Check Cashing Policy

I just had a nearly identical experience. I was stuck using a check
only because I just lost my check card today. I applied for an
advantage card and the clerk assured me that although I could not get
cash back using the check, I could pay for my groceries. After
spending half an hour picking things up I went to the register, only
to find my check declined at the register. I was informed that my
advantage card needed twenty four hours to kick in and I could not pay
with check. I would not have been so outraged if the clerk at the
service station had not told me I could pay with a check today. If
that is your policy fine but at least have your clerks educated on the
issue. And yes, the sign outside would be nice. I know checks are old
fashioned but if you lose your credit card they are all some people
have to pay for things until the new card comes in the mail. Kept my
composure but nearly started crying with frustration on my way out.
Now I know how it feels to be poor. Thanks Giant Eagle.

I sympathise with you, around where I live, GE is a virtual monopoly
(80%+ of the market), I would love to have Kroger's back as well as
Meijer's and SuperTargets.

The cashier may have been referring to a GE advantage card to which
you can attach check cashing rights (taken to mean chackes made out to
you ie. from friends, payroll checks, etc.). I don't reacll ever
seeing anyone turned away for using a check as long as they had their
ID (DL or ID card) with them.

It is difficult to beleive that you are 49 years of age and are not
aware that most super markets require a check cashing card. If this is
too much trouble, maybe you should use a debit card connected to your
checking account. Most banks issue them. Join the twenty-first
century!

I'm the same age as you and have seen many ways that stores allow
customers to use checks, including check cashing cards. Bottom line,
their store, their rules. Don't like it? Don't shop there.

And as for sending your e-mail out to all your friends, etc., I'll bet
both of them were sympathetic.

Sounds like the cashier assumed that if you were writing a check that
you knew about and had a check cashing card until you said otherwise.
A great many stores have gone to using Telecheck instead of requiring
a check cashing card. Telecheck treats your check like a debit card
and take out the funds immediately...they can also flag the account if
you are deemed a risk (unpaid checks, etc) and decline the check.
Giant Eagle is apparently not part of the Telecheck network and so
requires an approval of your account before you can write checks.

Most banks offer debit cards tied to your checking account. I only use
checks to pay my Avon lady and a couple of bills..everything else I
use online payment or my debit or credit card. Checks are used less
and less everyday and there will come a day when no one will use them.

I can see your frustration about the card; however, at what specific
point were anyone of them, including the cashier, rude? If they were
just explaining their policy and what you have to do for using checks,
I don't consider that to be rude. These employees are just doing their
job, you can't hold it personal against them for asking you to sign up
for a card that the company requires. Ridiculous as it sounds, some
companies have these weird rules, which sends their customers
scrambling for competitors.

I agree that they should post some kind of notice, the attitude from
the desk person was terrible. It should not be a "privilege" to pay by
check, if it were to bounce, thats another thing. I've noticed that in
the past few years businesses have begun to phase out check cashing
cards, this is likely due to the "Check 21" act (google it). As for
out of state checks, many places do not take them for reasons stated
in other posts, but i know Walmart does, they authorize it right there
and debit your account, no waiting for it to clear.

Its nice to see a letter this concise and non-demanding. Good to see
that you spoke with your wallet and went somewhere else. I dont know
what Giant Eagle could do in this situation, but maybe a little bad
press will get them to smarten up.

When I was a kid, you always needed to have a special card to use a
check. They had one for Pathmark, one for Superfresh, one for
ShopRite, one for...

When I moved out of my parents house and started buying my own
groceries, I needed to get a card to use a check. I remember having
one for Magrudders, one for Giant, and one for Safeway.

This was before credit cards were widely accepted at grocery stores.
Then, all the places I went started accepting credit cards. I've
never used a check since. But I assumed that the policy was still
common.

Sounds like where Denise lives, stores haven't required a check check.
Might be a regional thing, with Giant Eagle adopting a policy from
another region?

Check cashing cards have been around for at least 20 years in my area.
I can't believe people still write checks for something other than to
mail with a bill. Why didn't you use your debit card? Then you
wouldn't have had to worry about a check cashing card and you would
have your groceries. None of the retail stores I've worked for would
accept an out of state check. Trying to collect the money on an in
state check is hard enough when it bounces.

I have a hard time believing that any business is accepting out of
state checks, as you state. At my store, we won't even take an out of
the area check because if it bounces we have to pay an out of the area
sheriff to serve papers on the person to get our money back. Check
cashing cards were the norm in a lot of places back in the old days
when people wrote checks instead of using debit cards.

My supermarket requires a check cashing card and do many other local
stores here. I can really understand it. Accepting checks from any
random person would leave them open to a lot of fraud.

I agree with all of your complaints, except that I am glad I wasn't on
the receiving end of the mass email.