Cheque Guarantee Cards

System

Never, Never use Direct Debit with Councils, always Standing Order.
Otherwise pay manually.

Everyone I know, including myself, have had problems with them trying to help themselves.... your not alone.

WhiteHorse wrote: »

I resent gradually being manoeuvred into a position in which direct debit is the only option. They want access to your bank account, pure and simple. There are supposed to be checks and balances and they are not supposed to do certain things , but read on ...

Some years ago, my wife paid Council Tax by direct debit. There was a dispute over the amount owed (it was zero actually). The council disagreed, and instead of taking the standard amount (some £30 or so), illegally tried to take £1300 (the whole year).

This would have plunged her deep into the red and incurred penalties. There would then have been an almighty battle to get the Council to disgorge the money that it had stolen.

Fortunately, I could see this coming (they have previous), so I got the direct debit stopped days before they tried it on. Thus, it never came to pass, but it was a narrow escape.

karatedragon

I still deal in cash and cheques - and when Asda would not take a cheque for my shopping I said - Fine - I'll leave the trolley here for you to clear and put the stuff back and walked off leaving it.

In fact I considered doing that several times to make a poin

And if you want a Current Account with just a Cheque Card the Leeds Building Society do one:

http://www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk/savings/premiercurrent.html

DCFC79

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Never, Never use Direct Debit with Councils, always Standing Order.
Otherwise pay manually.

Everyone I know, including myself, has had problems with them trying to help themselves.... your not alone.

my mum has never had an issue with the council and direct debits

DCFC79

karatedragon wrote: »

I still deal in cash and cheques - and when Asda would not take a cheque for my shopping I said - Fine - I'll leave the trolley here for you to clear and put the stuff back and walked off leaving it.

In fact I considered doing that several times to make a point.

cheques are being fazed out soshops wont take them anymore

DCFC79

Alison69 wrote: »

Things like paying for home helps, etc are not possible to pay by standing order or direct debit.

Well, I must admit to being very disappointed to the attitude of the last postings on this thread. I really thought this was a place to get advice and help but clearly I was wrong.

re the home help, i dont know how they work but surely they will acccept direct debits or standing orders rather than allow the staff to have cash on them

the atitude of the previous posters is fine, they view is maybe you wouldnt agree with but they are true, i just thought it was a mountain out of a mole hill

karatedragon

DCFC79 wrote: »

cheques are being fazed out soshops wont take them anymore

All the more reason to offer a cheque and when the answer is "no" leave the oveflowing trolley of commestibles at the checkout for one of the employees to empty back onto the shelves - it's hilarious.

stclair

noh wrote: »

.

Splitting hairs there.
Quote from the press release:-

"Today the 24 bank and building society members of the UK Domestic Cheque Guarantee Card Scheme have announced that the Scheme will close on 30th June 2011, meaning that it will no longer be possible to guarantee a cheque under the Scheme after this date. The decision to close the Scheme was taken by the Payments Council in June this year as guaranteed cheque use is in terminal decline. The Payments Council concluded that it was in all parties’ interests to manage the Scheme’s demise in a coordinated fashion following extensive consultation with guaranteed cheque users and acceptors. This announcement does not mean the end of cheques as businesses will continue to be able to accept them and customers will still be able to write them."

The members of the payments council are listed here:-
http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/membership/-/page/list-of-members/

lol I didnt mean it like that. I was meaning it not like its just nationwide on their own have made the choice that they are scrapping the CGC.

noh

Alison69 wrote: »

Thirdly, I don't have a credit card. They have the same issues as debit cards and are subject to charges.

They also have the advantage of offering protection to the consumer on purchases over £100. Used properly no charges are incurred by the consumer and in fact some cards offer cashback.

Alison69 wrote: »

Fourthy, there are far more problems with fraudulent transactions and errors then ever there was with cheques. You may believe what the banks tell you in public, I don't.

You are entitled to believe whatever you like even though it may be wrong.

Alison69 wrote: »

Fifthly, the elderly are not necessarily able or capable of dealing with standing orders of direct debits. I certainly would not give any utility company my bank details. I did with a company once and never again. Things like paying for home helps, etc are not possible to pay by standing order or direct debit.

At what age do you become unable to deal with Direct Debit or Standing Orders? Especially if you have been using them for the last 25 years?
Of course you can pay for home helps etc via DD or SO.

Alison69 wrote: »

Well, I must admit to being very disappointed to the attitude of the last postings on this thread. I really thought this was a place to get advice and help but clearly I was wrong.

What sort of advice and help did you expect?
The cheque guarantee scheme ceases in a years time. Many banks no longer issue cards.
Less than 3% of transactions by value are made by cheque and it is proposed that the cheque clearing system is closed in 2018.

My advice would be to try and overcome your irrational fear of papeless payment sytems and use them to your advanage.

JuicyJesus

karatedragon wrote: »

I still deal in cash and cheques - and when Asda would not take a cheque for my shopping I said - Fine - I'll leave the trolley here for you to clear and put the stuff back and walked off leaving it.

In fact I considered doing that several times to make a poin

Isn't that just incredibly petty? You know they wouldn't take them (and given that you presumably had a guarantee card on you, could have paid by debit card instead - if you didn't you're definitely in the wrong here) but you'd make them suffer a tremendous inconvenience "just to make a point". That won't make them accept cheques, will it? A lot of shops won't take them any more - especially big ones, for some very, very good reasons.

And if you want a Current Account with just a Cheque Card the Leeds Building Society do one:

http://www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk/savings/premiercurrent.html

Even if the OP did get a cheque card with LBS, she still wouldn't be able to use it after 30/6/11, when the guarantee scheme is demised.

MrTomato

karatedragon wrote: »

I still deal in cash and cheques - and when Asda would not take a cheque for my shopping I said - Fine - I'll leave the trolley here for you to clear and put the stuff back and walked off leaving it.

In fact I considered doing that several times to make a poin

And if you want a Current Account with just a Cheque Card the Leeds Building Society do one:

http://www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk/savings/premiercurrent.html

!!!!ing off the cashier or shelf stacker isn't going to get them to bring back cheques to be allowed.

The only thing that does is make people complain about losing friendly service, because staff get !!!!ed off by petty customers trying to prove a point to someone who has no control over the matter.