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Procedure when informed of insufficient funds?

Jillbeans

New Member
Client calls 8am.
The check which they wrote last Friday has bounced.
I have not heard from my own bank yet.
I am going to call them at 9am.
This is only the 5th time this has happened in 25 years.
What is your company policy for this?
:thankyou:
Love....Jill
 

ddarlak

Go Bills!
if the client called you to tell you it bounced, it seems to me they will cover the fee your bank would charge...
 

signgal

New Member
we've not had many in 11 yrs either but this has happened to us and we called the bank first thing (like you're planning) and they didn't deposit it a second time. customer still paid $20 for a bounced check. bank charged us in around $12 I think. Been a while. If you have a good relationship with your bank they are helpful.
 

Jillbeans

New Member
Gonnna call right now.
This is a long time client too.
And I am trying to get a loan this week for a new roof so the bank certainly does know me!
 

mark in tx

New Member
If the client called you first, then great. They will more than likely take care of it.
But, call your bank to make sure they don't do an automatic re-present.

I've only received a few bouncers, and only had to get extreme with one of them.

Extreme= going to the district attorney office and filing the hot check charge. I got the money back eventually, and the customer got to go to court and pay restitution, fine, court costs etc...
 

dwt

New Member
If it's a good client they should pay in person, in cash plus fees that you have stated in your invoice or in your showroom.

For a suspected deadbeat, DO NOT let the bank try to redeposit. Go to your bank and get a signature guarantee stamp and call the clients bank daily at opening and at 2pm to see if funds are available and get your cash over the counter.

Ask me how I know...Don't really, it should be obvious
 

Mosh

New Member
$10? WOW, our bank is $25 now. I have only had a couple in 20+ years. Most were from the same guy, another sign guy who was just like a sign broker. He is such a dead beat, but I will save that story for later....(I literally kicked him out of my shop)
 

Service Sign Co

New Member
I've had to go to small claims court once, the last person that wrote me a bad check ended up in prison for embezzlement. So I'll never see that check. But good luck with your customer
 

G-Artist

New Member
Thankfully you seem to have a good client and not a true deadbeat.

I have handled many dozens of NSF checks over the years but only 2 in my business
the rest were as treasurer for one organization or another.

Every business should have a working arrangement with their deposit bank in that
they will only process a check or draft one time and the call you immediately.

They will not do that w/o a prior arrangement as banks make HUGE fees and profits
via those transactions. Each time the process or reprocess, that's cash out of
YOUR pocket.

In most states, there is law on what you can charge for an NSF over and above
your actual cash costs. You are entitled to the max. amount. Whether you wish
to do that is up to you.

Procedures are simple and straightforward. One you have the paper in-hand,
call your customer. Demand cash and setup a timely meeting for the exchange
plus fees.

In the event the customer dodges you then there are two basic options.

The first is to turn it over to the "authorities." That could be local police, sheriff
or state attorney. That will be locality specific. Each state has their own procedure.
The crime for passing bad paper is known as "uttering" (in case you need to
look it up in your statutes).

The second is to deal with a local branch of the bank where the check is drawn on.

You can call them twice a day and every day checking to see if there are sufficient
funds available. Once they become available, hightail it down to the nearest branch
and present the NSF check. In the 'old days' that would work just fine. Nowadays
the drawer bank wants you to have your bank guarantee your signature. Simple
procedure...check with your deposit bank. Expect to pay a small fee for the
swapping transaction.

In the "old days" I used to take a customer check that I had doubts about and
swap it for a Cashier's Check at the drawer bank. Then they started with fees.
First a dollar, then five, then ten. Now they want a fee plus a sig. guarantee.
Not worth the hassle in the main. I still may do that for a check of $2500+ that
isn't a political campaign check as they are as good as gold.
 

mountainmang

New Member
best thing i have is check resultz. it's a free service from my credit card processors and i never have to deal with bad checks at all...they do everything including the deposit back into my account:thumb: the main negative is that they charge the customer the state maximum $50, so it's a little unfair to the customer who simply made a mistake in their registry.
 
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