Page 9 | “Please make cheques payable to”

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 2026-07-17T05:37:20+00:00

I went for a private healthcare appointment recently and just got the invoice in the post. It says that the preferred payment method is a cheque! I’m in my 20s and have never written a cheque before. AIBU to think they need to update their payment terms?

Sherararara · 17/07/2026 08:14

shhblackbag · 17/07/2026 08:11

I mean, that's life. Not everything in life runs to our timetable. Calling to sort a payment or appointment during a lunch break is fairly normal.

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Except it used to be normal. Technology progressed. There are better, faster and more flexible ways now. I haven’t had to “make a call on my lunch break” in a decade.

shoesandshipsandsealingwax · 17/07/2026 08:13

I’m with you OP - I have never once paid over the phone via card for anything, and the last (and only) time I wrote a cheque was as a student in 2009 and even then it felt old fashioned.

Holymolymoon · 17/07/2026 08:12

I love me a cheque, both sending and receiving. I'm with HSBC and I get new chequebooks sent automatically.

Original poster

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 08:12

HelpMeGetThrough · 17/07/2026 08:10

I’ve had the “we are card only”, as soon as I’ve said “no problem, I’ll go somewhere else”, they suddenly accept cash.

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Why though? Cash is dirty (literally! It’s filthy) and inconvenient

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Original poster

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 08:12

shhblackbag · 17/07/2026 08:11

I mean, that's life. Not everything in life runs to our timetable. Calling to sort a payment or appointment during a lunch break is fairly normal.

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I’m aware that’s life.

But as I have said. In 2026 it’s reasonable to expect that online payment methods are the norm.

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shhblackbag · 17/07/2026 08:11

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 08:07

They don’t open until 9am, which is when I start work.

So I need to wait until my break, hope they’re open and available, and if not, it waits until Monday.

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I mean, that's life. Not everything in life runs to our timetable. Calling to sort a payment or appointment during a lunch break is fairly normal.

HelpMeGetThrough · 17/07/2026 08:10

TheChosenTwo · 17/07/2026 07:57

I struggle to spend cash these days, last week I went into 4 different shops and none of them took cash!

Also, I’m 41 and have never had a cheque book but my mum used to write them for me to pay for things like school trips etc.

I agree with you Op, I think the payment options offered are really quite outdated!

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I’ve had the “we are card only”, as soon as I’ve said “no problem, I’ll go somewhere else”, they suddenly accept cash.

Keepingittogetherstepbystep · 17/07/2026 08:09

OwlCalledSage · 17/07/2026 07:17

Wow. Do cheque books even exist anymore?

Yes I got one a few weeks ago

App wouldn't accept as the sender decided my title without asking me. I went to the bank, had asked a member of staff of I could pay it in. Yes just go to the desk, went to desk told to use machine. I laughed and said if the machine would take it I'd use the machine. It cleared within 24 hours which was impressive.

angelcake20 · 17/07/2026 08:09

My husband is a doctor and only started taking online payments for his private work a year or two ago, at which time he started sending out email invoices instead of posting them. He still gets cheques from his more elderly patients.

Original poster

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 08:07

CanSeeClearlyNowTheRainHasGone · 17/07/2026 08:00

You could make the process a whole lot less painful and time-consuming by just making the payment (over the phone, which you say you love using) and not wasting half an hour blogging about how not all of the world works as you would like it to.

"il faut cultiver notre jardin"

as Voltaire said back in 1759 ... the whole novel is a good life lesson

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It doesn’t open until 9am. What am I meant to do? Force them to open now?

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Original poster

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 08:07

shhblackbag · 17/07/2026 08:00

Maybe. But calling and paying by card would have been quicker than writing and posting on this thread. Agree with your point about cheques, though.

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They don’t open until 9am, which is when I start work.

So I need to wait until my break, hope they’re open and available, and if not, it waits until Monday.

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LaliqueSaltGrinder · 17/07/2026 08:05

EverMissWicklowSometimes · 17/07/2026 07:14

I would phone them up and ask for their bank account details so you can do a transfer. Just to make a point. Say you've lost your card or something!

Spoken by someone who has never worked in accounts receiveable. Random sums of money landing in a bank account and you have no idea what invoice it's for and who sent it.

Just phone and pay. And if you feel so strongly about it being inconvenient, don't use that company again.

BranClaps · 17/07/2026 08:03

Cheques are a pain for my business as you can’t pay in higher than £3000, card payments are also a pain as you lose 1% +20p which adds up on big invoices.

Bank transfer is fee and easy, very strange.

Myblueclematis · 17/07/2026 08:03

I pay my window cleaner by cheque if I don't happen to have cash, he doesn't use any other method for payment. Also when my household bin was being cleaned, he always asked for yearly cheque to be sent. No other way of paying him.

I also recently paid for some blinds in the house to a one-man band fitter, he also asked for a cheque.

Oldoaklands · 17/07/2026 08:02

caefe · 17/07/2026 06:50

I don’t mind receiving cheques as you can pay them in via mobile banking and mine usually clear the next day. Even before banking updates for cheques the only took a week max where do you bank that takes 4 weeks to clear a cheque?

OP you say their preferred method is cheque, just use one of the alternatives instead. Chequebooks are not given as standard with accounts now and even those who use them don’t get them sent out automatically when they run low, they have to request them every time now with BOS, presumably the whole Lloyds group is the same. Just an extra layer to make it more difficult to use them.

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It is our postal service that is the issue plus they took a couple of weeks to issue them in the first place.

Owly11 · 17/07/2026 08:01

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 07:56

This is a weak excuse. It’s just as much admin to assign a cheque to the right account, or to take a card payment over the phone.

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Excuse for what exactly? Not doing things as you like them to be done?

CanSeeClearlyNowTheRainHasGone · 17/07/2026 08:00

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 07:51

Again - my issue isn’t the fact I have to make a phone call. My job is to make phone calls. I love it.

My issue is that it’s so inconvenient! I have to hope that someone answers the phone promptly today, or it gets delayed by another two days. It’s just not useful in a 9-5 society.

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You could make the process a whole lot less painful and time-consuming by just making the payment (over the phone, which you say you love using) and not wasting half an hour blogging about how not all of the world works as you would like it to.

"il faut cultiver notre jardin"

as Voltaire said back in 1759 ... the whole novel is a good life lesson

shhblackbag · 17/07/2026 08:00

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 06:42

The only other method is to call them up and pay via card. Both methods are pretty outdated

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Maybe. But calling and paying by card would have been quicker than writing and posting on this thread. Agree with your point about cheques, though.

Springtimeinsunshine · 17/07/2026 07:59

RoseOliviaAu · 17/07/2026 07:54

I have a chequebook and have used precisely one cheque since I got it in 2011. I enjoyed it. We have one we need to cash on the fridge but no idea how to do it because there are no actual banks near us that we are members of.

Look up on your banks website and there will be step by step instructions on how to upload a photo of your cheque. It's very easy to do, and no visit to the bank.

TheChosenTwo · 17/07/2026 07:57

HelpMeGetThrough · 17/07/2026 07:42

Yep, got one here. Last cheque I wrote was last year.

I pretty much pay for everything in cash, as that’s my preference. Will do card at a push.

Edited

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I struggle to spend cash these days, last week I went into 4 different shops and none of them took cash!

Also, I’m 41 and have never had a cheque book but my mum used to write them for me to pay for things like school trips etc.

I agree with you Op, I think the payment options offered are really quite outdated!

Pennyplant19 · 17/07/2026 07:57

I agree! My husband had to issue a cheque recently, had no idea where his chequebook was, so I hunted mine out, and saw it was issued in 2006!! I’d only written a few cheques from it. I agree, both methods seem outdated.

WorkCleanRepeat · 17/07/2026 07:56

UniquePinkSwan · 17/07/2026 07:17

Using a phone is outdated?

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Having to make a phone call to pay a bill is definitely ridiculous.

Springtimeinsunshine · 17/07/2026 07:56

Not everyone can use BACS so I'm relieved that at least some organisations use other methods. I have problems with strings of numbers.

FuzzyPuffling · 17/07/2026 07:56

I pay my water bill over the phone (automated system) using a bank card, four times a year.

I wouldn't describe it as "antiquated". It takes a couple of minutes and is perfectly efficient.

Original poster

asatelliteisnttoofarright · 17/07/2026 07:56

Owly11 · 17/07/2026 07:54

There are many reasons why a company might need you to call in. Fraud prevention, minimisation of mistakes by the customer especially in an organisation where some people self fund and some people are paid by insurance pay outs, cyber crime and most importantly admin. It creates a lot of extra admin linking payments to invoices via bank transfer and the organisation's software may be set up to link invoices directly to card payments where it won't be to bank transfers.

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This is a weak excuse. It’s just as much admin to assign a cheque to the right account, or to take a card payment over the phone.

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