NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #19/NN_1992_19.iso/spool/misc/consumer/16091

Internet Message Format | 1992-09-03 | 1.8 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!dtix!darwin.sura.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!news.cso.uiuc.edu!usenet
From: [e-mail] (Khan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Endorsing checks for deposit via ink stamp?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 3 Sep 92 20:50:49 GMT
References: <minor.715466156@coal8> <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (Net Noise owner)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 24


In article <minor.715466156@coal8> [e-mail] (Kevin Minor) writes:
>
>Here's another twist:
>I once wrote one a check for a telephone bill but unfortunately, I
>mis-read the amount and wrote the check out for an amount slightly less
>than what was due. [...] I found out that the bank had
>cleared my check for the correct amount of my bill due instead of
>the amount that I wrote the check out for.

This is truly scary. What I want to know is, how did your bank know the
amount on your bill? The only scenario I can come up with is that the
phone company filled out a deposit slip for the amount shown on your
bill, and when the person who checked in the deposit got to your check,
either they didn't look at the check closely and simply typed in the
amount shown on the deposit slip, or the clerk DID see the discrepancy
and decided to resolve the error in the phone company's favor.

Another (slightly related) question: what do they do with those slots on
the bills that ask you to write in the amount you've paid? What hjappens
if you fill in the wrong amount? Let's say I have a VISA card with a
$1000 balance, and I write a check for $200 but write $1000 in the
"amount paid" slot. What would happen? Would the bank cash my check for
$1000, even though it was only written for $200?