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From: king@kestrel.ARPA (Dick King)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: check guarantee cards
Message-ID: <5354@kestrel.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 3-Mar-86 13:42:36 EST
Article-I.D.: kestrel.5354
Posted: Mon Mar  3 13:42:36 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 5-Mar-86 05:43:14 EST
Organization: Kestrel Institute, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 28


   From: kolling@decwrl.DEC.COM (Karen Kolling)
   Newsgroups: net.consumers
   Date: 24 Feb 86 05:19:57 GMT


   It's been my experience that in New England personal checks
   are almost never accepted by merchants.  In Calif., a driver's
   license and a "major credit card" makes a personal check
   acceptable virtually every place.  

I understand that at least part of the reason for this is that
California's laws are really rough on people who pass bad paper. 

						(Also, I have the vague
   impression that there's now some sort of instantaneous credit check
   available by phone, keyed on the driver's license number, in many
   places that I shop;  but this is just based on random impressions
   I've gotten when I'm standing around with my mind shut off in a
   checkout line.)

There is.  It's called TeleCredit or TeleCheck or something like that.
Their logo is a red checkmark.  It costs the merchant 2% to use it,
which is why they usually don't when you have other ID.  If a merchant
gets a TeleCredit authorization number than that company will pay any
bad checks.


-dick