FISGlobal.com / Certegy review: declined checks! 620

Like the rest of you, I too have a perfect credit score, pay of loans early, and never bounce a check. I have been declined twice in one week by Certegy who report that certain criteria in the file at certegy resulted in the denial. Twice in one week? It was an embarrassment to me as well, how humiliating for nothing. They were at Bed Bath and Beyond, as well as Kmart. I too am seriously considering not going to those stores for this very reason and I'm all ready for a class action if it comes.

I suspect Cetergy is harvesting information for some reason (or some entity). It may appear to be "random" (as one of you was told by a Cetergy employee), but unless you're writing checks for large amounts all over town in one day, this is not "fraud protection."

Oh, yes: I am a conspiracy theorist :)

I too was declined in Hibbett Sports in Auburn, Ala they store manager gave me a piece of paper and told me too call that number and I did and the young lady that answer the phone stated that I had no negative activity with them and that the reason my check was declined is because I am not a check writer and that they bank that I use is in another state that is 15 minutes away from Auburn, Ala is not local, she stated that I needed to complete and fill out an (Gold Application), so that I would not run into this problem. I PERSONAL think that this is some ### because I am not a check writer and I perfer to use my check or debit card majority of the time they can just take my check writing privilages if that is the case, than all of stores that use this Company should just stop taking checks...because the stores are going to loose alot of business because people such as myself will not take a chance on being embarrased again.

This check service is a crock, they turned down a check from IOWA Warreant, if you don't know what that is then I will tell you, it is an Unemployment check from the State of Iowa. I allways took these to wal mart and used to cash it there and deposit it on my debit card so I could easily pay my monthly bills, not this month seems Wal Mart whom takes $3.00 to cash this check last 2 years or more when I am laid off in winter does not cash them anymore and will just divert you to this company with a reciept and a phone # of [protected]. Wal Mart Manager was very rude and even threatened me with tresspass and law enforcement when I asked for a copy of their monthly memo that states the reason they are not authorized to cash a state check anymore.
Now I am no fan of China Mart, either rate they been getting 3.00 for my check cashing for 3 seasons and that totals to be about 450.00. I call the number only to be treated like a check bouncer, nor have I ever had a checking account. Seems to me allot of scam deregulation is groin on in the corporate world and they are passing it on to the consumers. Either rate this company is a fraud and so is China Mart. What happened to this country?
The dream is gone, cause you have to be asleep to believe it.

i don't even have the energy to express the amount of frustration I have with Certegyright now. But I see that I am not the only one and I appreciate you all for telling about your experiences in hopes that this dreadful company will be exposed.

I welcome myself to the long list of Certigy victims. Having never written a worthless check, imagine my surprise when I went into the local Sally's beauty supply to have my check denied. Not denied due to any negative info but due to a "profile" given me by Certigy. This company is ridiculous. I believe (as a merchant myself) in not letting people continue to write bad checks./ But to stop a ligitimate consumer who never has is insane.

I went to cash my UPS check at walmart as I've doe for the past two weeks. I got declined this time with reason code 5. It had this [protected] number to call. I was told the check was ALREADY CASHED! IMPOSSIBLE! Certegy was the company that told me this. I already got a fraud alert placed on my credit profile just in case. I'm glad I encountered this site with everyone's complaints. I'll be giving the Federal Trade Commission a call very soon about this corrupt company called Certegy!

I am writing this letter to inform you of how disturbed and displeased I am at the way that your company and its employees conducts’ business. On December 2, 2008, I wrote a check to Verizon Wireless located in Chattanooga, TN for the amount of $32.76. I understand the check was returned to you because of some error that either your company or Verizon Wireless made with the account number. Because of this error, not on my part, I have had my checking account placed in a non working status by every merchant that uses your services! Put yourself in my place for a moment. Go shopping, stand in long lines to pay for your merchandise, and when you finally get to the registers, you get embarrassed and humiliated when you are told that we can not accept your check! If I wanted to pay with some other form of payment I would have never presented my check as payment. This is all that your employees would say to me when I questioned them about what was happening to my account. The check to Verizon was not returned because of insufficient funds, but because of some other type of error, again, not on my part. The claim number for this problem is [protected].

I have been humiliated and embarrassed this entire month of December. Now, once this problem was brought to my attention, I took care of my part! I immediately sent payment to your company. You received payment on December 19th, the check cleared my bank on December 23rd, and I am being told that this block on my account will not be cleared or removed until sometimes during the first two week of January 2009! This is inexcusable and uncomprehensible. If you have the ability to block account immediately, you need to have the same ability to restore that account when the problem has been corrected. Again, this problem was not on my part!

I have been writing check for over 35 years and I have never had a check returned because of insufficient fund or had my check denied by any merchant that accepts personal check as legal forms of tender until I had to have some dealing with your company! I want you to know and be aware of how this ruined my Christmas shopping experience this season, and how it has caused me undue frustration, embarrassment, and humiliation.

I feel as though, I should pursue legal ramifications for all the unnecessary humiliation and embarrassment that Certegy has put me through! Now, with this Christmas season behind us, and ruin for me and my family, what proof do I have that Certegy has not placed negative, as well as, incorrect information in my credit file! You seemed to have a no problem ruining others financially while trying to conduct your business. Your customer service department was uncooperative during this entire escapade and showed no signs of concern or compassion for this situation! In fact, they were quite arrogant and unconcern about this problem! Again, THIS PROBLEM WAS NOT CAUSED BY ME!

Please expedite the restoration of my checking account privileges, as well as send me documentation that there has been no negative impact on my credit report or credit rating because of this problem. Please work on ways of preventing this embarrassing and humiliating situation from happening to good people again in the future. No one should have to go through this because of errors made by others!

I just thought I would let every-one know that Sears also uses Certegy. My husbands and my check was declined there a couple of years ago and we no longer shop at Sears or Big Lots.

I recently attempted make a purchase at Macy's writing a check for $286.00. To my utter surprise, check was declined. I asked the clerk to run it again, which she did and my check was declined a second time. I asked her to call to find out what the problem was. After holding forever, a Certegy representative told her I needed to call an 800 number and that my check was declined as a "code 2". I called the 800 number an received an automated response stating that my check was declined because it did not fit their check writing patterns and it was security measure to prevent identity theft and fraud. The message further stated that the check was not declined due to any negative information in my file and that information was passed on to the merchant...blew my mind. Naturally, I wanted to speak to a "live" person. When I did finally get someone on the phone, I was told that there was nothing they could do to override their system. So I asked I am going to be declined the next time a write a check that uses Certegy and she replied that she couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't be. The practice this company uses that may decline a perfectly good check is arbitrary and egregious. The represenative admitted as much, very flippantly.

I had to endure an embarrassing moment having a check declined for no good reason. I ultimately used my check card and completed the purchase with no problem. I later bought something else in the store and wrote a check just to see what would happen and the check was accepted without a hitch. I am assuming that the amount of the check was the issue. However, even if I never write checks, when I decide I want to I should be able to for whatever amount I need to, especially as a consumer who has never had any returned check issues. I probably won't be shopping at Macy's anytime in the near future. Perhaps I won't have to since 11 of their stores nationwide are shutting down for poor sales performance.

This company is ridiculous. I saw the ad that Wal-Mart is running all over the airwaves saying that they will cash our payroll checks for $3.00. I went there today for the first time and I too was handed a slip of paper with a phone number. I want to know what is wrong. I have no derogatory banking information. I have worked at the same company for 15 years-not one check has ever bounced. I am calling Wal-Mart to let them know they lost a long time customer until they get rid of Certegy.

Any body writing a check is an idiot holding up the lines, use a debit card or cash and stop wasting peoples time waiting for you to write a stupid check and then holding up the line waiting to know why it was declined, the reoson for peoples checks being declined is due to so many peoples checks being returned for none sufficient funds and retailers stuck with no good checks and out of the merchandise its their right weather or not to accept the risk of a check from a stranger. Maybe if more people were honest when writing checks and actually had funds or were actually cashing checks that belong to them we would need a service like this you can thank those people for your check being declined not Certegy or the retailer.

angelr82

I wrote a check for $243 to Enterprise Rental which was declined by Certegy. I asked why and was told Enterprise only receives a declination (code 2 in my case), but no reason why. I asked for a phone number to call Certegy and was told that they didn't have a number. I knew I had money in my account, but I double checked on line when I got home and found that I had plenty of money to cover the check. I ended up using a credit card to return the car.

Even though I usually use a credit card for this kind of transaction which means it would have gone through, I will never use Enterprise again. This is not customer service!

this same thing just happened to me tonight at walmart, I have cashed numerous payroll checks, and they just took a peronal check from me yesterday. its not right. i called to see why my payroll check was declined and was told that the computer did this because it could be possible fraud. My employer spends quite a bit at this same store for supplies and always sends an employee with the check and they NEVER decline his. After reading this i realize it may be him next, and warn him., same account!

Add me to the list of pissed customers! My check for 341.55 was declined at kmart today. I was SO pissed. I called the number on the back of my DECLINED check and was on hold for about 20 minutes. The rep finally said some nonsense about not really knowing why I was declined and that I should use cash. WHAT? She offered some service that may lower my chances of any of my future checks being declined. NO THANKS. I am fearful of writing another check. What is going on?

well color me stupid along with the rest of you all, low and behold .. checking account for years...no bad checks... give my daughter a check for gas at a murphy's gas one in front of wal-mart... weve been writeing checks for gas there for years... 20.00.. declined by cetergy..same bs.. called them hold for 15-20 minutes... ask why declined...answer> no negitives on account ( which i had allready verified from bank ) nuthin causeing it to be flaged.. so why i ask? ... put on hold again... comes back and tells me thier system is set up to flag unusalla things on checks that may be a cause of a frude check. so i ask what is it then and i get the same BS ya getting bout cant declose that infromation to you for security porpuse. wtf ?
so after hrs of aurguing with them and serching fourms bout certegy check came to find out tons of people haveing same problem.
well certegy said it would be ok... so go back down to murphy's ... pump gas ... give check... denied again, wtf?
this time the damm attendent ask to see my DL to verify the check...he keeps the check and the ### takes my DL for payment for gas...NOW THISS PISSES ME OFF BIG TIME... so i go to get money for gas and he takes my check to bank and chases it while im at the bank ...wtf? cant take it for gas but can take it and cahs it?
BIG call to murphy oil ... they get upset bout it big time at certegy and the attendent... will be calling them both to find out why this happened
meanwhile still dont know why it was denined... havent tried to write check anywhere else... afraid too..
so i went online flied complaint with BBB of west fl. were certegy is located... looks like there is several BBB complaints on them even a law suit bout collection of check not being done right or something.

ANYONE a lawyer or something that can help us? shame we work so hard to keep our credit in line.. up... right.. and all ..and all it takes is a screwed up company like this to screw it up!

then again the honest people pays again for the crooks out there

I was declined too over the weekend! For a $60.00 pair of shoes, how embarrassing. Then when I called the company, Certegy, it was completely automated and told me nothing of the reason why it was declined, except by their "risk models."

Same thing just happened to me with a Sear's repairman out to fix my oven. The check was denied because I was assumed to be a risk, not because of insufficient funds. I am a statistician and would like to see their risk model. I wonder if I filled out that Gold form that they offered to send, would I then be approved. The repairman took my debit card for the same bank account, and it was approved almost immediately. I would have just done that had he told me he'd take it.

i tryed to cash my income tax check today ( 07, feb, 09) at walmart and was declined. the lady gave me a slip of paper with reason 2 and a number to call so i tryed to call it and all i got so some recoding asking me to tell them my id# every time i tryed to it said sorry i didnt understand you

Certegy should be forced to change their methods of verifying checks, or close the business. I have never written a bad check. I went to two different shoe stores to buy my son a pair of shoes and because both used Certegy, my checks were declined. I had just wrote a checks at other stores in the mall. I have never been so humiliated, and to make matters worse; I had to tell my son why he couldn't get his shoes. I called Certegy and was greeted by an automated service. I was told that Certegy had no information about me and I would need to submit an application to decrease the chances of my checks being declined. I feel that my check should be accepted as long as I have sufficient funds and proper identification.

I ordered merchandise by mail from NorthStyle and paid by check. Today I received in the mail the order form back, my check was stapled to it wihtout comment from NorthStyle. Enclosed was double side printed slip (3 1/4in x 3in) from Certegy:

----------------------------------------------------------------
Page 1
Dear Customer:
We are sorry that your check could not be authorized based, in whole or in part, on information provided by Certegy Check Services, Inc. ("Certegy"), and/or Certegy's need for additional information. We value your business and apologize for the inconvenience.

To protect your privacy, we receive no personal information when Certegy does not authorize acceptance of a check. A code number is provided in order to convey the reason Certegy did not authorize your check. These codes and their meanings are as follows:

CODE 1 - In most instances this is based upon negative information on file, usually prior unpaid checks.
CODE2 - Although no unpaid check information is on file, Certegy did not have sufficient information available to approve the transaction, or this transaction exceeded a pre-established limit.
CODE3 - The format of the identification presented did not conform to government established guidelines for a valid ID.
(Over Please)
EQ100
[protected]

Page 2

Certegy Check Services, Inc ("Certegy") provides check authorization and warranty services to merchants and business nationwide. You have the right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to know the information contained in your file at Certegy. You also have a right to a free copy of your check transactions file from Certegy if you request it within sixty (60) days after you receive this notice. In addition, that any information contained in the file from Certegy is inaccurate or incomplete, you have a right to dispute it with Certegy.

(bold face) You may call Certegy toll free at [protected], or write to Certegy Check Services, P.O.Box 30046, Tampa, FL [protected].

If you contact Certegy, please provide the following information so they can respond promptly to your request:

*Your Full Name and Current Address
*Driver's License (or State ID) Number and State
*Telephone Number
*Check Number
*Check Amount
*Checking Account Number
*Name of Financial Institution
*Date When Check Declined

For employee training and evaluation purposes, your telephone call may be monitored

:certegy (about 16pt)

-----------------------------------------------

I used a pre-printed personal check, amount $348.70. It contains all the requested information, except the drivers license number. Sent on 1/30/09.
The date when it was declined was nowhere marked, but the envelope from NorthStyle was metered on Feb 5 2009. My check was NOT endorsed by NorthStyle.
I write approximately 200 checks per year, same bank for 20+ years, this was the FIRST NOT ACCEPTED. NorthStyles order blank provided for check payment.

Wrote all this down for some legal person to take up the case.
Hebnman

I will not waste the time with certegy and NorthStyle and watch out in the future.

I, also had to deal with this today. The situation was completely surreal!

I was not near my bank (I use a credit union by my work, which is in another town) & had a paycheck from my work to cash. It wasn't a "regular" paycheck, I have those direct-deposited, which I'd advise everyone here to do if you can as that would avoid the issue people have had with paychecks not being cashable at regular stores for no good reasons. It was a "payroll refund" check, as my employer had made an accounting error and taken too much out for one of the deductions.

It did, however, have all the info that every paycheck with check stub has on it- amount, name, address, company info, then all my personal info on the check stub (YTD info, taxes, 401(k) stuff, etc). This doesn't matter, though, because the issue apparently had nothing at all to do with the check- the clerk didn't even get to the point of trying to run my check. When they attempted to 'verify my identity', which they do by using your SSN, name, DOB, and driver's license number, they got an error. They tried it again, and got the same error.

The clerk had to look up the error code- then she asked me "have you ever changed your name?" Yes, I told her, when I was married about 13 years ago. She asked if she could try running it under my maiden name, which I knew was ridiculous but I said okay, and that failed also for the same reason. Apparently, in Certegy's database, my name & SSN, or my name & DOB do not match.

This is NUTS. I have filed taxes, worked for several large corporations both national & international (I'm an engineer), opened bank accounts and credit card accounts, and gotten my credit reports- all using my name plus SSN plus DOB. This one company, which apparently is more powerful than I had any idea they could be, has an error in their database.

So I went to their website to try to find contact information- believe this or not, they requested that I send, through email, to a blind email box (not addressed to any one person, just to a department) all my personal, secure, identifying information. I responded to the email by stating that I would be happy to talk to a CSR or a manager if one would call me, but there was no way I would send my name, SSN, banking info, etc through email to a no-name inbox. I have had no reply, but if I do not get any reply in the next few weeks, I will escalate this. Legal measures may indeed be necessary. it sounds, from some of these stories, like a class-action suit might not be a bad idea.

-karinne

I have been writing checks at Publix Supermarket for the last 8 years and all have cleared my bank without any problem but on 2/5/09 my check for $71.47 was declined via Certegy Check Services! So after 8 years of loyalty I am now taking my grocery shopping business to Winn Dixie.

TRIED TO CASH A CITY OF STARKE CHECK AT WAL-MART. CUSTOMER SERVICE SAID THAT CERTEGY SAID NOT TO CASH IT. WHEN I CALLED, THE PERSON AT CERTEGY SAID THAT I FIT A PROFILE AND THAT THE DECISION WAS NOT REVERSABLE. WHEN I ASKED WHAT THE PROFILE WAS THE REP GOT AN ATTITUDE WITH ME AND WOULD NOT GIVE ME A ANSWER. I STILL WANT TO KNOW WHAT PROFILE I FIT. WALMART HAS A POLICY TO CASH ALL GOVERMENT CHECKS FOR 3 DOLLARS, ARE THEY DOING MISLEADING ADS JUST TO AQUIRE BUSINESS?

I was denied at this same Kmart location in Arroyo Grande, CA. I like to write checks so I have a carbon record to balance my check book later without the worry of saving receipts and my check was denied. I ended up using my debit card, but was completely emabaressed and humiliated as a line of people were huffing and puffing over the fact that I was taking so long. I don't know why such large corporations use this horrible certegy company. It is new to me, telecheck and scan have always had such good reputations, why switch now. I was told my check was denied because of an unfamiliar check writing pattern and I could fill out a form at certegy.com to clear my profile and be able to write checks again, but the form was no where to be found. The person I dealt with on the phone at Certegy was rude and 100% unprofessional. I left the store extremely angry and will be going back to Wal-mart now instead of Kmart.

When I went to K-Mart to cash my check it was refused by Certegy.When I got home I dialed the number on the back of the check.Waited about 20min.I gave the information they needed and I was told there was nothing wrong with my check.The check might have looked funny.Whats funny I don't get it.Or my check number was to big 11373 what does this have to do with my check having no funds.To solve my problem I went and go a debit card and I'll stay away for K-Mart...

This same thing just happened to me on Sunday, I wrote a check and it was denied, with people behind me. Yes is is very embarrasing. All my accounts and credit card are paid in full. I called the number and the lady said there was to much activity on my account. I just called my bank and they said my accounts were just find. I've never had a check card, but guess I do now. This certegy is the most rediclous thing around and they customer service is very poor. They dont check credit ratings very well, as I just check mine and that is 754

Get a debit card, you ###S.

It's 2009.

& CHECKS ARE NOT GUARENTEED FORMS OF PAYMENT!

& if you're on hold for so long, HANG UP it's not the end of the world
AND IF YOU ALREADY USED A ALTERNATE FORM OF PAYMENT, why do you call!?!

& You people that cash your checks at walmart are COMPLETE ###S. Majority of you are toothless and wonder why the only kinds of checks you receive are unemployeement checks.

YOU ARE ALL ###S. KEEP WRITING YOUR DINOSAUR AGE CHECKS. ALL CHECKS ARE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL. IF YOU HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE OF CHECK WRITING AND WHAT CHECK WRITING ENTAILS THEN MAYBE YOU'D UNDERSTAND WHY YOUR CHECKS ARE DECLINED. YOU ALL JUST CALL IN KNOWING THAT YOUR NOT GOING TO HEAR WHAT YOU WHAT TO HEAR AND JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS... WAHHH I DIDN'T GET MY GUCCI PURSE... BOOO ###ING HOOO. BUYING GROCERYS? USE YOUR FRIGGIN DEBIT CARD YOU IDIOT! OH YEAH, AND FOR ALL YOU DUMB ### WHO CALL IN TO CERTEGY AND ASK WHY YOUR DEBIT CARD WENT THROUGH AND NOT YOUR CHECK... EHHH LETS USE OUR BRAINS FOR ONCE... DEBIT CARD = GUARNTEED FORM OF PAYMENT COMES OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT RIGHT THEN AND THERE. LOOK UP THE WORD DEBIT, NO HERE YOU GO SINCE YOUR ALL ###S I DID IT FOR YOU. ---

Debit cards- allow for INSTANT withdrawal of cash, acting as the ATM card for withdrawing cash and as a cheque GUARNETEE card. Merchants can also offer "cashback"/"cashout" facilities to customers, where a customer can withdraw cash along with their purchase.

CHECKS BEFORE THEY HIT YOUR ACCOUNT ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A "PROMISARY NOTE" WHICH MEANS I PROMESS TO PAY THIS AMOUNT. AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO SAY I HAVE THE FUNDS IN MY ACCOUNT. ONE THAT DOESNT MATTER BECAUSE 90% OF BANKS WILL NOT DISCLOSE WHETHER OR NOT THE FUNDS ARE AVALIABLE OR IF YOU EVEN HAVE AN ACCOUNT WITH THEM. TWO YOUR BANK WILL NOT GUARENTEE THAT THEY WILL PAY YOUR CHECK. I DONT KNOW HOW MAY TIMES I HAVE HAD A BANK REP CALL IN ASKING WHY DID WE DECLINE THEIR CUSTOMERS CHECK. I ALWAYS ASK ONE QUESTION TO THEM " WILL YOU GUARENTEE THERE CHECKS FOR THEM?" THEY ALWAYS SAY, NO!

SO GO ON KEEP WRITING YOUR CHECKS. EVEN THOUGH I JUST EXPLAINED EVERY LITTLE DETAIL ON THIS SUBJECT, YOU WILL STILL KEEPING ASKING QUESTIONS AND ### UNTIL YOU HEAR WHAT YOU WHAT TO HEAR, I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY... I REALLY DO ITS JUST THE AMERICAN WAY TO STUMP OUR FEET AND POUT WHEN WE DON'T GET WHAT WE WANT.

OH AND BY THE WAY FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO CALL IN CUSSING AND NAME CALLING :
ONE- WE JUST WORK HERE, WE PERSONALLY' ARE NOT DECLINING YOUR DAMN CHECKS.

TWO- DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE AN AFTER WORK JOKE? BECAUSE THATS ALL YOU BECOME.

THREE- NAME CALLING/BASHING THE COMPANY/AND TELLING ME HOW BAD I NEED A NEW JOB WILL GET YOU NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WHERE =) YOUR CHECKS STILL DECLINED. HAH!

P.S.

TELLING ME TO HURRY UP MAKES MY COMPUTER RUN SLOWER... ITS A MYSTERY. I KNOW... HAHAHA!

btw CINDY, we are the #1 check verification center in the U.S. ... Were not a Credit Bureau. Take your Credit rating Q&A's to them. thank you for calling, have a good day!

You know, there is this wonderful invention called THE FRIGGIN' DEBIT CARD! Be an intellectual and act like you are educated and have some sense for once and USE IT!

The real demon here is YOUR OWN BANK! They want to look good to their clients and say there is absolutely NO reason why your check should be declined but they neglect to tell you they WILL NOT guarantee your checks AND they WILL NOT verify funds with third parties! They only verify to you or other financial institutions. If your bank really gave two farts about you they would have told you this from the time you opened your account. Your check is an I.O.U. and nothing more. Your financial institution will not guarantee that the funds will be available by the time the check hits your account. Do yourself a favor and ask your bank anonymously if they will guarantee a merchant that the funds will be available when the check hits your account and see what they say.

Blah, blah, blah! My check was declined. Blah, blah, blah! I have funds available. Blah, blah, blah! I have a good credit score... HELLO! If you knew ANYTHING about writing checks you would know that all that is irrelevant! The only reason why you probably write a check is you don't have the funds available anyways!

Many of you say this is illegal... IF IT WERE ILLEGAL CERTEGY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR 40+ YEARS AND GOVERNED BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION! Certegy follows all that the law requires. All of you so called "lawyers" should know this ...DUH!

For all of you WalMart lovers ...YOU ARE THE MOST INCOMPITANT HUMAN BEINGS I HAVE EVER COME INTO CONTACT WITH IN MY LIFE! Since you're too dumb to get a bank account and DEPOSIT your check to your account let my fill you in on a secret... YOUR PAYROLL, STATE AND GOVERNMENT CHECKS ARE STILL SUBJECT TO APPROVAL! It does not matter whether your check is from your minimum wage job or the federal government, there is no promise the merchant will receive their money. I don't know why I'm explaining this anyways. WalMart customers don't have the IQ to understand this anyways.

There are a few things you should know before calling their 1-800 number:

1. You can send your complaints to useless websites like these or even to the Better Business Bureau but guess what ...YOU STILL WON'T GET YOUR WAY! Your petty attempts to scare Certegy to tell everyone you know and threaten to never shop at their clients again is useless. Certegy will just say sorry for the trouble and have a good day. You know why? You will go back to those stores because there is nowhere else to go. Certegy services more than half of all merchants in the country and territories.

2. You will get the same answer over and over again but in different terms each time you ask the same rediculous questions but the reps dumb it down for the "simple folk".

3. Your calls are recorded for quality and legal purposes. If you try to take legal action you will make yourself look like an even bigger idiot because there is no illegal practices taking place and Certegy WILL play it in court for you.

4. The hold time may be a while because there are several other idiots just like you jumping up and down and screaming in the middle of the store asking the same useless questions. Save your breath and don't waste your time.

Alas! I know my attempts of enlightening you people will be fruitless. You will still complain, cry and scream and make yourself look like a ###. I guess that's how the system works. Without ###s like you Certegy would cease to exist... and the reps would have nothing to laugh about when they place you on hold or at office gatherings. One ### LIKE YOU puts smiles on thousands of faces.

Good day to you.

So what are we suppose to do when Certegy doesnt "like" the company we get payed from.
Geez I just want to cash my payroll check at Walmart:(

I have the same problem at Big Lots & MicroCenter. I love the stores but hate Certegy. Their customer service is awful. The best they can do is tell you "it's a crap shoot" as to whether your checks will go threw or not. I wish all companies that use them would start using someone else. Maybe losing a few good customers would force them to be functional.

it has nothing to do with "liking" or "disliking" the company the check comes from. computers can't tell if your check is from mcdonalds or microsoft ...hell it can't tell you from a ham sandwich! it reads nnnnnuuuuummmmbbbbeeeeerrrrsssss ... that's truly a dumb question ...be proud.

if your check reflects the same similarities to the risk model which consists of the recent losses THE STORE ITSELF has experienced then your check may get declined.

You can't blame WalMart for wanting to hire someone to prevent the same thing from happening to them over and over again.

In simpler terms since you're a WalMart shopper and your IQ is about the same as a tree i'll give you an example ...it's like smelling bad cheese ...once you smell it once you definately don't want to smell it again. just like WalMart doesn't want to go through the same losses.

I too am a victim of this crap. I have notified the following: FTC, atty general Wisconsin, atty general Florida, ABC news, AARP, and the pope. NOW ALL WE CAN DO TO STOP THIS IS TO SCREAM AT THE RETAILER USING THEIR SERVICE, IF IT'S A NATIONAL CHAIN WRITE TO THE CEO, AND BOARD MEMBERS, ALSO POST YOUR COMMENTS ON ANY BLOG YOU CAN FIND. write A EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO FORWARD TO THEIR FRIENDS ETC AND WRITE SUCH COMPANIES SUCH AS WALGREENS, THEN AND ONLY THEN WHEN THESE COMPANIES FEEL THE PAIN WILL THINGS START TO CHANGE.

I agree with JOE... lets just write the pope while were at it! Party at the Vatican woot woot!

I don't usually write checks, however, I was at Bass Pro Shops in the Inland Empire with only my checkbook. I wrote a check for $169.00 and was told the check was rejected by Certegy Code 2. I was embarrassed and humiliated and asked who I could call to find out what Code 2 meant and why my check was refused. The manager showed up with a piece of paper with Certegy's phone number on it. Since I don't usually write checks, I got over the embarrassment and humiliation and didn't call. A couple of months later, I was in Target not wanting to charge anymore on my credit card. I wrote a check for $140.00 and again my check was declined by Certegy, Code 2. This time I called. I got a Certegy employee who was obviously reading, verbatim, from a company manual. She told me that my check was declined because my checking account was flagged as matching a pattern of fradulent activity. I asked her to tell me specifically what fradulent activity and why MY check was declined. She again read, word for word, the same explanation. At this point I started getting very angry and asked her again what fradulent activity. She again read me the same explanation. Now furious, I asked to speak with her supervisor. After 15 minutes on hold using my cell phone minutes no less, I was patched through to a supervisor, William. I told him I wanted an investigation into the "fradulent activity" related to my account because if I'm a victim of identity theft, I told him, I needed to know about it. He told me the investigation had already been done and that's why my checks were declined. I flew into a rage at this point and again requested that an investigation be done specifically on why MY checks were associated with fradulent activity. BTW, my credit score is around 780. No matter what I asked him, he kept repeating the same rhetoric over and over. I then asked to speak with his supervisor.He told me he didn't have one. I said everybody has a supervisor and again he told me he didn't have one. I got so angry, I though I was gonig to have a heart attack and my 9-year-old daughter was upset. I can't remember the last time I got so angry. Finally he told me his supervisor's name, but said she was on vacation until March 3rd which was a few days away. I ended up hanging up on him after I realized that I was dealing with ###s and wasn't going to get anything except a coronary. F*** Certegy. I'm still seething. Shame on you Certegy and your dispicable business practices. And shame on the businesses who use your services while humiliating and embarrassing your loyal and responsible customers.

dang get over yourself lady ...you've got some real problems ...it makes me laugh though!

This is unreal to me! I tried to write a check at WalGreens and they said they could not take my check. They gave me a slip with a number to call for Certegy Check Services and they told me that since I wrote a check to Best Buy the day before for an unusual amount (in their minds) that I was not able to write my small check at WalGreens! They said they have that right to decline my check. They also told me that it could happen at any given time to any of the merchants they verify checks for!

They don't even verify funds or anything they just make up their minds and that is that! It seems odd to me that they are able to do this and that they don't question a rather large check and yet decline a small $25.00 check! Someone needs to investigate them bad!

Just deal with it and save the cheques for paying bill by mail.
I HATE getting stuck behind you people who take three times longer to pay because you have to write out a cheque.
Hmm
Maybe we need MORE companies doing this!