Complaint Review: A1 Check Cashing

I made the mistake of walking up to the window of A1 Check Cashing (inside the Swift gas station) and passing my $1,200 stimulus check under the bullet-proof glass. I asked the clerk what they charged, and she told me she couldn't give me a definite price until I "created a profile", and signed the check(!). I asked for a ballpark estimate, and she said $100. I asked for my check back.

She got on the phone with her boss, and refused to give my check back for three or four minutes (I got insistent). Then she wrote VOID on the face of the check before sliding it back!

She said that was "policy" and I could still cash it anywhere else (no attempt to justify it beyond that). I even went to the place next door to check, and of course you can't cash a voided check. Now my choice was to "give" A1 my business or throw away $1,200. I had to give these scammers my social security number (the real one, I tried a fake one first), a fingerprint, a photo of my ID, and pay $100 for the privilege.

It seems to me like they committed at least felony destruction of property in front of a bunch of cameras, and I'm guessing they expect to get away with this kind of thing. The places are parasitic at the best of times, but I didn't expect a business in my neighborhood would literally rob me.