Sand Rant – Wal-Mart Checks - Beware
I have been meaning to rant about this since I stumbled upon it in late this summer. I was traveling through Northwest Arkansas (NWA) and got the honey do call and was commanded to swing by and pick up some bread. So, dutifully, I swing off I-540 and scoot into Wal-Mart’s Neighborhood Market in Bentonville. (Home of the behemoth Wal-Mart, and where every new concept or procedure is first test marketed. If it’s new, NWA sees it first.)Â
I grab my bounty and a few other sundry things and off to the checkout I go. I write a check, (without asking for I.D.) it is run through this dandy new machine and the check is handed back to me with ‘cancelled†on it. I want to know…what is this? I am told the check has cleared the bank and I have been given back my cleared/canceled check, less paperwork for me I am told. My check has become an instant debit card and I am none too happy about it. I walk to the parking lot, call my banker, and ask if check number ___ had cleared. The answer…yes.  Â
Then, I got to thinking; what if someone had stolen my checkbook and forged my name? How could I prove to the bank that it wasn’t my signature, that the check/s were stolen? I can’t. There is no copy of the check for signature comparison; only a line item debit transaction shows up on my bank statement. It would be my word against the banks. Normally, if your checks are stolen and signature forged, and the bank accepts that transaction, without kicking it back to the originator (Wal-Mart), the bank is on the hook to you. They must make restitution to you for the stolen money. At least with my credit card, I can call and dispute a transaction, not here. I am sure in theory, both my bank and Wal-Mart would be cooperative, but at the end of the day, I would bet my left arm, I am cooked.
 Not bad huh? The banking industry is in collusion with Wal-Mart, America’s big brother. These two industries have stripped themselves of the accountability of the checks and balances on stolen checks to the unknowing consumer, as well as the liability. If per chance your checks are stolen, not only is Wal-Mart not liable, if they did not get the proper identification, which of course, how would you know, since you don’t get the check back, since the thief has been handed back his forgery. As well, your bank is not liable because you have no proof, other than your word. And how far is that going to get you? I’ve resolved to use cash only on the 5 or 6 occasions a year I find that I MUST go into a Wal-Mart and to keep my checkbook under lock and key
Posted on December 19th, 2006 by George Sand
Posted in Arkansas Politics, National Politics. | EMail This Post
Comments
Comment from esscurve234
Time: December 20, 2006, 7:09 am
George, the instant processing of checks is not an evil Wal-Mart plot as I have been seeing where Cingular and some others process my mailed check payments in the same way. I use a credit card for my Wal-Mart purchases.
I do share your concerns about the potential for abuse and the apparent lack of a trail to audit.
Comment from George Sand
Time: December 20, 2006, 10:39 pm
ess..
I have to say that that was the first time I was handed back the check with canceled printed on it. I signed nothing at the register - and no identification was asked for. In my opinion, that transaction had not checks and balances - if that indeed was a stolen and forged check, I could think of no way that I could of proved that it was not me. If the clerk was suppose to get my signature or some other mechanism to protect me, it did not happen. That’s my beef.
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