Bad checks???

[treesmith]

So...I just had a check bounce....third one since Thanksgiving. I'm wondering what "normal" protocol is for handling this. I have never had this problem in 29 years, until now.

One guy wrote me a check on the Monday , the week before Thanksgiving, asking me to hold it until Wednesday. I didn't deposit it until Thursday...it bounced the Monday of Thanksgiving week. ($775). I called him, ranting about it, and he mails me a check for $782...$775 + $7 return item fee. I deposit it, and it bounces as well. So I called him and told him to just meet me and bring $800 CASH. And that was settled.

Now another guy calls me, construction guy who installs/repairs/maintains tower paraphernalia. They are upgrading guy lines at a cell tower site. Large declining red oak is in the way. He calls me and asks me to go take it down. I priced it at $325, he says GO, and I get it down. Three days later, I finally get up with him and he mails me a check. I got busy and didn't deposit it for a few days. Got it in the bank last week, and today, saw it had BOUNCED. What kind of morons go around writing bad checks, thinking it will be okay with folks? How should I handle this? Suggestions?

 

[MasterBlaster]

 

[woodworkingboy]

I had a customer once that always wrote bad checks to me, and the first time after I got back to him about it, he said for me to speak with the bank manager and simply show him the check. The guy is wealthy and had an arrangement with the bank to honor his checks, no matter what was in the account that they were written off of. I could only cash the check at his bank where he had the account, but that wasn't a problem for me. The tellers didn't seem to know anything about it. I did a lot of work for the man and getting paid was never a problem after the instructions. I thought it was a cool deal to have going if you were writing a lot of checks, wonder how common it is? My customer was once in banking himself, so I guess he really knew the ropes, as well as there being confidence that he was good for paying up the money back to the bank. It could be that they liked having what he held in his other accounts.

I doubt it is an arrangement that mast people ever run into, but maybe getting the manager to look over a check for the heck of it, might not be a bad idea.

 

[Cobleskill]

Consider yourself lucky. Pretty small number for that many years. Rubber checks are fairly common but pretty stupid thing to do. In NY they charge a lot more than $7.

You can check to make sure the check is good at the bank it is written from. Something to do with a second check to make sure it isn't rubber.

 

[Fiddler]

I don't remember ever getting a bad check, if I did it was long ago. I have to chase down my pay once in a great while.

With the advent of electronic banking and automatic payments there is a bigger chance of someone not really knowing what their balance will be when a check goes through unless they are meticulous about keeping track of the automated withdrawals.

 

[treesmith]

A "company" that can't cover a check for $325....ain't much of a company though!

 

[sotc]

True, but if you earned it, it's yours. I've only rarely had a bad check, never the second time!

 

[FireFighterZero]

I have had some bounced checkes. I have also waited for payment for a couple of years before.

Never twice.

I would not have tolerated what Jay had to go through. Unless I charged a huge amount for the time to go to the bank. Like a hundred bucks.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I've only had two. The first was made good right away, the second was a mistake, a large check written off of the wrong account. I had a new, good, check in 15 minutes.

 

[treesmith]

Update....finally got ahold of the guy. He said his office manager had made a wreck of his accounts. He agreed to send me $350 as soon as he could get it sorted out.

I was just wondering what legal recourse there was for dealing with such situations. (Small claims court, etc.) Then there's always Butch's solution...

 

[FireFighterZero]

My well driller sends two bills and then turns you over to a collection agency. My buddy got the collection agency treatment and now that always shows up on a credit app. Those bastards are mean, and take a big chunk of the check if they get paid. But I guess it is the principal of the thing.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Turning a bounced check over to a DA van also yeild results.

 

[SoonerFan]

I think the norm around here is to charge 25 to 35 more (on top of the bank fees).

If you're not strapped for cash, not a bad way to increase the profit on a job.


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[MasterBlaster]

People should pay their bills.

'Nuff said.