small business, paying a fee on every check, isn’t profitable in many cases.
They guy was a jerk. I assume the other merchants didn’t pursue the matter. He was probably annoyed at his stupidity and/or that of his staff and wanted the money no matter what the truth.
However, I think most merchants that have the policy do not display those kinds of checks in general. Most checks I have seen haven’t been current (within the last six months) and I believe they sincerely try to collect on the debt before putting them on the wall of shame.
I recall going into an adult retail establishment once and the wall had photos with what the person attempted to steal written on them. “Bob tried to steal a double vibrating dildo”. I asked about it and was told the offender had a choice to go on the wall or they call the police. I wonder how many choose the police.
I have no idea why all the errant apostrophes in this post. I must have many pauses in my thinking today. 