Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 January 7

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January 7

golf membership for over 80,s

can anyone tell me of a golf clubs who reduce membership fees for existing members over the age of 80 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.8.156.127 (talk) 10:04, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

No location was given, but the IP address tracks to the London England area. I'm in the United States, but will offer my two pence. Do you mean that the person is already a club member paying standard fees, turns 80, and hopes for a reduction in the cost of membership? Hard to say, but if the person has been an established club member for a number of years, it may not be unreasonable to think that s/he could negotiate some sort of loyalty discount directly with the golf pro. Or do you mean that someone over 80 is shopping for club membership and is wondering if it will be less expensive than for a 79-year old? Probably not, since most American establishments that offer senior citizen discounts start well before that, say, at 60 or 65. Maybe you could clarify a bit? Kingsfold (Quack quack!) 12:17, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Most golf clubs in the UK have a huge range of membership options, but I doubt whether any have a specific concession for 80+ as the concessions for seniors usually start at 60+ to 70+.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 13:25, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

You might want to take a look at the golf clubs in your local area first, and then contact the ones you are interested in to see if they offer any discounts. Chevymontecarlo 19:45, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Giant checks

When somebody wins a lottery and gets a giant check for the photo op, do they actually have to take that to the bank, and does the bank have to accept it ? Or does the lottery just wait until the cameras leave, tear up the big check and issue a normal-sized check ? StuRat (talk) 18:32, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

According to giant check... assuming they actually have all of the right information on them, they can be cashed at a bank, though a bank may charge special handling fees for them. --Mr.98 (talk) 18:46, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Does the US government have to accept them as payment for taxes? I have often considered inconveniencing them by paying via a giant check for a small amount and pennies for the rest of it. Googlemeister (talk) 18:47, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Drawing extra attention to yourself with the IRS might not be the best plan. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:41, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

I once saw one being presented on television and it was turned over and you could see an actual cheque stuck on the back. I think a bank could print a cheque on the side of an elephant if they wished and as long as it contained the right elements it would be valid, doesn't mean any other bank would honor or feed it though. meltBanana 18:52, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

See also Board of Inland Revenue v Haddock on the writing of a cheque on a cow - sadly fictional. AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:55, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

The speculation that they "could" be cashed as long as they had all of the correct information AND you can find a bank to cash them is moot. They are not, nor to my knowledge have they ever been, intended by the presenter of the Giant Check, to be anything more than a prop for a photo opportunity. In every instance I know of, its not intended to be a real check. Does anyone have any evidence of one actually being cashed, or more to the point of the practice of cashing Giant Checks as a common thing? --Jayron32 18:58, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Searching for giant checks to purchase turns up many sites that indicate they will make them cashable by putting account and routing numbers on. They say the bank usually copies, voids, and returns them. --Sean 19:20, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Again, that it could be done is ultimately irrelevent over whether it is being done as a matter of practice. --Jayron32 20:46, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Futher to elephants and cows, I heard the former advertising boss mentioned in this article speak recently. He tells a story (and I have seen news clippings reproduced in his autobiography that confirm it) that during a dispute with his firm's bank, he arrived at the premises with a photographer and attempted to pay in a Giant Cheque, complete with all the correct information, that had been painted across the chest of a comely young Page Three girl. There was some consternation and scurrying behind the counter, but his deposit was eventually refused, apparently without even an attempt to copy it! Karenjc 20:41, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

That comes down to the other point: Banks are private businesses, and cannot be forced to do business with you if you are being a pain in the ass. They also cannot be forced to accept anything as a check. They may, but that's a choice. --Jayron32 20:48, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

That wouldn't hold true everywhere, Jayron. There must be jurisdictions where banks are either government owned or tightly regulated, and do not have the freedom to reject cheques written on non-standard forms for that reason alone. -- Jack of Oz [your turn] 20:57, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

WP:OR warning... I've actually seen one of these checks. A local bank went to an animal shelter that I volunteer at. They were presenting the shelter with a donation. They had the big check and a little check. The big check was nothing more than a white board decorated to look like an actual check. When the time came for the photo-op, they simply wrote on the big check with a dry erase marker and took the photo. After it was done, the board was erased, put back into its special bag (think: portfolio case) and the small check was handed over. Dismas|^(talk) 20:54, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

The following is info found in references, but is not presented as legal advice. Art Linkletter once had a TV contestant cash a check written on a watermelon. Checks written on a watermelon have sometimes been honored by the bank. The US Internal Revenue Service sometimes gets checks written on a shirt ("the shirt of my back"). Checks written on shirts have been held to be valid in the US so long as the bank is willing to accept it. An Iphone ap advertised on US TV allows a check recipient to merely take a cameraphone picture of a check (front and back) to deposit it. My bank quit storing or returning original checks years ago. The bank scans and destroys checks. A business might also only send the bank an image of the check. I requested an official copy of a check from my bank, and got back a low res scan: it could have been from a normal-sized or a billboard-sized check. It could have been written on a cow. The bank does not necessarily receive the original check at any time and check it for watermark, size, or magnetic ink.. If it has the account number and routing number, what earthly difference does the check size make? A 2007 "Idiot's Guide" book indicates that, yes, a giant check can be valid. Not sure about "cheques.") Edison (talk) 23:21, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

(The ability in the US to return an image of a cheque rather than the physical instrument was provided for in the Check 21 Act, which came into effect in 2004.) Some people appear to have a mental model of a cheque as being a piece of paper in a chequebook, rather than a formalised letter to your bank requesting them to pay someone some money from your account, and I believe this is where the confusion lies. Marnanel (talk) 17:16, 8 January 2011 (UTC)

The bank I work for has them - each branch has a couple in storage... The customer borrows them, writes the cheque out (they are laminated/plastic) use them for whatever presentation they are doing, then hand them back... they are wiped clean for the next customer to borrow then... The initial borrower then just gives the charity or whoever a normal cheque... They cannot be cashed, as they are "presentation" cheques only... I would imagine this is a fairly standard practice... gazhiley.co.uk 02:28, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

While I'm sure that the occasional joker will do this from time to time, in general it seems like a pretty bad idea to have a completed, signed check, complete with account numbers, held up for newspaper photographers to take pictures of. That's just asking for trouble.

Still, I'm pretty sure I've read about this being done as a publicity stunt. I can't find a link though, sorry.

(You'd want to check with your bank before you tried this stunt. My checking account comes with a warning that I'll be charged a processing fee for writing non-standard checks, but it doesn't specify how much it would be.) APL (talk) 07:42, 10 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for all your responses. StuRat (talk) 06:18, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Resolved