telecheck prob denied your check because you appeared in the negative database, meaning you wrote a check in the past to someone else, it bounced and you never went back to pay it. it could have been anywhere like walmart etc who use the telecheck system the database is countrywide and i believe it is neworked into the whole banking system.have you bounced a check before anywhere? do you owe ANY bank money? if you have clear that up.

BTW- the dealership had the option to deposit your check himself outside of electronic conversion. he choose not to take that risk as he was bypassing his warranty he would be paid.

jk, I've had the same checking account for almost 10 years and can count the number of checks I've bounced on one hand. Each time they bounced, Wells Fargo paid the business/person and sent me an overdraft bill. There was one occasion around 1996 (different account) where I wrote a check larger than my balance couldn't cash, but again everything was settled within a week.

I learned later that the cashier lady wrote my phone number incorrectly on my check. That might have tripped the system but if it did, then letting me know that was the problem would have been nice.

Thought I would add to your story!!! I just got off of the phone with what must have been the "same" bs-helpful tone machine that you spoke with. I was infuriated. I have NEVER had a check come back for NSF!!! I have had this particular account for over 10 years!!!

After demanding to speak with a supervisor, it was clear that I was not going to receive any answers. You are so RIGHT!! They say you fall outside of their guidelines, but state that they cannot legally tell you why!! This supervisor did check their history on my account, and stated that they had not been asked to guarantee a check on my account for the past 360 days.....I assume that this would place me outside of their guidelines????

Thankfully, this was an online transaction, and I was not at a cashier's stand with people around me. I would have been humiliated. I would never have thought that a denial could be based upon anything other than history of check writing!! They are mailing the legal documents to me; however, the supervisor informed me that I have no recourse or response mechanism to them....... That is worse than the Credit Reporting Bureaus...

So, NO....you don't have to have a bad history for this to occur!

Just my 2 cents....

You are being subjected to a mathematical formula. It's the exact same as your credit score - a plug-n-chug math equation. So the equation went a little wrong this time - as Drizz said, probably due to human error and not due to either the math formula or your check writing history. I'm sorry you had a bad day, Chizza, but I gotta say from my standpoint, there's nothing the math equation could have done to fix it.

If you ask me - it's another useless crusade against the government. In their infinite wisdom of trying to prevent identity theft (ya right) they have apparantly created a bad system. Surprise, surprise. When the customer service people - probably alot like you or me - actually did talk to you about it, they still wouldn't be able to help.

I understand that in order to remain efficient when face with an unpredictable but large amount of transactions every day, the Telecheck (or whomever might be crunching the data) is going to rely on automated programs to handle the bulk of the information. What I don't understand is why Telecheck decided to offer only a broad and imprecise explanation to the person who was denied, giving them essentially three choices:

1. Wait 6 days (!!!) and go back to the cashier to try again.
2. Pay with some other means.
3. Not pay at all.

I don't know if this is related to a government mandate or if it's an internal policy at the company. If it's the former, then my anger is with the state. If it's the latter (and I presume it is), then my complaint is strictly a customer service issue. If I ran the company and if we had a system like this to use to find out why we denied the transaction, I'd want the person calling to know more about the problem. At least give me the option to speak with an employee and allow him or her to offer verification challenges to screen for frauds.

There are three reasons why your check could have been denied by the evil Telecheck:

1) Negative data - you had presented a check that returned to either a Telecheck merchant or a merchant Telecheck exchanges negative data with
2) MICR-To-ACH conversion - TeleCheck felt it would be unable to successfully convert the paper check into an electronic item
3) Risk - Based on the limits set by it's scorecard your check was deemed "too risky" to gurantee by Telecheck.

They and other check processing companies hide the decision behind a veil of "it could be for a variety of reasons so they can't be held accountable/liable for making one that turned out to be unfounded.

You recieved the terrible code 3. It's a risk decline. It doesn't mean that there's a check on file. No-one has stolen your check book, your identity or your life. It may be a simple matter of needing to update your profile, or as stated above it may be that because of risk factors, telecheck just couldn't guarentee your check at that particular time. Do you write checks to telecheck merchants often? Have you recently written a lot of checks? Are your check numbers on the lower scale? Was the check for a relatively high amount, when your checks are normally for smaller amounts? The systems are set up to recognize risks. If your checkwriting pattern changes or something seems off, telecheck will issue a risk decline. If you call the number given to you while you're still at the merchant, sometimes the code 3 can be overturned, and you will be able to write that check. Telecheck is a check guarentee company for merchants, meaning that if a check is ever returned they will pay the merchant for that check and do collections on it. I know how frustrating it can be to not have an exact reason for being declined. BUT the person on the other line of that phone who you end up speaking to is probably just as frustrated about it as you. They are not given the reason behind the decline. They get paid the same amount no matter whether or not you end up being able to process that check. They get screamed at a million and one times a day about this same exact thing and they are given the same exact reasons as you. They don't get paid any more to make your life miserable, and chances are when they applied for the job, they weren't told they were going to be screamed at about everything from someones dog running away, to not having their checks accepted. AND chances are, they feel terrible for not being able to assist you.

I admit that I am not too familiar with why a check is denied but this has happened to me with a check written to Meijer. Is everything OK once the dishonored check is made good or will I be blackballed for life???? I enjoy the privilege of check-writing at any place I need to but to be denied that privilege indefinitely seems a bit too severe. Can anyone answer this question for me and provide me with some consolation?

I bounced a check after finding out of my sons injuries in Iraq and was called Maryland. When I found about I called and asked if they could just redeposit the check. I was told this is against company policy and was given instructions on what to do I followed the instructions given to to the tee. I withdraw the cash and bought a usps money order and mailed it. I staighten all this out balneced my chechbook which wasn't hard for I was in Maryland and hadn't worked but I had everything covered. Checks bounced again I found out 6 days after I spoke to telecheck they redeposited my check. They cashed money order too. This was in Oct 2005. Today i finally after numerous phone calls and letter got my money back. March 10, 2006. They wrote a letter and told me they had tried for a month in Oct to collect as if they were saying oh well. If I would have gone and investigated my checking account I would never of known they redeposited that check and took my payment. First of they they mislead me , then they embezzeled my money. THis is a strong statement...the def of embezzelment says to steal money etc entrusted to on. CONSUMER BEWARE HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLES MONEY HAVE THEY EMBEZZLED

It is even worse that you can't talk to a live person these days. If they think I will use a credit card to pay for my groceries, when I have my cash in the bank, they are out of luck. I will pay cash before I charge it.

I AGREE WITH MOAT PEOPLE THESE PEOPLE ARE SO MISS LEADING IT IS PATHETIC U TRY TO PAY THEM THEN THE REDEPOSIT YOUR CHECK THEY HAVE DONE IT TO ME ALSO IN THE PAST I MADE GOOD OF EVERYTHING BUT I CANNNOT OPEN A BANK ACCOUNT AT MY LOCAL CREDIT UNION CAUSE OF THIS BUT I CAN GET LOANS ELSEWEAR.