Customer Bounced A Check!

shazamyman

ok look im not some big construction co.

These folks wrote me a check last Thursday, and the BANK,wont mention their name, ( M & cheaT) cleared the check Sat.!


now this Thursday the old lady checks the account and tells me the check bounced...of course i call the customer respectful, a bit confused and willing to work with them, while on the inside i am ....because i made 16 purchases on the check which M & cheaT tells me i owe them 37 dollars per purchase on .....why the did they clear the check then!!


so...the ho tells me there must have been a mix up, and its not showing anything on their end that the check bounced! Hard for me to believe , and they will pay me cash to reimburse me, plus my second draw, but they wanna see paper work showing that the check bounced, plus paper work proving the insufficient funds!!!

They were supposed to give me cash yesterday, got none" money still hasn't gone thru" the ho claims

Today they are supposed to give me the cash, but i was told to CALL THEM LAST NIGHT as i did and no one called back




So, ok if they dont pay up today what can i do,

the check was 2 grand, the fees will come out to over 600 if not more and i have to charge them for my labor and for my help 60$ an hour...all this will come out about 5000, almost the cost of the entire job for them...!!


Can i take em to court , or do i have to put a lein on thier possessions?

or can i go remove all the material that i installed on the house throw it in the front yard and set it on fire?

genecarp

you need to try to be patient, and work it out with them, keep it cordial untill you are possitive they are trying to screw you. just for now, politely stay in ther face

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threaderman

It's hard to help as we don't know where you are located but you definitely cannot remove what has bein installed.A lein or small court are both options for you I believe.Maybe someone in your area can be more definitive.

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shazamyman

yeah i know i cant remove the stuff and burn it....and of corse i wont

I will continue to be polite and aggressive about payment though

This job is located in pa....right on the border of the maryland line


a lien wouldnt really help me though unless they sold the property , right?


and the court can take up to a year before they threaten them with arrest, i think.....


boy , wont help my bills ...ill just keep taking on fees i guess

Edsollen

What county? Some district Justices are helpful in guiding you through the process, I have several rentals in Franklin County so I am familiar with collecting bad debt. Keep it respectful but firm. Even though it is inconvenient on a small job stop work, you need to stop increasing the loss on your part.
Joel

skylands

Here a route you can take but you have to handle it with kid gloves.

Most of the time a bounced check is a simple mistake on the HO's part. I do charge the added fees and with the exception of one person, it's never been a problem.

However. I had one customer that told me to just redeposit the check. The bank teller said there was no money there. I called the HO and asked to have the check and fees covered by cash. He argued to just redeposit it plus he felt that paying the fees was my cost of doing business. So I told him that I was simply going to turn the check over to the police and let them deal with it. He came up with the cash fees and all.

Chris Johnson

My contract states checks returned for ANY reason are subject to a fee of $ 250.00. People balk at that clause...I just look them in the face...you plan on bouncing me a check? They say no, I say don't worry about the clause then!!

$ 600.00 in fees?????? I would talk with the branch manager and see about getting them reduced

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Chris

SelfContract

"Bouncing check" intentionally is a felony crime. Ypo already have proof. You can do two ways:

1. Report to local jurisdiction/prosecutor in you state or

2. Write them a letter with proof of insufficient fund copy letter from bank. If they don't respond, bring them to court, I GUARANTEED they WILL NOT show up, & you AUTOMATICALLY win case BY DEFAULT!

The only problem is AFTER you won, will they still have money to pay for you or you MUST go to collection after their azz!???

mdshunk

Just be advised that a bad check over a certain amount, intentional or not, is a felony. You have considerable leverage. Edsollen has it right... professional and firm.

Floordude

Don't call them!!! Go over there with proof of all the charges you have occurred and the bounced check marked NSF.

If they balk, you know your dealing with a cheat.

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Floordude


Trade: Certified Floorcovering Failure Investigator

Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: North Mexico
Posts: 682

" North Mexico "?

I assume you are referring to Lower California, Arizona or New Mexico?????

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Stickman

Some info on checks:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_fraud

shazamyman

well it worked out, they paid the check and the 2nd draw, i told them i have to wait till this week for all the total fees....


They told me they had the same problem buying thier jeep, idk what the deal is there, but my final draw will be cash.

Jason Whipple

Glad to hear it worked out. Things are hard enough for everyone right now! Stay on them about the fee's. Get your bank to get going on it and hand it to the H/O asap!

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Stickman

Glad it worked out for you. Final draw cash or cashiers check

dougger222

Never had that happen but have had customers very late with payments. For example today I opened the mail box to find a check for labor for just over $6K for a roof I did last Summer. I was patient and it paid off. Got another home owner with a very bad insurance company who has been dragging their feet for final payment. That one has been done since last Summer too. Had a builder recently pay me for a model 8 months after invoice. Did two more since then with timely payment.

It would be better to get no check than a check that bounces. If you don't have overdraft protection it can hurt you. My business account has an overdraft protection on it. The IRS yanks a few ground out on the 15'th so just in case want to make sure they get their money!!!

Living pay check to pay check and running a business would be tough.

Sportbilly

Just so you know, never count on the money from a check immediately, even if the bank tells you it's cleared. They can come back weeks later and take the money back.

They 'clear' it within a certain time frame because the law says they have to make funds available. If it turns out later to be insufficient funds, they have the right to to recover the money from your account.

I'm sure there's someone here that can tell you the exact procedure for telling if it's properly cleared and good to go, I just never count on it, and keep a float in the account to cover ongoing expenses.