posted on November 7, 2001 09:58:00 PM new
I had a pretty good track record till now! Allmost 2 years and this is the first and I really dont know how to try and collect on it. Buyer promised to make good with a money order and thats the last I have heard from her! Any ideas appreciated..Lori!
Lori!
posted on November 7, 2001 10:20:02 PM new
It was for $25 then an $8.00 nsf charge. Not a great amount but seeing as Im also out the item it just makes you mad!
Lori!
posted on November 7, 2001 11:00:27 PM new
Try http://www.madagency.com/ - I have no recommendation, I just started to use them very recently, based on another person's recommendation. They were on two accounts that I would never collect on. Have you contacted the bidder? I've had a couple of NSF's over the years (very good track record with checks) and they all made good, so simply contacting them might work. I always make them pay my bank fees too.
posted on November 8, 2001 12:20:53 AM new
There are collection agencies that handle bad checks in just about every city in America. I would look them up in the phone book. They will tack on their fees and then charge you 50% of the check, but at least that is better than nothing.
posted on November 8, 2001 03:52:14 AM new
I would first email them to inform them that the check they wrote was NSF. Ask them to pay this amount in the form of a money order. In this amount, include the amount your bank charges for the trouble of processing the bad check. Insert the wording that you would expect to hear from them in a week.
During this week, call the county prosocuter's office in the county where he lives. Ask them the method of handing a situation where a local resident writes a NSF check to a person in another state. Ask them to put that in writing and send a copy to you.
If after a week you haven't heard from them, send them a firmly worded letter in the mail, registered, with return receipt requested. Inform them of their bad check and the legal obligation to pay this amount. Include a copy of the county prosocuter's letter if they provided you with one. If the prosocuter didn't offer you a letter, state in your letter that you have been in contact with them. In your correspondence, also inform them you will be turning this matter over to a collection agency for resolution. With this pressure, he may pay you.
However, if he doesn't, I would go for a national collection agency if possible. They have the large data base and can make it hard for this deadbeat to even walk into a bank, let alone get any credit form one. He will probally be denied any credit until this amount is paid.
Hopefully this will help you collect the amount owed to you.
posted on November 8, 2001 08:58:10 AM new
Hello Lori, Heres what we do at our retail shop - This works as long as the check has been put thru the bank only once. Call the bank and tell them your a merchant and would like to verify that funds are available to process the check - Some banks even have an automated line to call for this - They will ask the account # the check # and the amount it is written for then you get Yes there are funds to cover it or non sufficient funds in the account. The ideal is to call every few days untill you get a yes or until the account is closed - Once you hear a yes there is money enough- Beat feet down to the nearest branch - present the check and ask for payment in certified funds or mabe you can just cash it with no extra fees( we always got a bank issued check) Always call because once you take it to your bank the second time and deposit it and its rejected NSF - Its dead and your out of luck. Hope that helps.
Ed
posted on November 8, 2001 12:18:48 PM newyeager has pretty much given you the same information I would have. That has worked 6 out of 7 times that I have had a bad check.
ok4leather has given you the second half of my equation that I had to the one time the first didn't work. My check was for a small amount (around $10) and I just held on to it for a month of so. Just after the first of the month (a time when most people have funds in their accounts) I called their bank and verified funds. They, of course, will not tell you how much money is in the account but the clerk nearly burst out laughing when I told her the check amount. She assured me wholeheartedly that there was sufficient funds to cover the check. I wanted to be a fly on the wall when the check cleared and my buyer thought she was actually going to get away with writing a bad check.
posted on November 8, 2001 01:58:28 PM new
Why don't you start by pulling their contact info and phoning them? Ask them in a non-threatening way to send payment again -- but not by check!
posted on November 8, 2001 03:35:49 PM new
You are lucky it is a small amount- I used to send out small items without waiting for the check to clear but I have learned my lesson- The advice to contact the bank is what I do on larger checks- you can do it even before you deposit the check- You can ask if there are sufficient funds to cover the check- it's not perfect because you don't know what other checks are outstanding but it is a clue as to the accounts standing in the bank-
posted on November 8, 2001 04:14:49 PM new
her customer said she is sending a money order so lets give her time.
if you resubmit the check after checking fund is available,you are still outof 8 dollars.
then the money order comes,now what>deposit the money order,keep 8 for yourself and send her a check for the remaining amount??
from my 6 years on ebay,i have just one check which i cannot recover,a woman used a man's checkbook and neither can be contacted.
all the other rubber checks i contacted the bidder and asked them to send me a money order plus 5.00 bank fee and they all come through .
most folks feel bad and they will make good with a good check or money order,of course i am talking about less than 50 dollars.
i do have one or two cases where the bidder lost face and said i sound threatening and aggressive and make him look bad in front of his friends etc etc and swear never to do business with me again.
posted on November 8, 2001 04:22:23 PM new
recently a lady who is new to ebay bids on many items and her personal check to me bounced,
when i cannot contact her via several emails ,i left her negative feedback.
it turned out she was away where there is no way to check her emails and she promised to send payment plus a 5.00 bank fee.
wow,then she told me as she keeps bidding and winning items left and right on ebay,many sellers looked into her file and saw this rubber check business and refused to do business with her.
her money order came and i left a message to the neg feedback,but i did not realise sellers actually checkup on their buyers by reading their feedback file??
posted on November 8, 2001 04:52:18 PM new
Boy did I get lucky. After waiting an additional week I received a money order today for full amount plus $8.00 NSF fee. Thanks for all the great info. I wanted to mention though a seller on eBay with a username bookdealers. Go to their about me page. There is a wealth of information there- So much info I felt I had to share after bringing up the subject. Thanks again,
Lori!
[ edited by lah on Nov 8, 2001 07:47 PM ]
