[jsimzeroone]

The reminds me of an incident that made me (kind of unfairly) boycott Bed Bath and Beyond for the last few years -- I lost my wallet and didn't have credit cards for a bit, and when I tried to pay at BB&B with a check, they used a machine that told them I was too much of a risk, though I had an 800+ credit rating and thousands in my checking account. I complained and researched and eventually realized that basically all retailers use this check verification system that uses AI that considers your checks too great a risk if you don't normally pay by check -- so the idea that you can use a check in an emergency is really an idea from the last century. This bad decision by eBay seems like the same sort of thing -- machine learning teaches the AI that people who don't regularly buy and sell are far more risky than people who do (which of course they are), so new or occasional buyers/sellers look like a huge risk, and get randomly bounced.

[kube-system]

Probably TeleCheck. Your credit score is irrelevant, it is likely denying you because you never use checks in that way. It's anomaly analysis. At the other end of a wire, both of these circumstances appear identical:

* a criminal who stole the checkbook of someone with an 800+ credit score and used it for a transaction the rightful owner never has

* someone with an 800+ credit score and used it for a transaction they never have

I'm not sure why anyone would use checks in an emergency though, I'm surprised BB&B even still accepts checks.

[maweaver]

> I'm not sure why anyone would use checks in an emergency though, I'm surprised BB&B even still accepts checks.

I was taught to carry one for emergencies. If your credit card gets frozen/lost/stolen/hits its limit, and you don't have enough cash for what you need, carrying a check seems like a good backup plan. Or it did until I've now learned it's essentially useless.

[itzworm]

Unfortunately as technology evolves our default operating procedures have to evolve too.

Take for example draining batteries until they die as the "battery health best practice". Obviously terrible advice for lithium-ion batteries.

Or advice to "never leave a car/lead-acid battery on concrete for longer than a few minutes." Which just doesn't apply with plastic/rubber shelled lead-acid batteries these days.

I'm not sure what a stop gap to replace the emergency check is, but I'm sure there are options.

[Supermancho]

> Or it did until I've now learned it's essentially useless.

That one vendor does not represent US society at large. Plenty of organizations (namely the US govt) still prefers checks. Gardeners, lawyers, and more...all take checks. I still keep a couple in my wallet for emergencies.

[brianwawok]

As a business decision, are they ok with failing 9 good checks to block 1 bad check? I think most retailers would be.

[lotsofpulp]

Probably because they only get 2 checks per year. And the likelihood of someone trying a scam given that they are using a check is already high.

[kube-system]

Most retailers are okay with denying all checks.

[prepend]

I only use checks in an emergency. My credit cards send me new versions within a day of reporting it lost or stolen.

I can live without anything from BedBath&Beyond for a few days. They probably assume anyone paying by check is insane.

[labster]

So far we’ve invented AI to make predictions based on persistence of current conditions, and another one that threatens users with misinformation. Truly, the digital future we have been promised.