???CERTEGY???

[TexasR.N.]

Howdy All,
Just want to give y'all a heads up and vent concerning a check verification company called Certegy.
My wife and I went out shopping today. I was going to get a new stereo for the truck and we are in dire need of a new bed. Ended up at Cartoys here in Dallas find what I like and go to pay......check declined. I write checks for just about everything so I am baffled. Sales clerk can't help but does give a customer service number. I know I have money in the bank and tell him I'll go else where.

Next place to the mattress store. Find a bed we like go to pay for it and guess what........declined. I ask the salesman who verifies their checks.....guess who...certegy. The mattress store does C.O.D. so we go to the bank get a cashiers check, and confirm we haven't bounced a check (not in over a decade) and that nothing is wrong with our accounts. Nope were good. The lady at the bank told us how this happened to her buying groceries. She didn't know which check verification company declined her, but when she called the customer service number she was told there was no record of her, therefore no verified checks.

Get home and call the customer service number and get a message that says I called the wrong number but they will be kind enough to connect me to the right number. Click line is dead. Call the "correct number" and a computer generated voice answers. Follow all of the commands and I am told I have no negative check writing history, but since they don't have a history of me they won't verify my checks. Never given an option to speak to a human.

Anybody else had this happen? The thing I am mad about the most is being embarrassed in front of the clerks and other customers, not too mention the inconvenience. The guy at Mattress Firm said their corporate offices had received a lot of complaints from people who experienced what my wife and I did. So I am calling their corporate office to complain about the check verification company. I have nothing bad at all to say about the sales clerk at the bed store.

Anyways, just had to vent
Craig

[B***]UPDATE***[/B] The Mattress Firm actually has a live person answering the phones at their corporate office . The lady who took my call was apologetic for the incident asked for some numbers off of the receipt and said that she would pass the info along to their accounting department who deals with Certegy. And the kicker they did the same thing to her when she wrote a check at one of their stores. Even if she is sitting in Bangladesh rolling her eyes while I yammer on at least I talked to a human and feel better.

[MrJohnWayne]

That sucks Craig. I pretty much just gave up on checks because of these situations (Telecheck in general when they first started doing this stuff). The only time my checkbook sees daylight is for my rent check....

[rednek01]

Originally Posted by MrJohnWayne

That sucks Craig. I pretty much just gave up on checks because of these situations (Telecheck in general when they first started doing this stuff). The only time my checkbook sees daylight is for my rent check....

I'm the same way. I use my check card (which can act as a visa) or cash and save the checks for bills.

[duck]

Why don't you just use a debit card? Checks don't "float" like they used to in the old days. For all intents and purposes a check is no more than a disposeable debit card that they run through a machine and automatically debit your account works the same. Card is much easier, though.

[TexasR.N.]

Originally Posted by duck

Why don't you just use a debit card? Checks don't "float" like they used to in the old days. For all intents and purposes a check is no more than a disposeable debit card that they run through a machine and automatically debit your account works the same. Card is much easier, though.

Ok this is going down a personal road, but just for grins I'll take the drive. I don't "float" checks. Our debit card has a dollar limit, once you hit that in a day it won't work. For the mattress and the car stereo it would have been pushing it. We have gotten ridden of our credit cards. We are dinosaurs I guess and write checks or pay cash (which I don't want to carry alot of). I wouldn't write a check if there weren't funds in the bank to cover it. This is the first time I have had a check declined....ever.

Having said all of this, I realize that there are some dirt bags who make fraudulent checks and rip companies off. But for a company to decline me because they don't have any info on me????????? At least if they had erroneous information on me, I could clarify I could resolve that situation. The way personal info is bought and sold these days you have to be kidding me. Besides, it seems these idiots at Certegy aren't just denying me.

I'll end my rant here.
Craig

[owtcast]

Originally Posted by HappeetxnR.N.

Ok this is going down a personal road, but just for grins I'll take the drive. I don't "float" checks. Our debit card has a dollar limit, once you hit that in a day it won't work. For the mattress and the car stereo it would have been pushing it. We have gotten ridden of our credit cards. We are dinosaurs I guess and write checks or pay cash (which I don't want to carry alot of). I wouldn't write a check if there weren't funds in the bank to cover it. This is the first time I have had a check declined....ever.

Having said all of this, I realize that there are some dirt bags who make fraudulent checks and rip companies off. But for a company to decline me because they don't have any info on me????????? At least if they had erroneous information on me, I could clarify I could resolve that situation. The way personal info is bought and sold these days you have to be kidding me. Besides, it seems these idiots at Certegy aren't just denying me.

I'll end my rant here.
Craig

Exactly!! You can't even be an honest person anymore without hassles. Instead of hassling you and me in the grocery line they should be spending their loss/prevention money on rounding up those phuckers in Nigeria, and where ever else, that are doing chit like Alan is dealing with and making fake checks. Oh and the check card isn't the "end-all" savior either. On Memorial day weekend I pull into a fuel station to fill up. The card reader at the pump was malfunctioning so I go in to pay for my $100 of diesel. The clerk says, "Yeah, we have been having trouble with that reader, but I'll run it in here". Well he attempts to run it and since it was run twice in the same place for the same amount within a certain amount of time, it SHUTS DOWN MY ACCOUNT. For the entire 3 day weekend I had to go without any way to get cash. ARRRGHH! The teller at the bank didn't think it was a problem since I didn't loose any money and thier safety net worked as programmed.


Sorry to rant during your rant Craig.

[Dave]

Yeah i dealt with that company a while back for the same reason. I dont get it how the heck can they deny you with no history good or bad

[kingchip]

As long as we are on a roll here. I took my daughter to a chiropractor today, hand them my insurance card, and.....DECLINED!!! Hand them daughters card and declined again. So after cashing out, go back to the office and call the bank. $1000+ deducted today for the premium. Everything on schedule last month also. Call BCBS and confirm that YES, I do have coverage. Call back to Dr's office and it is declined again. What to do.

Guess I should have waited until 5:01 pm and gone to emergency room for free.


Technology is a wonderful thing.

[TexasR.N.]

Originally Posted by owtcast

Sorry to rant during your rant Craig.

No prob at all Owtcast.

KingChip that just bites.

On a positive note: While I am just in my late 30's, I am glad that with age, I have gotten more mature, and more inclined to respond in "civil manner". I can only imagine the scene I might have made in my "younger" days. Nothing either one of the clerks could do anything about it.

Glad there is an "Off topic" section on this site.

Craig

[Ditty]

I had something similar happen on the 12th of OCT at the Flying J. I used the ATM to get some cash out to get into the track and then was going to use my card to get sodas etc. "Umm..Sir...Flying J has an Alert out on your card number." WTF???? So she calls the number and after 10 mins of her being on hold Jessie just uses her card ot pay for it. The girl at the counter said she has never seen that before. I dunno Why the Eff there is an 'alert' on my card number...I've used it at Flying J maybe 5 times....EVER. And it worked fine in the ATM...so I know there is nothing 'wrong' with my card. Grrrr....made me feel like a friggin idiot...infront of everyone in the truck stop.

On top of that, I went in to make a payment on my loan that I got to fix the tranny today...and..."Ohh, sir, we are not set up to take cards. You have to either pay with a check, cash, or MO." WTF??? So I go over to the CiCi's next door, and I can only pull out $100 or less at a time!!! (Payment is $117.) So I pull out $100...add on the $2.25 service fee...and then another $20...with an additional $2.25 service fee. So that $117 payment cost me an additional $5...and they don't give change at the loan place...so I payed an additional $8....And I had to drive 20 miles round trip to pay the bill...I have to do it in person...no mailing in a payment or calling it in. What BS!!!

OK...someone else's turn to rant!!!