fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 6, 2003 12:42:58 PM new
I thought some might enjoy this.
Got a standard Wells Fargo money order from a customer. Trouble is, there's no amount on it anywhere! Not embossed, not typewritten, and it's blank except for what she's written at the bottom.
I sent it back with a note.
Today I get email: "I accidentally sent you a blank money order. Please fill in the amount: $15.75. OK?"
I think sending it back was the right move. Comments?
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shop4shoes
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posted on January 6, 2003 12:45:48 PM new
Did it say "personal money order" anywhere on it?
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zoomin
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posted on January 6, 2003 12:59:18 PM new
next time you get one of those, please fill in "three kazillion dollars" and forward it to me!
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 6, 2003 01:01:29 PM new
shop4shoes: I didn't make a copy of it, but yeah, I think it did say that at the top.
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shop4shoes
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posted on January 6, 2003 01:20:54 PM new
Some banks issue those. They are guarenteed funds that are blocked out of the purchaser's savings or checking account. If you wrote it for more than the amount blocked out, it would bounce.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 6, 2003 01:51:01 PM new
Well, ya learn something new every day.
Still glad I didn't take a chance, though.
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shop4shoes
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posted on January 6, 2003 02:07:10 PM new
I have had it happen to me and I send them back too.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 7, 2003 11:39:55 AM new
The customer wrote back and said she works at the place that issued the money order.
Now I'm wondering if she's stealing money order blanks...
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rarriffle
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posted on January 7, 2003 12:56:09 PM new
fluffy, that is very possible...a neighbor of mine did that at a convenience store where she worked and tried to pay her rent with it.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 7, 2003 05:26:17 PM new
I found a copy of a previous money order she sent me. My recollection was faulty; it's an Integrated Payment Solutions money order payable at Wells Fargo. These money orders are sold by businesses such as convenience stores.
The previous M.O. had an amount embossed on it.
So she might have purchased it herself and forgotten to emboss it; or she might have stolen a stack of blank m.o.s.
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intercraft
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posted on January 7, 2003 05:50:02 PM new
Count me skeptical, but if the bank had 'blocked out' a specific amount of money from someone's account, why wouldn't they have issued the money order with the amount already printed? And that procedure sounds alot like getting a money order from your bank. Why would they wait to permanently take the money out of your account?
Just too many iffs. I think the right thing was done, refuse payment.
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sparkz
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posted on January 7, 2003 07:28:22 PM new
There is no bank that is going to let a blank money order out the front door. Same goes for convenience stores. That teller is going to emboss an exact amount on it and collect cash from you before you get your hands on it. The money order you received was stolen. I bank with Wells Fargo, and I thought about asking them if they would give me a blank money order when I was in there this afternoon. I decided not to. I didn't want them calling the local mental hospital and reporting me as an escapee.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 7, 2003 08:22:25 PM new
You're right, of course, sparkz, but I don't think it's a Wells Fargo money order.
I think what we have here is the equivalent of a 7-11 clerk who either bought a m.o. in her store for herself (and forgot to emboss it) or stole some blanks.
The first scenario suggests sloppy inventory control on the part of the store, though. You'd think they'd have procedures in place to prevent it.
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shop4shoes
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posted on January 7, 2003 08:45:08 PM new
There is no bank that is going to let a blank money order out the front door. Same goes for convenience stores. That teller is going to emboss an exact amount on it and collect cash from you before you get your hands on it.
I can name several off the top of my head that let blank money orders out the front door. 2 of my banks do it.
Banks do not always "emboss" anything on money orders or cashiers checks. One of my banks, that I get money orders and cashiers checks from several times a week, either types in the amount (if the cashier isn't too busy) or writes it in by hand. I have banked with them for almost 6 years.
An employee of mine was buying a new car. Her bank gave her a personal money order that had no amount filled in. It just had the maximum amount that the money order was good for. The maximum amount was blocked out of her account. When she was ready to purchase all she needed to do was fill in the amount of purchase up to the maximum allowed on the money order.
Some banks even tout their "blank check" financing. Which is the same as the personal money order only the funds come from the bank. My friend got that when he purchased a car that was financed through his bank. They gave him a cashiers check with the maxium amount he could finance on the check. He went to the dealer found his car and wrote the amount in, which was considerably less than what the maximum was. The only other thing he had to do was, fill out the "payable to" part. These types of money orders and cashiers checks are fairly common in Florida. They normally expire after a few months.
below are links to several places that do it:
http://www.peoplefirst.com/auto_financing.cfm
http://www.campuscu.com/ASP/Products/product_1_2.asp
They issue a "vehicle draft" which is the same as the "blank check" offered by other banks.
I have gotten 5 or 6 blank "personal money" orders through ebay. None recently though. I always send them back to the customer. They have always been returned to me filled out and clear just fine. It isn't that hard to call the issuing bank. Nearly all of them have toll-free numbers.
I found a copy of a previous money order she sent me. My recollection was faulty; it's an Integrated Payment Solutions money order payable at Wells Fargo. These money orders are sold by businesses such as convenience stores.
These normally come in sheets for the embossing machine or as they are being embossed the info is sent to issuer on the amount.
It is too bad you don't have the money order number. Integrated is a big issuer, if you had given them a call they could have told you if it was stolen.
[ edited by shop4shoes on Jan 7, 2003 08:47 PM ]
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shop4shoes
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posted on January 7, 2003 09:03:37 PM new
I bank with Wells Fargo, and I thought about asking them if they would give me a blank money order when I was in there this afternoon. I decided not to. I didn't want them calling the local mental hospital and reporting me as an escapee.
Wells Fargo has a "blank check" auto financing program.
They won't report you as an escapee...unless you have done something else...
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 7, 2003 09:05:56 PM new
Integrated is a big issuer, if you had given them a call they could have told you if it was stolen.
Yeah, I wish I'd done that. Next time. Thanks for the tip.
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shop4shoes
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posted on January 7, 2003 09:10:49 PM new
Fluffy, you live a wild and dangerous life. 
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grumpyebayer
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posted on January 8, 2003 08:11:05 AM new
I have gotten personal money orders with no amount filled in. The bank just printed my name and address on them and "not valid over xxxxx dollars." No one has ever refused to take one.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on January 8, 2003 09:12:00 AM new
Fluffy, you live a wild and dangerous life.
Oh how I wish that were true.
Something weird did happen to me the other night, though, that struck me as a bit wild and possibly dangerous.
We rent a 10 x 22 ft. storage unit with rollup door. This facility unfortunately has very poor exterior lighting at night, so I don't like working there after dark. But I had to go over Sunday night. On my way there, I was cut off by a ice-blue Ferrari. Looked new. Fabulous car. Wow. California plates. Much to my surprise, the Ferrari precedes me through the gate and parks a few doors down from my unit.
A woman gets out, unlocks another unit, and a few moments later, backs an ice-blue newish BMW out. This is interesting because the rental agreement specifies no vehicle storage whatsoever. Then the Ferrari is parked in the unit. Door locked, and BMW departs.
I'm thinking maybe I should have gotten the license number of the Ferrari. I'm thinking maybe I should tell the facility manager. I'm thinking maybe I should keep my mouth shut; they know where MY unit is.
Partner suggests that the Ferrari is the "weekend car" and they drive the Bimmer during the week.
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shop4shoes
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posted on January 8, 2003 09:43:32 AM new
That is wild. Someone may be hiding assets from an ex...or the IRS!
My storage unit was next to the Keebler Elves. They stored cookies in it and the drivers would deliver them to stores as needed.
Ernie mooned me one night and we got into a fight. I won and the elves put a bounty on my head. I fear no man, but elves...well, elves are vicious. I moved my storage to another facility.
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