Lost The Checks, Part 3

In the previous post, I described the frustrations dealing with Walmart's Check Printing Service.  I messed up the first order because their website was confusing.  The checks arrived short 4 digits of my bank account number and therefore unusable.

So I called them and an agent helped me get it all entered correctly.  Walmart sent me an email several days later that the checks had been shipped.  Then they emailed me saying they were recalling the package due to "security reasons" that they would not explain.

But I kept getting tracking data say that the package was moving in my direction.  So I thought maybe the email was in error, that they had changed their minds, or that they couldn't get it back from the US Post Office.

A package did arrive.  It was the extra check register I had requested...  Whoop-de-doo!  I fired off an email to Walmart telling them how angry I was about the whole thing in the strongest language I thought might avoid a defamation suit and telling them I would mention my unhappiness at every oppurtunity.  I'm sure Walmart is quaking in their boots...

So I called my bank and threw myself on their tender mercy.  I knew getting checks through the bank would be expensive, but at least surely they knew who I was and would make sure the checks were printed correctly.  And it occurred to me that my blank checks might be out there" in some stranger's hands, so I assumed I needed to get my account number changed and that required a personal visit.  I made an appointment.

An hour beforehand, a bank representative called to ask exactly what I thought needed to be done.  I exlained, and she said she thought she could help me without a personal visit.

First, she said I didn't need to change the account.  That it would take some effort on my part because I had automatic deposits and payments.  She said she could just put a hold on the missing checks.  Since I didn't know the exact check numbers, she said she would just put a stop order several hundred numbers ahead.  I asked about the fee and she said she would waive it.  Wow!

So she asked about new checks numbered after the stop range.  I asked the cost.  She said $36 for a box of checks (100?).  I said "Wow, Walmart only charges $3.95".  She said she understood that, and was waiving the cost of the checks as well.  WOW!

I used to buy theme checks.  Pale ones so that I could see what I was writing.  Landscapes, hummingbirds, cats...  Some choices are positively psychedelic.  I don't understand how anyone can even write of those.   But checks are barely used these days.  And I have no personal need to impress my water/sewage company, the IRS, or magazine subscription companies.  I opted for a pale blue.  I use black pens.

I got a shipping confirmation from the bank's printer.  It said delivery by July 4th.  Pretty darn slow considering they are coming from only 200 miles away (New Jersey), but free is free.  But I received a delivery update changing that to June 29.  And since they are being delivered by the US Post Office, I bet they arrive sooner.

Funny afterthought...  The check printer is in "Mountain Lakes, NJ".  To my knowledge, NJ is almost as flat as a pool table.  I can't picture either a mountain or a lake in NJ, LOL!

Today is the 1 month anniversary of trying to get replacement checks.  It has been an adventure.

Some people have car problems that get fixed.  Some people have appliances that need to be replaced.  Some people have leaky raingutters that get fixed.  I never have normal problems.  On the other hand, my strange problems are never all that serious, just oddly frustrating.  I am satisfied to have only odd but non-serious problems.

So in that sense, they are almost funny to have and write about...