Gun stores not accepting checks? Trend or annoyance?

[DonP]

In the last month I've had two local gun stores that I buy at regularly change their policy on accepting checks. Credit cards and cash only now.

I asked the owner/manager of one if they had a lot of bad paper lately and she said no, they just don't want to be bothered with handling checks anymore. I guess times are so good so they can afford to do what they want. The odd part is, with the Illinois waiting period, the check usually clears before you can pick up the gun anyway. And the credit card people charge the store owners a few % on every sale, go figure?

I try to keep my credit card use to a minimum and pay cash for most things, but the price of something like a nice, pre-lock S&W 686 is more pocket change then I usually have on hand.

So, am I just being a cranky old fart about this? Or is it a trend?

Funny thing is though, I bought an AR upper at a gun show last year, and when I told the seller I would have to run out and hit an ATM, because I didn't have that much cash, he asked if I had a check instead. He said in 30 years of selling at gun shows he never got a bad check from a gun owner.

 

[R.W.Dale]

This isn't exactly gun related in that its exemplary of the broader trend of us moving to a cashless and paperless society.

A debt card from your bank is the solution. You can treat the transactions just like a check but minus the ink pen.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I think checks are rightfully on their way out in almost every application, not just gun stores. They're almost entirely obsolete.

 

[MErl]

A debt card from your bank is the solution. You can treat the transactions just like a check but minus the ink pen.

Until that card # gets copied and your account drained. Much much better to just pay off a real CC every month than use a debit card.

 

[tipoc]

The stores I frequent accept my checks.

tipoc

 

[drcook]

The shift to using electronic media is because of 2 reasons, mostly driven by banks, business and government.

1. Money. you don't have people physically handling paper in one form or another (cash, checks) to process it to send to the bank and at the bank you don't have people to deal with it there. Stores also don't have to worry about being passed counterfeit money or checks. They are either paid immediately or they are not.

2. Tracking your purchases. When you buy with electronic media, your purchases are captured and loaded into databases. From this, your buying trends, when and what, how much, etc can be analyzed.

This is why grocery stores and such use customer loyalty cards, besides a ploy to get you in the door. They can run analysis against their purchase databases and determine what sells the best during what timeframe, in what locality etc etc.

It is a sad fact of life that we are very close to being tracked in everything that we do.

When I still worked, part of my job was to programmatically automate processes to get rid of people at a large bank.

I had to do it to keep my job and support my family. Now I make a point of not using the machines to do my own checkout, I use the real people.

Everytime that I was able to get rid of 1 or more personnel, I made lots of folks happy.

 

[tarosean]

I had to do it to keep my job and support my family. Now I make a point of not using the machines to do my own checkout, I use the real people.

If they would give me a discount for checking out my own stuff I would use those lanes.. However, they don't so I'm not....

The more I travel around the world (work not pleasure) the more I depend on cash only...

 

[jmr40]

If they would give me a discount for checking out my own stuff I would use those lanes.. However, they don't so I'm not....

Time is money. I can check out, be in my car and half way home instead of standing in line waiting on a real person to check me out. Same as money in my pocket.

I don't see many stores of any type refusing checks around here, but they all make it a lot easier to pay with plastic of some type. I have ran across a few places out of town that refused cash or checks.

Until that card # gets copied and your account drained.

Just as easy to make fake checks if they get your account number which is on every check. Using a CC does offer some protection, but if it is taken will cause you just as much grief.

Either solution is still better than carrying large amounts of cash. That is a robbery and murder just waiting to happen if it is known that you carry cash.

 

[btg3]

My bank heavily advertises debit cards, but if you talk to the bank managers, they will quickly tell you that overwhelming more fraud occurs with debit cards than credit cards or checks.

 

[Lex Luthier]

I have written probably half a dozen checks in the last year. I hate even taking checks from customers. If you have the money you have cash. Anyone should understand that waiting for a check to go through is becoming old tech.

You have a check card right?

 

[shooter_from_show-me]

This isn't exactly gun related in that its exemplary of the broader trend of us moving to a cashless and paperless society.

A debt card from your bank is the solution. You can treat the transactions just like a check but minus the ink pen.

Yep. And the world just keeps chugging along to the next step of having a microchip implants done on the human race. That will be the new trend of transactions among other things too. Just keep moving towards that one world government, financial and religion system.

Not me though.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Sol]

If you have a checking account, you have a debit/bank card attached to it. Waiting a few days for it to clear is annoying. Recieving a bad check hurts the business more than the fool who wrote the check.

Though I hate the idea of an all EFT monetary system, checks are an archaic and outdated method. Cash or charge (excluding discovery and AMEX)

 

[oldbear]

A debt card from your bank is the solution. You can treat the transactions just like a check but minus the ink pen.

Debit cards can be GREAT, as you have to have the money in your account unlike credit cards. The one potential drawback to debit cards is you are giving a stranger (?) access to your checking account and debit cards generally don't offer the consumer protection that a credit card does.

If you are planning a purchase stop at an ATM just before you enter the store or use a credit card ONLY if you can pay the balance due in full when the statement arrives.

I was taught, with the exception of a house or car if you can't pay cash for an item you really don't need it now.

 

[Robert]

Off topic.