Accepting personal checks.

BlancoNino

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 2005
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As most of you know, I deliver pizzas. We don't have a written policy on accepting personal checks, but it seems like every manager is different. They say

"Don't accept the check unless the address matches the house you deliver to, or you get their ID."

Then, they go on to say

"Dont' accept any checks from motels"

Well the other day I took an order for a party at a motel, and the lady said

"I'm paying with a check, but I'm local, just having a party here and I have ID on me."

My boss told me not to accept it because we can't accept ANY checks from motels. Today I delivered a pizza to a house and the lady writing the check was from a small (very small) town about 7 miles out of town. She banked at a local bank (in my town), and even had ID that matched the address on the check and everything. I accepted the check, and got glared at when I got back, with my manager saying...

"You're not supposed to accept out-of-town checks..."

Does this make sense?
 

alrocky

Golden Member
Jan 22, 2001
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People write checks for pizzas? And pizza places accept them? Who the heck doesn't have $10-20 bucks around the house for a pizza? Me, I'm cheap. I want to save the tip money and order over the phone and pick it up myself.
 

newmachineoverlord

Senior member
Jan 22, 2006
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I fail to see what protection it provides to require a check to be "in town", so I'm going to go with no, it doesn't make sense. Also, how were you supposed to know that "in town" referred to the home address, rather than the address of the bank itself? So you didn't deserve the glare. Checking ID makes sense, but really you should photocopy the ID to prove you checked it. Since most people would object to that, perhaps fingerprint records on all check writers should be standard with each transaction. I only ever write checks to credit card companies and the government myself. I guess taking digital photographs of all check writers might also help in prosecuting deadbeats. The only obvious advantage that "in town" provides is that he can easily egg their house, and jurisdiction is local if he wants to sue them.
 

SampSon

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
7,160
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For business I have basically 99% stopped accepting personal checks for business purposes. Cash, certified check (still could be iffy), or money order.
Too many times a client wasn't happy with their results and put a stop payment on the check (illegal for most of what I do.). So now it's chash in hand or no deal, unless I really know you and can easily break your knee caps.