Text 12750, 57 rader
Skriven 2010-12-01 07:53:08 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 12715 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Ärende: Mailboxes
=================
Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Monday November 29 2010 at 11:09:

RW>>> i.e. we don't have locks on street-side mail boxes because hardly
RW>>> anyone ever bothers with it. (there's not much there to steal that
RW>>> will be worth the effort anyway)

RB>> I find that last comment surprising in vew of the heavy use of checks
RB>> in the USA. If anything, it would seem that places that don't use
RB>> checks (or use them much less - EU and apparently Australia) would be
RB>> less vunerable to mail theft simply because fewer "valuables" are
RB>> sent through the mail.

RW> You probably weren't paying attention to the part of the above that
RW> stated that the Postal Investigation police persue such matters.

The police investigate stolen cars and burglaries, too. So what? That doesn't
mean they don't occur or say anything about the conviction rates.

DD>>>> I pay the bills online.

RW>>> I used to do that. It was a free service, but I didn't like doing
RW>>> it.

RB>> Why? Any special reason?

RW> It's much easier to fill out a few numbers in a computer program that
RW> is able to print checks.

The bigger problem is getting your printer to work with the checks. American
checks are long and very narrow, in contrast to German checks, which are
shorter but broader. I had no problems using my laser printer for German
checks, but when I once tried to print an American-size check, I couldn't do it
- the check was too narrow and the non-printable border on the printer (0.5 cm
if I remember correctly) too wide. Maybe that works better with an inkjet
printer, but then you have the problem that the ink is soluble and can smear if
wet.

Or do you have a special check printer?

RB>> All the bank does is send a check to the company/person whose address
RB>> you supply, same as if you had done it yourself. (Only in exceptional
RB>> cases (utilities, government bills) do the banks in the USA do a
RB>> direct transfer of funds.)

RW> Yeup. But there's no paper trail. I want a paper trail.

You mean the cancelled check. Yes, my sister has noticed that problem too. No
proof when the check was cashed and you can't see the endorsement.

Such a pity that direct account transfers by private persons are unavailable in
the States - that would solve most of these problems (and have the advantage
that bill payments wouldn't make the USPS rich).

Cheers, Bob

--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-0613
 * Origin: Jabberwocky System - 02363-56073 ISDN/V34 (2:2448/44)