post office vs banks (rant ahead)
 

I'm out of checks. (I'm out of money, too, but that's another thread.)

I go to online ordering. The shipping address I had was my old PO Box, which I don't have anymore. Well, they said they can't change addresses online, please call 1-877 blah blah blah. So, I did. I went all through the million prompts. I pressed 1 for address change:

"We're sorry, address changes cannot be done over the phone. Please contact your financial institution." Why didn't they just tell me this online?

My financial institution won't let me do anything online either (damn Mayberry freaking bank.)

SO, I figure I'll fill out a change of address card with Post Office. Guess what, it considers their OWN PO box a business address. I can't change that online. I CAN change my former physical address, as long as I put ONE FREAKING DOLLAR on a credit card (which I do not have anymore)

With all the damn technology, why is everything so difficult? When will one damn thing go right?

Thinking back to SG's mood gym thread, I wonder how a "positive" person would look at this situation. I close my eyes, I imagine Ms Positive smiling and giggling over the dilemma...then in my mind's eye I blow her happy head off.

Thanks for letting me rant. :right:

Buy a box of checks from Checks in the Mail. They'll put any damn address on them that you want.

Yeah, usually they just verify the address with the address the bank has. Helps prevent identify theft, which would be a whole lot more a pain in the butt.

I feel your pain! I have this rant, to myself, at least every other week!

And I've done tons of that cognitive therapy, behavior modification stuff, but when it comes to this kind of stupid run around junk, anyone who doesn't get frustrated is brain dead!!

My big problem is that I can't find the boxes of checks I know I have. So, I have to decide if I am going to just order more or go through the hoops of finding the damn things. I think I'm waiting until I run completely out . . .

Doesn't your bank provide a plain boring check for free? That shouldn't be a problem (but probably will be).

Then come back here and be reminded of what a wonderful thing the internet can be at times . . .

Wolf, thank you! I'm so glad I chose to bitch, because you just solved my problem. The check's in the mail after all! :)

CaliMama? As to identity theft, I say "steal away." I'm barely using it! :p
And good luck to the poor bastard who steals it!

Yes, my bank does give me a plain, boring check in their corporate colors for free. Since I started using online banking I don't write anywhere near the number of checks I used to.

I have, however, always been a fan of the speciality checks. Before my bank got on the free bandwagon, it was only $3-5 more for the fancy ones over the price of a regular order. So ... I had really cool animal ones for a while, because they included a moose. Then the moose got replaced with a bighorn sheep, so I switched to really cool Native American themed ones with a wolf in the rotation. Then the wolf lost it's job to a bison, so I got Star Wars checks, and I think I made a side trip to Looney Tunes before going back to Star Wars. Then I went for the Patriotic Checks, and it wa after that that the bank changed hands and they started the free deal for the boring safety checks. I've had those for quite a few years now.

And then someone told me about the Hello Kitty Checks available from Checks in the Mail.

I can't wait until my boring Safety Checks are all used up.

I do have them in my Hello Kitty Leather Checkbook Holder already, though.

One thing I was wondering ... whatever happened to side-perfed checks? I liked those a lot better than the traditional top-perfed, but they seem to have gone out of style.

Good question, sure would be easier to deal with. Probably they're guarding us against "check theft" :worried:

Or only wanting to operate one type of binding machine, which would be my guess.

It's a sad day when all the artistry and craftsmanship have gone out of paper binding. :(

I don't know about your bank, but we do offer the side perfed checks. The only problem is they are only one style, are more expensive, and don't have the carbon copy (duplicate) option. So not many people get them.

And on the address change stuff... we have to have the customer come in to change it because we need a signature. And it is so that people cannot steal your identity or steal from your account. As for the post office, I just do the little change of address post card and send it in. A quick trip to the bank and post office is all I need to get my stuff done.

Well, my point was just that they shouldn't offer online services that don't work; at the very least, don't tell me to call then tell me I have to go in to the bank. In the bank's defense, it was the check company that made me do that.

And I'm a big procrastinator about getting stuff done! That's one of my biggest faults...and why I like to do things online. I know, I suck as a human, but I have learned to love myself the way I am. not really!:p

Yeah. That can be very frustrating. But at least you got it figured out!! :D

Everyone can be paid online these days, if you keep at it.

I don't get the duplicate checks thing. They're more expensive, you get fewer checks in your order, and the carbonless paper NEVER works right, so you have absolutely no clue who you wrote the check out to, and if you're lucky a vague idea of the amount. People who are too lazy to write in the register at the same time you're writing the check should not have a checking account.

One of the guys at work had one of those PC programs that keeps track of everything and prints the checks. I questioned not having the ability to write a check "in the field", plus no hard copy of transactions and checks.

He dismissed my concerns......until he fragged his hard drive. :rolleyes: