I tried to write a check to Sears for $411.12 and when the cashier tried to process it he received an error. He asked me if I had problems with identity theft, and I had not, but there is credit monitoring on my bank account due to issues Peoples United Bank had earlier this year with the loss of tapes with un-encripted customer data on them, so the monitoring is more of a safety measure even though I have not had any issues with my account.
He called the 1-800 # and the automated message told him my check was declined for a "code 2". He asked to speak with an agent and they were of no help at all. We were just told to call another 1-800 #. I went through the automated prompts and the reason I got was that there was nothing wrong with my check, but it was denied as a security measure and that the info was relayed to the merchant. I then asked to speak to an agent to find out more details. She looked up my transaction and said there was nothing she could do. I asked if I would be able to write another check and if it would go through. She told me she could not guarantee that it would go through but that it probably wouldn't. She told me the reason why my check was denied was because I had not written enough checks with the retailers on their list, even though I have already written over 1500 checks from my account without an issue. She said the only thing she could do for me was to send out some info for me to fill out which would authorize them to view more of my account information.
I ended up having to withdraw cash from an ATM in order to complete the purchase.
This was a very embarrassing experience and has now made me gun shy of trying to write a check for any future purposes for fear that the same thing would happen again. Something needs to be done about Certegy. Honest customers should not be treated like criminals. I know I was not the first nor will I be the last honest customer who will have a check rejected for no logical reason at all.
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