"Edgar" wrote in message
...

"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
...
Larry,
Your observations should lead you to the conclusion that check technology
no longer functions as designed or intended. Therefore your action plan
should be to use other methods. I haven't issued nor received a check in
8 years. Not always is progress forward. Think PayPal, Credit Cards and
Cash.
Steve

None of those methods is without problems.
:-
PayPal is very flaky. After some satisfactory experiences my wife bought
something on e-bay where Pay Pal was specified by the seller. When the
time came to pay PP said her card was invalid. Tried another, same result.
tried a third, same result. All those cards were perfectly good.
This was awkward because if you do not pay on time you get negative
feedback on PP. Luckily she had 100% positive feedback on record so the
seller agreed to accept a personal cheque. She terminated her PP account
and now will not buy anything where PP is specified.

Credit cards. Well, see the above. At any time machines can and do refuse
to accept your card and you can be left away from home with no easy way to
pay for things or get cash. Also there are some really stupid and
unforeseeable regulations applicable to cards. For example, I have a bank
account in USA with dollars in it. I live in Norway but I have a bank card
issued in USA by that bank. It works here in Norway in cash machines (not
that it makes much sense to convert dollars back into kroners!) and in
other places but Continental Airlines in Oslo will not accept it for the
cost of a flight to USA because my billing address is outside USA! So do
not rely on cards.

Cash. Well cash is of course Ok if you are face to face with the other
party but you would be pretty stupid to send it by mail. I have done so
but only for very small amounts which involve no great loss if it goes
astray..

Online transfer you did not mention. This is the best way to go and you
are protected if you print out a record of your transaction. .



All methods have their pluses and minuses. Checks are still good for
situations when the receiver charges for CC transactions. Most typically,
that's auto registration or a local/state tax agency. Checks can be forged,
and I had this happen to me maybe 10 years ago. The bank caught it, and all
I had to do was change account numbers. I use online banking extensively,
even for services such as gardening or tree-trimming. As you probably know,
if the bank can't make a direct transfer of funds, they issue a paper check.
CCs have their own problems, mainly people abusing them. Debit cards have
problems of fewer protections in case of fraud, and I don't like the idea of
money coming directly out of my account. I mostly use it to get cash from an
ATM. PayPal has its good points, but has been flakey from time to time. They
attempted to charge me for a fraudulent transaction on an approved PP
account, but I fought it and they relented. You have to read the rules and
review all "updates" to the rules to be sure. Certainly for ebay and many
other transactions online, it's what's done. Cash is cash, but I like a
record of my transactions, which is a lot easier if I pay via one or more of
the other methods. I carry cash just in case.


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 5 Apr 2008 10:17:17 -0700, "Capt. JG"
said:

Debit cards have
problems of fewer protections in case of fraud, and I don't like the idea
of
money coming directly out of my account. I mostly use it to get cash from
an
ATM.

Banks don't like to advertise the fact, but you can get an ATM card that
isn't a debit card. I recently did, just for the reasons you cite.

PayPal has its good points, but has been flakey from time to time. They
attempted to charge me for a fraudulent transaction on an approved PP
account, but I fought it and they relented. You have to read the rules and
review all "updates" to the rules to be sure.

The trick here is to use AMEX with Paypal. Even if Paypal says they can't
reverse a charge, AMEX will.


Interesting... I'll check out both of those!

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote
Banks don't like to advertise the fact, but you can get an ATM card that
isn't a debit card. I recently did, just for the reasons you cite.


Depending on your relationship with your bank, you can get a lot of
services that aren't on the list.

PayPal has its good points, but has been flakey from time to time.

IMHO PayPal is not worth my time. It may be a great service for some
but I don't use it, don't miss it. Part of keeping life simple.

"Dave" wrote
The trick here is to use AMEX with Paypal. Even if Paypal says they can't
reverse a charge, AMEX will.

Several credit companies have the attitude that the cardholder is
their customer and will back you in purchase disputes. I'm not
surprised that AMEX has this attitude, they are a good company and
I've used a variety of their services for years.

The last time I had a credit card company refuse to issue me a credit
for returned merchandise was the last time I cut up a credit card and
told them "Tough luck." However, you should read the fine print on
your checking and/or savings account because many banks will honor
payment requests from credit companies without your authorization. If
you use a credit card issued by the bank holding your account(s), then
you have no option in such a dispute.

"Capt. JG" wrote:
Interesting... I'll check out both of those!


Another thing to check out is single-use credit card numbers. Utterly
scam proof, since any further charges on that "credit account" are
automatically bounced.

DSK