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Arsenic Lupin posted:e: My newest two credit cards came without the bumpy surface that let you roll an impressing machine over a multiple-copy form. I actually checked out using one of those machines sometime in the last couple of years, because the power was out. When I was a kid, when you used a credit card, the clerk pulled out three or four little booklets of stolen/fraudulent numbers and looked the number up in each of them. My very first job was working a million years ago for sears-roebuck (RIP) and we had to use those card impression machines pretty much every day because the store's technology back then was literally unix terminal holdovers from something like the early 60s and would constantly fail. We always affectionately called them "knuckle-busters", but when the credit card system failed for over a day at my current job, I asked if we had one and literally nobody, I mean nobody, had any loving idea what I was talking about, across a group of about 13 other people of varied ages. Now, the response to the power being out or the phone line being fried is "sorry, cash only".
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Jul 8, 2020 01:30
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I've never owned a chequebook or written one. I'm fairly sure no retail stores over here accept them any more, though I suppose there must be outliers.
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Jul 8, 2020 01:36
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I haven't seen a check since 2006 when I worked retail and an ancient old lady tried to pay with one but the manager informed her checks were no longer accepted.
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Jul 8, 2020 02:10
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My aunt sent me a check for $100 when my second kid was born, earlier this year. I live in Japan. I threw out the check.
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Jul 8, 2020 02:51
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Regarding fraternal organisations and the like. Golf courses are struggling to stay afloat here, especially into regional towns and cities, people just don't have the time free to play 9-18 holes on a weekend. The only courses that are weathering it are either in coastal towns that retirees flock to or have been able to accommodate people casually coming to play an hour or two without needing to be members.
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Jul 8, 2020 02:58
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Actually I think my father still has a credit card imprint machine in his work van. He's semi-retired now. Sometimes the electronic sim-card based point of sale gadget just stops working and no one carries cash anymore. They still reconcile paper receipts so some app based thing isn't going to work for someone who can only use their phone to bet on horse races and share racism on Facebook.
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Jul 8, 2020 03:03
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As late as last year, I was still writing a check every two months for my water bill. My local water company had online payments, but they charged a goddamn processing fee to use it, and not a small one: like $1.50 or something? So I mailed them checks, which only cost a stamp, as a form of protest. I figure it probably cost them more to process checks. They finally set something up to let me do an autopay option without a fee, and that was the last check I wrote.
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Jul 8, 2020 03:03
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This shows my advanced age, but when I was in HS I worked nights and weekends at Radio Shack, which sucked but not near as bad as the options, like fast food. So at Christmas we did quite a few credit card sales - you had to used the imprint roller, check the number against the ‘hot card’ booklet that cane every week, and if the sale was over $50, you had to call the CC company to authorize the sale. Jesus, this sounds straight out of ‘I had an onion on my belt’. Anyway, the imprint roller was a thousand years old and was really hard to slide back and forth over the cards, like so hard that the women(yes, there were several) working there could barely do it. I being new, just figured that’s the way it was and used my male macho 17-year-old strength to run those cards through, drat it. Welp, unbeknownst to me one morning, the manager oiled the mechanism on the roller, so the first card I ran resulted in me flinging the card, carbon form and imprint roller all the way down the entire length of the glass countertop, where it crashed over the edge into a big display of cordless phones. In front of a whole line of customers, the boss and most of my co-workers. I wish I’d have come up with a witty rejoinder at the time, but I just stared at it, trying to figure out what the gently caress happened. Luckily nothing was damaged and the boss was cracking up, but holy poo poo I felt like an utter tool.
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Jul 8, 2020 03:31
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There's definitely something there for 'making quite the impression'
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Jul 8, 2020 03:49
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Endymion FRS MK1 posted:Yeah I work at a big box hardware store and we do checks all the time. Companies probably don't want to deal with the teeth-gnashing of the olds if they ever stopped accepting them I think the main thing that keeps checks viable at this point is the fact that you probably already have the hardware and the connections to do it, so to keep doing it isn't that big of a deal. But eventually, the numbers are going to go upside down. When I stopped working retail, we had switched to no longer depositing checks - instead, we just withdrew the money then and there. So, the way it worked was we would get the check, we endorse it, and then we would deposit it with the armored truck people. And that's how checks were paid. Everything about this though was super loving risky. Checks were a constant source of fraud (like the time I found two checks by the same person from two different addresses, both out of state, when I was closing the store and tallying up everything, and my manager was like "well, we're going to have to write those off probably"), there were easy to loose, they had to be legible, they were slow, they were a huge security risk (a piece of paper that you use everywhere with your bank account and routing number on it, oh and your address too - yeah, that's not a vector for ID theft). And oh, they might not have the money when you go to deposit the check. But when I left, we were now depositing checks at the time of the transaction. Which just made them really loving risky debit cards. We kept the checks basically because anything else would be confusing or concerning to the customer, but they just ended up getting shredded. But really, as the equipment gets older and stores change their contracts and services, I can't see checks really sticking around. At some point, the amount of money you would lose by not taking checks is going to be less than the amount of money it costs to take them. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if we are at that point. If nothing else, it might be a point of convention. But yeah, I really can't see checks sticking around much longer. I bet by 2030, no retail establishment will take a check.
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Jul 8, 2020 04:46
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Basically, just imagine a teenager in 2040 watching "Catch Me If You Can" and every twenty minutes they just turn to you you and say "what the gently caress, why are they giving him money?" That's checks, in a nutshell
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Jul 8, 2020 04:59
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Vietnamwees posted:You guys are right about seeing few people write out actual checks now, though I was just at Costco earlier today and noticed that all the registers still have a check writing platforms. I wonder how often those ever get used now. Costco was one of the last places I remember that got the check scanners, they kept the pneumatic tube system forever. Probably had a way of avoiding a service fee by bulk delivering them rather than running them as individual transactions. Since all the customers are members they would be less concerned about fraud (pure conjecture here). Anyway, I miss stores having pneumatic tubes.
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Jul 8, 2020 06:26
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Cascadia Pirate posted:Costco was one of the last places I remember that got the check scanners, they kept the pneumatic tube system forever. Probably had a way of avoiding a service fee by bulk delivering them rather than running them as individual transactions. Since all the customers are members they would be less concerned about fraud (pure conjecture here). Be honest, you just think pneumatic tubes are really cool. (They are and if I was an eccentric millionaire I'd have random pneumatic tubes for no reason in my house. And secret passages.)
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Jul 8, 2020 06:37
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Xiahou Dun posted:Be honest, you just think pneumatic tubes are really cool. (They are and if I was an eccentric millionaire I'd have random pneumatic tubes for no reason in my house. And secret passages.) They can both be the same things and fire you from room to room. {The bookcase revolves on its axis, there is a *fsshhh* sound, and Xiahou appears in the kitchen}
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Jul 8, 2020 07:07
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Money transfer and transactions may have got more convenient, but I'm afraid none of the modern alternatives come close to the empowering feeling of whipping out your (Spongebob Squarepants decal) chequebook. The "I could buy this shop and everyone in it" vibe will be lost to history.
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Jul 8, 2020 09:11
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zmcnulty posted:My aunt sent me a check for $100 when my second kid was born, earlier this year. Now her checkbook won't balance. 
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Jul 8, 2020 11:30
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Leperflesh posted:As late as last year, I was still writing a check every two months for my water bill. My local water company had online payments, but they charged a goddamn processing fee to use it, and not a small one: like $1.50 or something? So I mailed them checks, which only cost a stamp, as a form of protest. I figure it probably cost them more to process checks. They finally set something up to let me do an autopay option without a fee, and that was the last check I wrote. Almost the same thing here, but a local company offered a service where you could pay your utility bill on their site. For $4.95. And 1% of the bill total. No, thank you, kind sir! Eventually the city started its own online payment service. They do charge a fee for using debit/credit cards, but no charge using your banking info. Which is kinda dumb considering my debit card is attached to my checking account. The only check I write now is for rent. I got a flyer on my door letting me know the complex is being taken over by another management company. They encouraged everyone to set up an account online, mostly for scheduling and tracking service requests, but also for paying rent. I set up my account and when I clicked on the rent option, it said "This property is not set up for online payments". Well, gently caress.
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Jul 8, 2020 12:40
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Mister Kingdom posted:
There’s fees from visa/MasterCard/discover that kick in if you use a card. An ACH transfer from a banking account doesn’t have those fees.
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Jul 8, 2020 12:50
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Ugly In The Morning posted:There’s fees from visa/MasterCard/discover that kick in if you use a card. An ACH transfer from a banking account doesn’t have those fees. I can tell you from experience it is hard for a local government to provide pay by card without introducing a fee.
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Jul 8, 2020 15:13
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About a year ago I was working at a grocery store that still accepted checks. Then again it was also a local chain owned by a guy who literally made his fortune by contracting out retirement homes so I guess that tracks! Currently I'm at an adult store that still takes cash deposits for video rentals and I have to have somebody walk me through the process every (admittedly rare) time it happens because my brain just like, refuses to retain that information almost on principle. We also had video booths that were operating fairly regularly up until quarantining happened, which feels similarly unnecessary in TYOOL2020. I'm almost wondering if it's been kept alive out of pure novelty
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Jul 9, 2020 02:32
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Blood Nightmaster posted:About a year ago I was working at a grocery store that still accepted checks. Then again it was also a local chain owned by a guy who literally made his fortune by contracting out retirement homes so I guess that tracks! There was a gas station in the town where I grew up that had magazine booths. Thanks for reminding me about that.
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Jul 9, 2020 04:55
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zmcnulty posted:My aunt sent me a check for $100 when my second kid was born, earlier this year. Rickey Henderson was so proud of a $1 million check from his team, he framed it on his wall. They called him up when the accountants noticed the million dollar discrepancy in the books, and convinced him to deposit the check and frame a photocopy.
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Jul 9, 2020 09:55
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This is always some thing I like to show younger people about inflation. When Travis buys snacks at the movie theatre - he gets a lot of candy and popcorn and a soda. Nowadays it’ll be like $30 but here’s its $1.80. https://youtu.be/H3s-L2kvLLM Also, porn movie theaters. Another example is the book The Warriors (not the movie) - takes place in NYC in the 80s and in it the main character has only $20 but manages to get several hotdogs, soda, chips, food for friends, train fares- and still manages to have left over cash.
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Jul 9, 2020 16:30
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Cracker King posted:This is always some thing I like to show younger people about inflation. Or any movie that shows cigarette prices, although that's more a function of tax increases than inflation. Clerks is a great one since it takes place almost entirely in a convenience store. It came out in 1994. I just looked up a scene, cigarettes are $1.95 in the background. In New Jersey in 2020? $8.50? $9? Something like that. I haven't been to a convenience store in like 4 months (thanks COVID) so I forget.
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Jul 9, 2020 17:31
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There's an R.L. Stine book called The Beast about a time-traveling roller-coaster at Coney Island - the kids go on with like 40 bucks and find themselves transported back to the 1920s or something. All of the sudden they basically have enough money to buy every single person there two hot dogs, because they're 5 cents now. Steven King plays with this in 11/22/63 also, where the proprietor of the diner can bring money back in time, buy a poo poo-ton of beef, and then return with it to the present day, so he can make money selling hamburgers for a buck or whatever when everyone else needs to charge 15 to break even. Inflation is a hell of a drug.
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Jul 9, 2020 18:11
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postmodifier posted:There's an R.L. Stine book called The Beast about a time-traveling roller-coaster at Coney Island - the kids go on with like 40 bucks and find themselves transported back to the 1920s or something. All of the sudden they basically have enough money to buy every single person there two hot dogs, because they're 5 cents now. Haha wow this hit my nostalgia button hard.
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Jul 9, 2020 19:02
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Leperflesh posted:As late as last year, I was still writing a check every two months for my water bill. My local water company had online payments, but they charged a goddamn processing fee to use it, and not a small one: like $1.50 or something? So I mailed them checks, which only cost a stamp, as a form of protest. I figure it probably cost them more to process checks. They finally set something up to let me do an autopay option without a fee, and that was the last check I wrote. This poo poo is so stupid. My agency charges a ridiculous processing fee to make credit card payments, like $4 + 1% or something, and I rant and rave at every meeting we have even tangentially related to the subject at all. Like, these loving idiots can't get it through their heads that we should eat that poo poo because people paying that way SAVE US MONEY. Every payment we take online is someone we're not paying to open mail, deposit checks, route it to the right department, not to mention saving literal days worth of processing time. Do you idiots want money today or three days from now? But this smooth brain generation are gonna have to die before we can do things properly.
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Jul 9, 2020 19:28
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Imagined posted:This poo poo is so stupid. My agency charges a ridiculous processing fee to make credit card payments, like $4 + 1% or something, and I rant and rave at every meeting we have even tangentially related to the subject at all. Like, these loving idiots can't get it through their heads that we should eat that poo poo because people paying that way SAVE US MONEY. Every payment we take online is someone we're not paying to open mail, deposit checks, route it to the right department, not to mention saving literal days worth of processing time. Do you idiots want money today or three days from now? But this smooth brain generation are gonna have to die before we can do things properly. The problem is that the merchant fees are easily quantifiable as either a flat number or percentage, and the cost of someone's time is harder to work out on a per-bill basis.
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Jul 9, 2020 19:35
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postmodifier posted:There's an R.L. Stine book called The Beast about a time-traveling roller-coaster at Coney Island - the kids go on with like 40 bucks and find themselves transported back to the 1920s or something. All of the sudden they basically have enough money to buy every single person there two hot dogs, because they're 5 cents now. I'm impressed they randomly happened to have 1920s-era currency on them 
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Jul 9, 2020 20:11
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I was thinking the same thing! IIRC, bills weren't even the same size as they are today; I forget where the dividing line was.
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Jul 9, 2020 20:35
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Imagined posted:This poo poo is so stupid. My agency charges a ridiculous processing fee to make credit card payments, like $4 + 1% or something, and I rant and rave at every meeting we have even tangentially related to the subject at all. Like, these loving idiots can't get it through their heads that we should eat that poo poo because people paying that way SAVE US MONEY. Every payment we take online is someone we're not paying to open mail, deposit checks, route it to the right department, not to mention saving literal days worth of processing time. Do you idiots want money today or three days from now? But this smooth brain generation are gonna have to die before we can do things properly. I've been working restaurant industry for years now, and out of the 6 places I've worked, not a single one pays with direct deposit, it's always checks. Every other Friday afternoon, it's like pre-Happy Hour at the bank, nothing but cooks and servers lined up at the local bank to cash or deposit their checks. The tellers think it's kinda funny, watching us high-five and gossip about who got fired and who's sleeping with who and which bar we're gonna blow our paycheck on that night. I asked a teller once why the two places I worked at at the time (same guy owns both places, and that's the bank we got our checks cut from) don't do direct deposit, and the teller sighed and said "We've been trying to talk him into it, but it costs more. Trust me, we've been trying to work out a plan he'll take, we know how much of a PITA this is for y'all." How exchanging some ones-and-zeroes via electrons costs more than printing physical checks, I have no idea, but I guess that's the case? :/
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Jul 9, 2020 20:39
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Walk by a film set at 6pm or so on a Thursday and you’ll get to see a payroll clerk holding a small cardboard takeout tray being mobbed by the entire crew, a tradition almost a century old thanks to union rules
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Jul 9, 2020 20:43
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JacquelineDempsey posted:How exchanging some ones-and-zeroes via electrons costs more than printing physical checks, I have no idea, but I guess that's the case? :/ ATM fees are exactly the same! Here's how it works: Step 1: banks are paying humans to do a process. This is expensive. Step 2: the world invents electronics and networking. Step 3: banks implement automated proceses and machines, and fire thousands of people who used to do manual processes. They save billions. Step 4: customers no longer get to do the manual thing, they have to use the machine. Step 5: banks realize their customers have no choice to do otherwise, and start charging "convenience fees" and other nickel and dime poo poo, just for using the automated processes that they only did in the first place to save themselves money Step 6: profit!
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Jul 9, 2020 20:50
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I was thinking the same thing! IIRC, bills weren't even the same size as they are today; I forget where the dividing line was. In defense of esteemed children's author R.L Stine who definitely did not overlook this gaping plot hole at all, it was 1931 that the kids time travelled back to, and the book came out in 1994. With the exception of the 20 dollar bill, if you compare the 1s 5s and 10s of the respective eras there aren't many out-of-control glaring changes, def initely not anything that you'd look at twice if you were a hot dog vendor? It's been a really long time since I read it but I believe the kid was actually buying 5 cent dogs and 2 cent ice cream cones with thrle pocket change they had, not the big bills. I definitely don't check the year on every coin I get to weed out errant time travellers, but maybe we should start... the shift from big bills to small format was in late 1928, 1929, and coincided with the shift from grover cleveland on the 20 to jackson, so it would have even had the correct portrait! This is actually tying into another great point about depreciated references in older media - doc brown's time-traveling suitcase full of era-appropriate cash in back to the future is already causing a lot of head-scratching, imagine the confusion it'll cause in another 20 years
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Jul 9, 2020 21:00
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JacquelineDempsey posted:I've been working restaurant industry for years now, and out of the 6 places I've worked, not a single one pays with direct deposit, it's always checks. Every other Friday afternoon, it's like pre-Happy Hour at the bank, nothing but cooks and servers lined up at the local bank to cash or deposit their checks. The tellers think it's kinda funny, watching us high-five and gossip about who got fired and who's sleeping with who and which bar we're gonna blow our paycheck on that night. I worked for a modular home company that did the check thing. I could talk for days about how rear end backwards that whole place was. Pretty sure the owner got a semi whenever he heard the chorus to 16 tons
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Jul 9, 2020 21:02
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My workplace does not allow checks. Everyone is okay with this. We do allow travellers checks, which is not only fun to explain to my gen-Z co-workers but also fun to see the look on the poor saps faces when we haul out the ancient binder full of rules and regulations and procedures regarding them. I've worked there for three years; one of my co-workers has worked there for over a decade. She has seen precisely one more travellers check come through than i have.
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Jul 9, 2020 21:25
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postmodifier posted:the shift from big bills to small format was in late 1928, 1929, and coincided with the shift from grover cleveland on the 20 to jackson, so it would have even had the correct portrait! Ooh, how cool to know! Thanks! I do maintain that the difference between a Mercury dime and a Roosevelt one is pretty hard to miss; a used silver dime looks softer than a used zinc-alloy-or-whatever-it-is-now dime.
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Jul 9, 2020 21:46
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I'm like 80% sure even if you didn't even look at the bills, modern money would feel wrong to people from nearly 100 years ago because it's totally different paper.
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Jul 9, 2020 22:02
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Leperflesh posted:I'm like 80% sure even if you didn't even look at the bills, modern money would feel wrong to people from nearly 100 years ago because it's totally different paper. Modern money, sure, but a significant amount of the anti-counterfeiting measures that we now take for granted didn't start showing up until 1996, and the large majority of them not until 2006 and beyond. It works in both directions, one of the biggest counterfeiters in history was famous for using old, pre-1996 bills and bleaching the identifying markers off them to replace the portrait and denominations. Fact of the matter is most people just don't care or aren't paid enough to look at what they're being handed at the point of sale.
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Jul 9, 2020 22:37
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postmodifier posted:Fact of the matter is most people just don't care or aren't paid enough to look at what they're being handed at the point of sale.
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Jul 9, 2020 22:48
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