Wal-Mart And Telecheck Wal-Mart hires Telecheck to initiate the mark of the beast, if they feel your check is not good, no purchase for you Ripoff Williamsburg Kentucky

Get this, I have been talking to different sales clerks in the Nashville area about this drivers' license/code 3 issue and came across an interesting story. An older gentleman who works at Macy's (it used to be Hecht's who used Telecheck to process checks, Macy's does not use Telecheck) told me not only was it frustrating for him as a cashier (because Telecheck didn't update their database properly) but it was also frustrating for him as a customer. He was recently at Wal-mart and like you, he got a code three (he also had a zero at the beginning of his driver's license number). He told the clerk to drop the zero and guess what? It went through with no problem!! Imagine that!! The clerk thanked him very much because she said she was so frustrated and couldn't understand why so many people were receiving code 3's. Now you know.

Consumer Reports Money Advisor [Sept 07 issue] has an extensive article on debit cards!

I do wonder why people think $29 / yr CRMA subscription is "too much" when that $29 / yr could save them a real bundle.... but I digress.

On pg 4 of the Sept 07 issue, for example, CRMA pointed out that people who had used debit cards more than 20 times a year racked up an AVERAGE of $223 in NSF fees, while people who never used debit cards AT ALL racked up an AVERAGE of $40 in NSF fees per year.

Why do the banks push "signature charges" on your debit card? Because the bank makes more money in processing charges.... the fee to the store can easily be 7X higher when you sign for the charge rather than using your PIN. And who ultimately pays those higher fees? Hint: In the end, it isn't going to be the store.

The "REWARDS" offered for one using a signature debit cart are often illusory.

The legal protections for fraudulent card use and seller fraud are far weaker for a debit card than they are for a charge card. After all, when you have a problem with your debit card, you are trying to get YOUR money back, while with a charge card you and the CC bank are trying to get the CC BANK'S money back. Can you see the difference?

Banks do 'offer' to use your savings account as overdraft protection for your debit card, but often they may 'forget', so you STILL get NSF fees which are a form of short term overdraft loan.... and these fees can generate 1000% interest rates for the bank. There is also a brief discussion of the increasing use of the new debit card software that allows card charges that produce NSF fees to go through.

My take: NEVER USE a debit card. Simply cut up all debit cards and use a credit card. Then pay the credit card's full balance off, every month, and you should be money ahead. For some perspective: If you have a credit card with an interest rate of 12%/year, rolling over a $3500 balance would only result in a monthly interest charge of $35. This is what? One NSF fee?

Some credit cards do offer some real "rewards" instead of those phony "points" scams. I get a 1% 'rebate' on my paid monthly CC charges... paid in CASH... to my credit-card-bank savings account... cash rewards work best for me!

That got your attention, didn't it?

I stopped at a 'famous' marine supply store to buy some fuel/water separators, and at the register I discovered I had left my wallet at home. I have been to this store many times before, etc. etc. and I am known there to be a person of good means. So I wrote a $20 check for the separators but the store accounting software insisted on having my DL# and, of course, my DL was resting at home in my wallet. The result was "NO SALE".

So NEXT time, use your check at your bank to get CASH and then march proudly into WallyWorld. Or get yourself a credit card.

Steve of FLA: Gotta disagree with your recommendation about getting and using a debit card!

Consumer Reports Money Advisor [Sept 07 issue] has an extensive article on debit cards!

I do wonder why people think $29 / yr CRMA subscription is "too much" when that $29 / yr could save them a real bundle.... but I digress.

On pg 4, for example, CRMA pointed out that people who had used debit cards more than 20 times a year racked up an AVERAGE of $223 in NSF fees, while people who never used debit cards AT ALL racked up an AVERAGE of $40 in NSF fees per year.

Why do the banks push "signature charges" on your debit card? Because the bank makes more money in processing charges.... the fee to the store can easily be 7X higher when you sign for the charge rather than using your PIN. And who ultimately pays those higher fees? Hint: In the end it isn't going to be the store.

The "REWARDS" offered for one using a signature debit cart are often illusory.

The legal protections for fraudulent card use and seller fraud are far weaker for a debit card than they are for a charge card. After all, when you have a problem with your debit card, you are trying to get YOUR money back, while with a charge card you and the CC bank are trying to get the CC BANK'S money back. Can you see the difference?

Banks do 'offer' to use your savings account as overdraft protection for your debit card, but often they may 'forget', so you STILL get NSF fees which are a form of short term overdraft loan.... and these fees can generate 1000% interest rates for the bank. There is also a brief discussion of the increasing use of the new debit card software that allows card charges that produce NSF fees to go through.

My take: NEVER USE a debit card. Simply cut up all debit cards and use a credit card. Then pay the credit card's full balance off, every month, and you should be money ahead. For some perspective: If you have a credit card with an interest rate of 12%/year, rolling over a $3500 balance would only result in a monthly interest charge of $35. This is what? One NSF fee?

Some credit cards do offer some real "rewards" instead of those phony "points" scams. I get a 1% 'rebate' on my paid monthly CC charges... paid in CASH... to my credit-card-bank savings account... cash rewards work best for me!

Telecheck, a subsidiary of First Data, is a Specialty Consumer Reporting Agency who (under the Fair Credit Reporting Act) has an obligation to have reasonable procedures in place to assure maximum possible accuracy. This includes the updating of their data base.

In the year 2002 the state of Tennessee updated their drivers' license numbering system from 8 digits to 9. For example, if your old drivers' license number was 12345678, your new number would be 012345678. Basically, they added a 0 to the beginning of every 8 digit number.

In my lawsuit, Telecheck blamed the merchants for incorrectly adding a 0 to the beginning of my driver's license number which resulted in numerous declines, and numerous very embarrassing moments at various merchants. We obtained a document from the TN Department of Safety attesting to the fact that the 0 was added in the year 2002 by the state, therefore this was not the merchant's mistake, but Telecheck DID NOT UPDATE THEIR DATABASE PROPERLY.

The state of Tennessee does not have a state income tax, we rely on sales tax to support our government. Who knows how much money the state has lost as a result of this situation?

I say all that to say, check your driver's license and see if it begins with a 0. Your only crime may have been that you renewed your driver's license and you looked like a brand new check writer rather than someone who has been acting responsibly with their checking account for years.

Don't be discouraged. This is all coming out in the open and good people have to encourage one another to keep fighting the good fight. If you didn't do anything wrong they should be held responsible for not only the inaccurate report they gave about you, but also the money Wal-mart and the State of Tennessee lost.

Don't be discouraged if your letters to Wal-mart don't get immediate results. Unfortunately, it make take years, but eventually the truth is stronger than a lie and customers letters that we're left ignored could come back to haunt them.

Wal-Mart has a responsibility to it's shareholders to pay attention to what their customers are telling them. If the customers are being run out of the store, for whatever reason (inaccurate reports from Telecheck, unsafe environments, etc) and they don't investigate it and do something about it, they are setting themselves up for a stock drop lawsuit from their stock holders.

If they are losing money, there is a reason, and the shareholders have a right to know why.

i do not shop at wal-mart any more because i have had so many problems. one rebuttal said to write the company. i have written 5 times about different things that have happened. i have never received a response (even for the time when my granddaughter (9) was injured by a wal-mart employee. i also saw no improvement with the issues i wrote about.

siince wal-mart does not listen to their customers and does not bother to respond to customer concerns, i will no longer shop there and am very verbal about the problems i have had in trying to deal with this company.

i hear that they are losing buisness, i know why - they do not care about their employees or their customers.

First, Telecheck is a Consumer Reporting Agency and under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (a Federal Law) they are required to give fair and accurate reports. Obviously, in your case, they did not.

I encourage you to order your annual file disclosure from Telecheck and if the information is inaccurate or incomplete, dispute the information. If they do not respond to your dispute, hire an attorney. There is a possibility they could be fined and you could be compensated financially for their bogus reports, but you'll need to check with an attorney.

I am in a lawsuit and can tell you an innumerable number of people have been humiliated just like you, so take comfort in the fact that you are not alone, and someone is doing something about this very troubling situation. Most merchants do not realize what is happening at their cash registers, but they will soon enough.

I'd encourage you to write to Wal-mart also and share your story. They can investigate it from their end, draw their own conclusions, and make the appropriate changes. Walmart has a responsibility to their share holders to do so.

Don't let fear or lies prevent you from writing your checks. Follow the law and demand that Telecheck does the same.

I understand that you are frustrated by the use of Telecheck because you feel it has embarassed you and it has led to a hassle. What you don't realize is that most people have no problem when using Telecheck. Also, Telecheck is absolutely necessary for a company as big as Wal-Mart.

Can you imagine how many bad checks they would get in a single day?

As stated by the previous rebuttal: checks are becoming obsolete. I can't blame any company that uses a check verification system. In this day and age, there is no reason to write a check in a retail store unless you left your debit card at home.

In the future, avoid any hassle by simply using your debit card. If you don't have a debit card, call your bank/credit union and get one. If for some reason your bank/credit union doesn't offer debit cards, open an account somewhere else. There really isn't a need to write checks at Wal-Mart.

Cindy,

Checks are a very high fraud item and are becoming obsolete. Most people use debit cards to spend funds from a checking account.

There are benefits as well in the use of a debit card over a check. The main benefit is the right of dispute on a transaction. The other benefit is due to the Visa/Mastercard branding on most debit cards. It gives you purchase protection and other benefits depending on your card.

You do have a debit card, right? If not, why not?

I only write checks on a rare occasion. I either use debit cards or online billpay.

I think you should switch to your debit card and avoid embarrassment and hassles.