TeleCheck Services review: I am still burned about it! 24

That exact same thing happened to me except I didn't have my debit card. I had to put 100$ worth of stuff back so that I could pay with cash. This is the second time that walmart has done this to me. I will no longer shop there. My 6 year old was crying because we had to put his toy back. It made my blood boil. We went down the street to the dollar store and they took my check happily! (so he got another toy) its nice to know i am not the only one that went through this.

Thanks.

I had my $21 check refused at WalMart tonight due to TeleCheck! I knew I had almost $400 in my account, but my check was denied for "insufficient funds"! I had to pay with my Visa!

I called TeleCheck and they said they had "corrected the issue" for me. What the heck is that supposed to mean?! I had the CSR at TeleCheck explain it to me three times, and it still makes no sense whatsoever. According to her my bank was withholding pending checks totaling more than my balance. There were NO pending checks!

It's too late to call my bank tonight, but you can bet I will call them tomorrow.

By the way, the manager at my local WalMart now knows how I feel about this situation. I reminded him that KMart and another grocery store are right down the street!

This is a continuation of my post of 8/2/07. I posted a complaint on the TeleCheck website, due to the issue that my check was declined at WalMart despite my having a checking account balance of almost $400.

I didn't think I'd hear back but I did via email, from 2 TeleCheck employees. They gave me the standard response... "Please call 1-800..."

I got TeleCheck's attention AND WalMart's! I emailed back and copied Mr. Michael A. Cook, Wal Mart VP OF Finance & Asst. Treasurer. I gave a detailed account of what was clear to me had happened: one of the checks had already cleared my bank but TeleCheck was still "withholding" for the amount of that check and wouldn't allow me to write another.

I heard back within one day from Mr. Cook, who said the matter was being reviewed and had been passed on to Craig Shelly, Director of Check Services and John Drechny, Senior Director of Payment Services.

I heard back from Mr. Shelly today, who stated, "...when Telecheck contacted your bank on August 1 to verify funds for the previously written five checks they had already received the funds for a portion of those checks. "

Oh, and Mr. Shelly said he was sorry too: "Regrettably, there is nothing I can do to reverse the embarrassment you encountered due to this incident. However, I do offer our most sincere apologies. "

GAME OVER - THANKS FOR PLAYING!

What a slap in the face! TeleCheck is conducting sloppy electronic accounting practices for the nation's largest retailer, and does WalMart even care if they lose a customer over it? Hell no! Why should they? They pay their employees next to nothing, and when they enter a retail market they undercut all the other stores to eliminate the competition. No one wants to go on 2 separate runs to do their grocery and dry goods/drugstore shopping anymore. They come in droves to WalMart so they can buy dog food, toilet paper, clothes, and even the crappy meat - in one convenient stop.

Well, I've decided enough is enough. I know WalMart will get along without me just fine. And I've decided I can and will get along without them just fine.

It was tough that first week not going there - it's right across the street from where I work. But I did find that I didn't have the frustration from standing in a long line, or trying to get through a huge store in an hour. It's really kind of freeing in a way. It's a bit like dating after a long relationship - scary but exciting as well (lol).

If I hear from Mr. Drechny, I will post the outcome here, so stay tuned.

I am sooooo pissed at telecheck, my past employer paid me all my pay right before the company closed down for good . Well a few days ago I went to open a anew bank account and i was turned down . So i call telecheck and they tell me I owe on 3 checks that equal out to over 2000.00 and I am expected to pay. I explained to the lady how the hell do i owe, if the bank account was to my employer and not my name. I didn't right the check, the check was written out to me. So basically I am suppose to pay them back for for work i did? I don't get it.

I had a problem with this telecheck system recently when I purchase my Jeep. The dealership process my check on 09/29/08 - telecheck did not process my information until 10/03/03 and again on 10/10/08. In many ways I wish the car dealership would have deposited my check through their company. I have really learned a lesson with writting checks, the next time I use a check to pay for any type of items, I will clearly ask the organization if they are connected with this telecheck company and if the are they will not get any of my business. Well, to complete my story a telecheck representative call me by the name of J. Brown and got really nasty in the process of my asking him what was needed to resolve this matter - I ended up hanging up the phone and calling the dealership - they ask when could I have the money. To make a long story short I will be returning the Jeep and the dealership and telecheck can handle their own mess.

I have been having the same problems with Wal-Mart & Telecheck for over a year now! They always give me the same B.S.-my name & social or driver's license got mixed up with someone else's because someone made a typo. They always promise to fix it but haven't as of yet, & I have provided them with my documentation more than once! Even a Wal-Mart employee told me it happens to customers constantly. I want to know why Wal-Mart still uses them & why Someone isn't doing something about Telecheck's incorrect reporting methods! They are messing with people's lives!

I just came back from Wal-mart without the TV I wished to purchase. The check I wrote was rejected, busting the purchase. Why was it rejected by Telecheck? My account has 5 times the amount available and when I called Telecheck about this, their excuse was "your check was declined because you hadn't written a check before at this Wal-Mart - even though we see you have more than ample funds available to cover the check you wrote" !
WHAT GARBAGE IS THIS? !
They even had the gall to reject a check written by my wife, who has an A1 credit rating with the Bank of America! The excuse they gave is that they no “arrangement or agreement” with any of several major banks.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS! TELECHECK SHOULD BE RUN OUT OF BUSINESS AND ANY ESTABLISHMENT USING THEM SHOULD BE BOYCOTTED.
I intend to write formal complaints to the th the FTC BBB about this crooked and irresponsible outfit.

Okay whats funny is that you bounce a chk for insufficient funds and then call us complaining like we are responsible for this NO verify your funds before you write a chk out period.if you a get a code 3 JUST PAY WITH ANOTHER PAYMENT METHOOOODDD!then call to verify what happened.

Telecheck and all the Stateside employees should be tar and feathered on the public square and shamed like they have done to thousands. Someone find out employee info PLEASE!

I just had a check rejected for a laptop and printer purchase. I have more than 10x the amount of the check in my account as I write this 2 hours after the incident. I was told to use another form of payment. Have you ever purchased any technology equipment that is cheap? I don't know about the rest of you, but I limit the amount of money that can be debited via my ATM/Debit card per day to keep a thief from being able to empty my account if they get ahold of my card. I also do not have high limit credit cards. I am one of the few people that do not live off of credit. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy. It is that simple...Now in this case, I more than had the cash in the bank. I have no NSF checks out there, and did absolutely nothing wrong. Yet, Telecheck treated me like a crook and refused to correct their mistake. They caused me embarassment and time. Should I charge them my hourly wage for the time I wasted? I will be calling my bank (credit union) in the morning which was closed at the time of the incident to get them on Telecheck for this mess they created because they said that every check I now write will go through their standards process and can and will be rejected if they so choose to reject it. I will also be calling the Better Business Bureau, the consumer protection agency and anyone else I can get to listen. I could completely understand a rejection of my check if my account did not hold enough funds to cover the check that I am writing. But who the heck does Telecheck think they are, to tell me and anyone else for that matter that I can't use my checking account to write a check as a form of payment when the check is GOOD!

== Class Action, Anyone? ==
On 15 Nov 10, I, too, became a Wal-Mart/TeleCheck victim, causing me to file my complaint now posted at http://www.complaints.com/2010/november/24/Complaint_about_Wal-Mart_s_Reliance_on_TeleCheck_246635.htm

Had I known how widespread has been Wal-Mart's complicity in TeleCheck's reprehensible conduct, I'd have withheld the sugar-coating of my complaint's language. On a hunch (since a Wal-Mart employee has revealed to me that mine isn't the sole case of such thoughtlessness by TeleCheck), I just now Googled the phrase "Complaints Against TeleCheck, " resulting in this eye-opening list of earlier complaints. Perhaps I now should join the ranks of total defection from the Wal-Mart mirage of responsive customer service. -- Larry W. Bryant (24 Nov 10) (overtci@cavtel.net)

Banks don't have any money. More and more reports of people and businesses not able to get hands on their money, computers down, etc. BS reasons. I will bet Telecheck has the same problem but makes it your problem to charge you extra. Really, the economy is pooched as they say in Maine. One case an ATM company has to stock almost 400, 000 in twenties every day, EVERYDAY, and their bank told them they could only get it two days a week now! THEIR MONEY! This is what the truth is, there is no money. Goldman Sachs took it all, no more for you or even TELECHECK I would bet...

We also are boycotting any merchants who contract with this company. It's going to be tough since many use this awful service, but we are going to try to not patronize any establishment that uses Telecheck.

I feel your frustration and anger.

I tried to purchase items from Bed Bath & Beyond, Target and Borders with a check and all of them were declined because of TeleCheck. I called my bank and was told that I had plenty of money to cover what I was trying to buy! When I called the lady said they didn't "know" me...really? She then said that the problem was taken care of. I went again to Target and they STILL declined my check! It sounds to me that these stores just don't want to take checks anymore!

I tried to write a check for $146.00 today at my vet for spaying my dog. Telecheck denied it. When I called them re: the denial, they said the reason it was denied was that they had no record of my checks - i.e. they had never received any returned checks of mine or had any complaints and that I 'fell outside their guidelines' - meaning they knew nothing of me or my checking account. I was advised to go out and write a bunch of small checks so that I could build up a good credit line with them, before trying to write another larger check. Aaargh. I will no longer shop anywhere that uses Telecheck.

The fact that check usage can be considered old school now doesn't at all give a company the right to send back or deny checks that they see that the customer has funds available to clear the purchase for literally the worst reasons ever thought up. Why would anyone here think it is OK for this company to simply screw people.

== Wal-Snark's Wall of Silence Continues to Indict Them ==

To this day, I've yet to receive ANY response to my formal, written complaint to the Wal-Mart juggernaut. How's THAT for customer service? Every day of this (mis)treatment reinforces my resolve never to buy a big-ticket item from this Greed, Inc. outfit. And ask me if I continue to spread the word about it to all who'll listen. -- Larry W. Bryant (15 May 11)

Don't get mad at Walmart though, it's not their fault. I work at a grocery store and have hat customers scream at me for something I couldn't control dealing with Telecheck rejecting teir check. Don't be humiliated especially if you know your account has the money. If you yell at the cashier or manager you're humiliating them, too.

They've somehow gotten hold of my checking account information (I bought something from Amazon, and I think they got it there, since they are an affiliate of Amazon), and are writing checks to themselves and putting my account in the red for hundreds of dollars. My bank is mad, I am mad, and I can't pay my rent. Are there other people out there with this problem?

There are so many merchants and service providers including doctors that use Telechex so if you have an issue with one of them, you won't be able to use a check at another merchant that also uses Telechex. What's worse is that if there is a problem, the merchant or provider more than likely will NOT be able to help you and you have deal with Telechex (and their collection agency, TRS Recovery) yourself. Even if it isn't your fault.

Here's my story. I went to my doctor and gave them my co-pay. The clerk put it through the Telechex machine twice and my checking account was debited twice. So I went to the bank and they could see that the same check number posted two times. They credited me the $30. Next thing I know, I'm getting calls from a collection agency, not even a week later, demanding that I pay them the $30 that the bank credited me! The calls are from an automated voice and the phone number given, when you call it, directs you on how to pay them on their website. Then there is another number you call for the collection agency. Thankfully, I got someone at the collection agency to look into it and I faxed her information from the bank showing the double payment. As of this writing, it hasn't been resolved and I keep getting the same automated voice call and letters. I tried to get someone at the doctor's office to help, but my account there shows I am paid in full and they have no record of my account being in default, obviously, because they received their $30 co-payment with the first time the check went through. They were not aware of the double posting and had no way of clearing it out because Telechex is the one showing the stop payment on the second, duplicate payment.

The most recent letter I received tells me I owe all these collection fees on top of owing for the second payment and my check will not be honored at any merchant that uses Telechex. Furthermore, my name and account information has been reported to the "reporting agencies" as well. Lovely.

Obviously, Telechex's system is so automated that there is no way to see when a check was put through twice and they can't even be bothered to pay a rep to take phone calls or hire a clerk to double check problems. Nobody called me from Telechex when the second check was credited back to my account. They sent me right to a collection agency.

Telechex certainly doesn't care about the consumer and really, why should they, because their customer is the merchant or provider. I for one, will NOT be doing business with any merchant or provider that uses Telechex. Oh wait, I can't because they already banned me from their system.

Telecheck declined our check yesterday March 20, 2012 at a Meijers store... I was humiliated because the money was in my account, and Telecheck told me that there were fraudulent checks wrote in my name on an account from my bank that closed in 2010! Telecheck... had demanded they could only talk to me... and they wanted me to fax them photo copies of not only my ID but my husbands license as well when we questioned why and that we wanted to run it by a lawyer first they then gave us a PO box number for the lawyer to check out... Okay NO! I called my bank there was no other account closed at my bank in my name. I don't know what Telecheck is trying to pull, so I contacted Meijer and the BBB. I am not a threat when it comes to writing bad checks I can't afford bad check fees so I know where my money is... sadly telecheck is shoddy in their practices and the companies that use them don't seem to mind losing business. I won't shop at Meijer anymore I do know that it was as humilating as I would think having a credit card refused. Sad day when an honest person can't write a check.

My wife and I moved from Indiana to Pennsylvania, secured a home loan with very high credit rating. We are both 65 years old and have been writing checks all our adult lives. Neither of us have had any trouble with credit, or checking accounts, until...Telecheck! Suddenly, merchants are denying our personal checks, on accounts with a local bank, who holds our mortgage and will readily vouch for us! But, that's of no importance as Telecheck says, "You do not fit our guidelines". I asked what "guidelines". They said, "You don't have enough history writing checks. We can't validate your check without more history on you". HUH?...
Telecheck added, before hanging up on me for the 4th time; "You just write more checks and pretty soon we'll be able to approve you." DOUBLE HUH?...
If they won't allow me to use my checks, how am I to develop a new record of writing checks on my new account? TRIPLE HUH?...
I've informed my bank's manager about this, filed a complaint with the Houston TX Better Business Bureau (home town of Telecheck) and begun to seek legal advise. Telecheck is not benign. It is a cancer, or virus, dedicated only to the destruction of it's host economy and personal/private commerce. I will do no business with any merchant, or service provider, who relies on Telecheck! And I'm seeking means to make my protest as loud, and broad, as possible. If there is a Class Action Suit, I'll join gladly. If not, I'll come back to let you all know if I'm able to get one started. Thanks! I really need to vent this...retdrj@verizon.net

I was unwittingly in arrears to Amazon for $29.97 (which I immediately rectified), but "Tele Check" placed me in a status which prohibits me from writing personal checks at the retailer's I purchase groceries and medications from near to my home, e.g. Walmart, Walgreen's. I've contacted you on multiple occasions without success. Help?!

I have spent several hours on the phone with Telecheck. Trying to understand why they denied my check. The best i can make out is because i don't have a profile at Rural king for writing checks frequently enough Telecheck won't accept my check. It seems you have to write a lot of checks at these merchants and then Telecheck creates a profile and if it matches, they will accept your check. How many checks I asked, we cannot disclose that information. I explained what i buy and how often (about every 2 months) I do not write checks for other things I only buy this one item at this time every 2 months or so. All I can tell you mam is you can keep trying and until you have a profile you will be denied. i spoke to several people that were repeating the same script. The merchant is aware of our guideline's mam. We can't tell you when our system will update and accept your check until our system creates a profile at this merchant. Of course, everyone i spoke with was from another country i could hardly understand.