New Postal Order

davery83

Sorry if this asking a stupid question, but I see postal orders have changed (been a while since I received one!).
What do I do with them now? They never used to be crossed, does that mean it takes longer to clear like a cheque?
Am I safe to send the item out now that I have received it? It hasn't been cashed anywhere.

essexhoney

If it is crossed then it still needs to be paid into the bank as they used to, i have found with my bank it depends on the cashier that serves me some will put them through as postal orders still meaning they clear instantly and others will put them through as a chaeque i was actually told by the manager that they had told staff to put them through as a cheque since they changed them. I asked them if it was safe to send the items out before they cleared and tbh they werent sure and advised me to wait until it had cleared before sending anything out which is what i have been doing, I am actually now stating in my auction that due to the changes it has to clear before i can send the item out and not one of my buyers that has paid by postal order has had a problem with it. Obviously if i get a cashier who puts it through as a postal order rather than a cheque i post it out straight away.
Uncrossed postal orders are still the same as they used to be where you can take them into the post office in exchange for cash instantly.
HTH

black-saturn

These ones can bounce too and take a couple of days to clear.

essexhoney

black-saturn wrote:

These ones can bounce too

Thanks BS nobody has been able to confirm that for me so far

cafenervosa_2

If theres no line through the middle then they can be cashed instantly by the post office. I have just found this out after weeks of paying them into my bank.

HonestJohn

black-saturn wrote:

These ones can bounce too and take a couple of days to clear.

Under what circumstances would they be bounced ?

cafenervosa_2

HonestJohn wrote:

Under what circumstances would they be bounced ?

They could be a fake for one.

appleblossom

the sender of them could also report them as being lost in transit (like a cheque) - whilst they are in the process of passing through your bank account, they are not showing as being cashed, so the sender could get it stopped. I had this worry when I didn't realise this and sent out a mobile phone I sold on ebay, I sent it out as soon as I received the postal order and spent the next 3 days worrying if I would get the money (which I did).

mrsw

My local post office always cashes my postal orders - even the ones that are crossed. I thought this was standard practice.

Father_Jack_2

mrsw wrote:

My local post office always cashes my postal orders - even the ones that are crossed. I thought this was standard practice.

My post office also cashes all postal orders.

frivolous_fay

You can pay crossed postal orders straight into your bank account at the PO if you bank with someone like Cahoot or smile.