Are there Bank Cheques and checkbooks in Poland? Do people use cheques?

I was wondering if Polish banks give checkbooks in Poland ?
If you need to buy a lot of things at the same time I believe there is a maximum amount with credit cards.
Do Banks give cheques to customers or not?
How are big amounts of money paid in Poland, for instance if you need to buy a sofa,a Tv etc the same day ?
Thanks a lot for your info.

Well, some Polish banks will give you checks, but they're more like certified checks for a certain amount, which you can deposit in an account - you won't be able to pay with them in a store.

Credit card maximums depend on the customer - it all depends on the kind of money you make.
Sofas can be had for anywhere from 1000 to 20,000 zlotys, or probably even more. The lower end of things should be manageable on any credit card.

Similarly to furniture TVs probably cost much the same as anywhere else - it's your choice how much you pay. Besides, if you don't have the limit, you probably can't afford it anyway. ;-)

Do Polish Banks charge for collecting International bankdrafts or Bank Cheque. I want to send money to a bank account at Invest Bank, and I wonder if there are any charges for receiving funds in international bankdraft. I cant find anyother way of transferring money to Poland other than the ridiculously expensive Western Union.

There is certainly a charge for receiving internationally wired funds into a Polish bank account. It varies by bank, but is typically 25 - 50zl per transaction. There would normally be a charge on the sending end as well from your bank in Australia, so if you are wiring to yourself you will get hit on both ends. You are also subject to FX fluctuations beyond your control, unless you hold an account in your native currency in the receiving bank.

Not sure if this is any help..but last year i received a cheque for some work done from an irish company. I went into the bank to lodge it and it had to be sent for collection i.e. the cheque is sent by post to the bank that it is drawn on and the bank sends on cleared funds. The process took about 7 weeks. Somewhat painful. Best if you have a bank account to transfer the money into. By the way there was a charge for sending the cheques for collection.

I haven't ever come across a cheque being used in Poland! From what I've seen, if people need to buy big ticket items they either pay cash, do it on hire purchase or, increasingly frequently, pay by credit card.

I should clarify that the cheques was received from a company in ireland and not poland. I have never seen a cheque being used to transact in poland, either on a small or large scale. A lot of large scale transactions are by money transfer between bank accounts. This is actually one area that poland are miles ahead on i.e. no cheques in the payments system unlike ireland and UK which still have a large (though decreasing) reliance on the cheque book.

Cheques began to be used in a very limited way in the mid 90's (and even seem to recall seeing them being used in stores a time or two) but it didn't last.

For all intents and purposes, Poland went directly from cash only to cash or card (bank or credit).