Warning - no cheques at all Asda stores from 1st Jan

Norfolk_Jim

molerat wrote:

She does not have to use chip and pin. She could get a chip and signature card from the bank. It could make things easier for her.

Thanks for the suggestion, I've only recently heard of those and indeed, she was fine when all credit/debit cards were signed for. I think the point that I was trying to make has got lost though. The poster I responded to was irritited when people took time to write out a cheque and then pulled out their cheque guarantee card which was also a debit card - their point being that they could have just handed over the debit card and saved the time of writing out the cheque. I just wanted to point out that there might be other reasons why someone might be doing that than they were just inconsiderate or ignorant, there could have been more to it - which in my wifes case would have been true. Had she tried to pin her PIN number then everyone behind her would have been delayed much longer than if she wrote out a cheque.
But I appreciate your helpful suggestion.
Thing is, what are we talking about here? The difference between 5 and 10 seconds? Why are some people living such manic lives that an extra few seconds is an upset?

Astaroth

I think it isnt anything to with manic lives but much more to do with the fact that queuing in a supermarket is not a pleasent experiance and like all unpleasent things it is best to get them over and done with as soon as possible. Anything or one that extends the experience will undoubtably become the target of frustrations.

Norfolk_Jim

Like the person who takes a half full trolley to the hand basket only till and proceeds to pile all the shopping into the stack of empty baskets and then abandons the trolley at the far end of the till and bold as brass thinks its ok to delay me with my 1 jar of dolmio and 1 packet of right price pasta for a good five minutes because going to the correct till would delay them instead? Now that does irritate me, though I dont let on. You see the till person roll their eyes but they still ring the items through. Then they load all the stuff into the "abandoned" trolley and set off with it. Thats people that is.

I do accept what you say though!

Knelley

If being in a queue annoys you then shop online!

I think it is terrible that people are moaning about people using cheques as if they are doing it to P*** everyone off! They will each be doing it for their own reasons, whether it be personal, financial etc. Just the same as some people use cash, debt or credit cards. There are bigger and better things in this life to moan about than whether the person in front of you takes an extra 15 secs longer just because of how they pay.

Why not actually use this time to engage in conversation? You know, good old fashioned talking to someone face to face? I think it is sad that people nowadays are so much in a rush that they forget about people round about them No wonder we have people lying dead in their homes for weeks at a time.

mountainofdebt

Personally I think writing a cheque actually has made me think about the amount that I am spending......in my pre-lightbulb days handing over a piece of plastic didn't even register what I was spending.

Voyager2002

Scully's_Girl wrote:

My chequebook is only good for paying our gardener, and for giving money as a gift. Hence, we have two but it takes us years to get through one. Regardless, the bank keeps sending us books every 6 months so we build up this enormous heap of them. I have mixed feelings. I never use cheques at the till but understand some older people still do. However, I also have been stuck behind the woman who watches the items get scanned, waits as all groceries are bagged and the final amount given; and only then decides to forage through her bag for the chequebook and pen. When in that time she could have had it in her hand and filled out almost completely. Why do people wait till the very end to get the book out when they know theyre paying by cheque anyway?

And the same people wait until the end before getting out cash, credit card, or whatever. And the amazing thing is, they all seem to be female! Perhaps they used to be gorgeous, and are so used to male suitors paying for everything that it is still a surprise that they have to pay for their own groceries!

Cumbrian_Male

grex9101 wrote:

Excuses excuses and yet more excuses.

Is it really so much more difficult to say "I can" rather than saying "I can't"?

Your out of order:mad:

Cumbrian_Male

Norfolk_Jim wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion, I've only recently heard of those and indeed, she was fine when all credit/debit cards were signed for. I think the point that I was trying to make has got lost though. The poster I responded to was irritated when people took time to write out a cheque and then pulled out their cheque guarantee card which was also a debit card - their point being that they could have just handed over the debit card and saved the time of writing out the cheque. I just wanted to point out that there might be other reasons why someone might be doing that than they were just inconsiderate or ignorant, there could have been more to it - which in my wife's case would have been true. Had she tried to pin her PIN number then everyone behind her would have been delayed much longer than if she wrote out a cheque.
But I appreciate your helpful suggestion.
Thing is, what are we talking about here? The difference between 5 and 10 seconds? Why are some people living such manic lives that an extra few seconds is an upset?

I understand your frustration at these types of comments. My wife suffers from mental illness and has only yesterday been told she has brain damage, so for how much longer she can use a debit card remains to be seen.

These companies who keep pushing us towards automated means want to watch that they don't fall foul of the Disability Right Act. When I was looking for a basic bank account, I believe it was Halifax, had an account where you got free cash machine withdrawals but counter transactions were 50p each in order to keep the queues down.

As for paying by cheque, we should all revolt and start using our cheque books. The longer the money stays in our accounts and not instantly transferred to MR.T or WalMart's account the better, it is a MONEY SAVING website after all!!

For all those who can't wait an extra few seconds in the queue, shop online that way you have more time to grumble about it on internet fora.

tripled

i_love_it wrote:

You may as well argue that the over 70's should be able to put it on the slate....

Nothing wrong with slates, until recently I had one in the pub, the chippy, the bakers, the corner shop and the petrol station. I've still got the one in the pub

When I used to be on minimum wage if ran out of food before payday I often payed by cheque (with CGC), over time I had worked out when the local shops did their banking runs so could spend the money the maximum time before I earnt it! I did come unstuck one or twice, but on the whole it worked fine.

I still often pay by cheque just because I feel like it, if I feel I want to keep the money in my account earning interest for an extra couple of days or just because I don't like the look of the person behid me in the queue. So next time you're getting frustrated in a queue because someones paying by cheque, it might be me on purpose!

Norfolk_Jim

Cumbrian_Male wrote:

These companies who keep pushing us towards automated means want to watch that they don't fall foul of the Disability Right Act. When I was looking for a basic bank account, I believe it was Halifax, had an account where you got free cash machine withdrawals but counter transactions were 50p each in order to keep the queues down.

I'm not happy with the way the banking system is pushing everyone towards these automated means either. Like another poster stated earlier, its all about money. Processing cheques costs shops more than Debit card transactions do and are less trouble (No physical cheques to handle/transport/print/post). But Chip and Pin does worry me - Before, if someone forged your signature on a cheque or card, you could say "Hold on, thats not my transaction, thats not my signature" but with chip & Pin, if someone gets your number you cant prove it wasn't you because it certainly is your number. So I think Chip & Pin is all about moving the cost of fraud off the banks and onto the customer. I once had someone obtain two blank cheques from my book and fill them in with a signature nothing like my own and the bank paid those cheques. It was easy though to show that the cheques were fraudulent and that the bank, had it ever checked the signature, would have known that, so easy one to resolve.