I don't take checks at ALL in my businesses anymore. If someone has a checking account that they properly maintain, it's easy enough to get a debit card, which doesn't have all the risk for businesses that checks do.
As to why I don't take checks anymore, it's quite simple: I have too many of them left over from when I did.
MM
I sure received plenty of comments on this thread when I thought it would die at five or six. My big beef with Kroger is not the check cashing denial at $25.00, but them tracking my purchases and limiting the amount I can purchase. The only reason I wanted to cash a check, and I have to admit it, was to beat the ATM fee. The nearest ATM for my bank is across town and the local ones all charge at least a $2.00 fee. I only needed a few dollars for pocket change, needed some chicken for Sunday dinner (it was great) so thought I would simply write a check.
I understand your plight with the bad checks. When my dad sold his farm implement business in 1969 he carried several thousand dollars worth of bad checks and accounts receiveable with him. It was almost five years and many court visits later when he finally just gave up on some, and they were all local people in a very small community in Wyoming.