I dutifully went off to my Silver Sneakers class yesterday morning, but when I got to the door of the Y, I read:
A disappointment, but not a complete surprise. Our teacher for Mondays and Fridays hurt her shoulder a couple of weeks ago and will be out for a while. Apparently they’re having trouble finding substitutes.
Ordinarily I would have used the weights for a bit then come home, but as luck would have it I had planned to face up to cashing in some old travelers checks at the bank after the class. They were from when we were evacuated during the 2000 wildfire, when we decided to use the time to go to Montana and take Andy’s mother out to dinner for her 91st birthday. The timing was perfect and we bought some American Express travelers checks as emergency money if someone stole our credit cards. As good as cash they always promised.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had been told it was too late, things had changed so much the checks were no longer good. Instead when I told the cashier I wanted to cash them and deposit the money into our checking account, she asked, “Did you buy them here?” Say what? How would they know? Anyway, I said I didn’t think so. She said they couldn’t cash them then.
I asked where I might cash them, she said Smith’s, our local supermarket. So I went over and talked to the people at Smith’s. They had never seen travelers checks before, but said they could do it. The trouble is they would have to charge me $3 per check and that it was ridiculous the bank wouldn’t do it. They suggested I go back and talk to a supervisor. I told them they got gold stars for their service, the bank not so much.
I did go back to the bank and talked to one of the receptionists who knows us well. She talked to a supervisor, who said no problem, and the receptionist took me over to another cashier and told her it was all right to cash them.
It was out of the ordinary. The cashier had to sign on to her computer and had to look up her password because she didn’t do that very often, then the computer said she had to phone American Express to check the validity. That made sense because the checks were so old they had to be sure they hadn’t been reported as lost or stolen. No problem there, so I signed the checks and deposit slip and the matter is done forever.
American Express still has a site advertising their checks, but for us the era of traveler checks is over. We won’t be buying any more!
That’s crazy! We stopped using traveler checks years ago after ATMs became widely available. With fees that were little to none, it was actually cheaper to use our debit card to get cash out. When ATM fees started being widely applied to non-member debit cards, we took a different tactic. We’ll stop at Walmart, buy a few things that we need, and then pay with our debit card, selecting the option for additional cash when we check out. We don’t usually carry much cash, paying for almost everything with our Chase credit card, which we pay off every month.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had been too late in trying to cash them. That’s why I didn’t talk to a supervisor right away.
We don’t use cash much anymore. We use our Amazon card — 5% back for purchases on Amazon and 2% on gas for most things, and our Smith’s card — 1% back on purchases from the store plus bonus fuel points. We usually get $1.00/gallon off a gas purchase once a month.
yes that is one type of money-organisation that has definitely changed…but glad you got it all sorted out and your bank acct is back in the “black” 🙂
we have different kinds of cards here, besides the credit card and debit card, we also have an eftpos card (that’s a bit like a debit card, I think – but you have to have money available in your regular bank acct otherwise it will not work. If you use hole in wall, out comes $$, if you are in a store, you can use it to pay for things, and in places like the supermarket/similar you can ask for cash out…
I tend to have some cash in my purse because I have a lot of difficulty with punching number into machinery (fine motor skill) but today I used my eftpos card twice -once in the chemist, and then in the supermarket. Then I went into the Station Mart to get a large packet of potato chips/cash…
Yes, that seems to be the modern way of doing things. I have fond memories of travelers checks, but from a long time ago.
That is another memory trigger for me! As late as 1998 I used Travellers’ Cheques, but after that, I have not gone out of India and the need has not arisen as I can get cash in all ATMs.
I am however surprised at the reaction of the first person at the bank!
We never use ATMs. Andy goes to the bank occasionally to get cash plus rolls of quarters to use in the washing machines.
And cashing the checks was a memory trigger for me too. 🙂
Goodness, I haven’t used travellers’ cheques for decades. Jenny and I always use debit or credit cards, cash we obtained in advance, or cash from an ATM. In fact I had assumed travellers’ cheques were long defunct!
I was afraid mine might have been defunct too! Needless to say, I’m pleased they still worked.
I haven’t used travellers’ cheques for decades, but remember that there was always some anxiety in carrying them around. They were backed by a guarantee if you lost them, but I remember I didn’t trust that process. Glad to get rid of them—they were too much work!
Having to sign and date them was a pain, but apparently reporting them lost or stolen did work. I listened to a book when the fellow tried it. We never had to.
the last time I used them was on a visit to NY to see my mother.
that was ages ago. her own bank refused to cash them.
even though they were supposedly “just like cash!” as their ads proclaimed.
and that was when they were quite common. so a lot of hassle even back then.
I should have just carried cash I guess. I didn’t use credit cards and it was before the age of debit cards and ATM’s.
I’m glad it worked out well for you after having them for so long!
We were using them as backup just in case our cash and credit cards got stolen. Both belts and suspenders, just in case. Now the only place we go is to visit Kaitlin and Torben, so if the worst happened we could borrow some money from them. We do believe in backup plans. 🙂
I can’t remember the last time we used travelers’ checks. But I do remember the time a person tried to use one on a city bus in Minneapolis. She said she was told they could be used anywhere. One of the other riders paid her fare so she could get downtown.
Good for that fellow passenger. I can understand why the city bus couldn’t cash checks in any form.