Bad Check - Page 2

Couple of things to add . . . if you send it certified, do not put your return address on the envelope. If you do, she will know who it is from and may decide not to pick it up or sign for it. Also, besides sending it certified, send it regular mail and note that in your letter (i.e. sent via regular mail and certified mail). Depending on how much the check was for, it may be worthwhile sending your demand letter via FedEx. Most people would not expect that they would receive such a thing from FedEx.

I'd like to put in my experience here....

DH & I own a landscaping company & have numerous residential accounts. Some of these customers prefer not to be invoiced monthly, but to pay at the time of service or whenever they happen to be at home when our guys are there servincing their lawn, etc. and they receive a hand written (carbon copy) invoice on the spot. In the past, we had a customer who paid on-site, then called a few days later saying that they no longer needed our services due to a relative who was going to take over their lawn care...fine, no problem. Well, their last check came back "ACCOUNT CLOSED"....when my husband went to their house, no one would ever answer the door, nor our phone calls. We went the certified letter route....but they refused to accept it, saying the person the letter was addressed to no longer lived there....LIE. So sending a letter, ceritified or not, is not likely going to help in the resolution of your problem. If someone wrote a check on a closed account....9 times out of 10 they were very much aware of what they were doing and are unlikely to answer your calls or accept your letters. You will probably have to involve filing a complaint with your local police department in order to get the ball rolling and get some results. Also - you're probably not the first person she's done this too. That's what we had to do....when the police knocked on the door, they didn't take the "oh..they don't live here anymore" crap and stepped in the door to see the person sitting in the kitchen hoping they wouldn't be seen. All we wanted was for them to make good on the check and pay us what bank fees we incurred....with the police in front of them & jail time looming, they handed over the cash on the spot and 2 hrs. later we were called to the police station to get our $$ and fill out the paper work. We were only talking about $175 here...not a ton of cash, but worth it to us.

I don't mean to seem like a "gloomy gus" here, but I'm only realistic. It's very, very rare that someone writes a check on a closed account and then just doesn't return your calls "by accident" or some other reason. If you haven't heard from her in 2-3 weeks, I'd say go file a complaint with the police. Unless, it's a small enough amount that you're willing to let it go & write it off. And as far as her bad-mouthing you if it was a mistake...that would just be wrong. If she hasn't answered your repeated calls, it seems she's avoiding you....all you're doing is being an astute business woman and handling your business...and for people who don't write bad checks, what would they care?? You're not in this for free, right??

oh..nooooo...that could be a big heap o' trouble. Harrassment, stalking that sort of thing. People that break the law are usually the first ones to use the law against you.

C'mon we've all seen Judge Judy...lol

The best thing when this happens is to talk to your bank and see what advise they give you to follow and then follow it to the letter.

Make sure as someone said to keep a log of what you're doing...in case you have to go to court.

Sometimes just a nice little "reminder" may get the ball rolling and your money back, but, as I stated before...it's a check on a closed account...and even thought things happen..they can happen to ANYONE OF US, the fact that she hasn't returned your calls is worrysome.

But, you can send her a nice and polite note reminding her to get in contact with you and give her a deadline...it could be ...7 or 10 business days from the reciept of letter type thing and see what she does.

Like someone else said, she could be away, grabbed the wrong check book...things happen, so you try to resolve the issue amicably...but with a deadlilne and a consequence for missing the deadline...

(ps don't mind me...can't keep my eyes open, have to be in school labs by 6"45 am..)

nite nite!

I agree with JennT. Believe it or not (I used to deal with collections in a bank) there are crooked people out there. As much as you don't want to believe it there are. They will do anything to get out of paying for whatever service or product they purchased. They are manipulaters!!!! That's what they do and if it's only for a small amount most people wouldn't bother and they know that, that's why they do it! I would go the police route....in the US it is taken more seriously as here in Canada the police won't do anything if it's less than a ----- amount. Having the police knock on the door might just be a wake up call for this person. I wouldn't worry at all about her bad mouthing you.......your perferred clientelle will know you.....they are the ones that matter! This person will only be mad because you persude her and she didn't get away with what she hoped to which was to STEAL from you!
Here's another perspective: If you had a bakery and someone came into the store and STOLE a cake from you or even money from your till what would you do? and you KNOW what this person looks like, their address, would you let it go? Or would you contact the police? This person has done just that! STOLEN from you! People make a career out of this!

Now I do know mistakes happen and she might even tell you that but from my experience they'll tell you anything to buy time so they can do it again!
I would change my cheque policy, maybe only close friends or REALLY good clientelle can write cheques.....just my opinion. Would hate for this to happen to you again!

Just my two pennies!

I would say it all depends on how much the cake cost. If it was a birthday cake, say less than $50, I wouldn't consider it worth the trouble. Lesson learned. But much more than that, especially if it was a costly wedding cake, I would do something more, just not sure what. It just occurred to me that if you're not licensed, you may draw unwanted attention to your business. If you're licenced, I would take it to the police.

Ali

I may be confused here, but I'm not sure how filing a complaint with the police for a bad check...rather a felony check on a closed account...would be considered harassment or stalking. If someone has not made good on a debt, you have a right to collect, period. That doesn't give you the right to sit on their front porch until they come home or anything, but you are definitely well within your rights to go to their house a couple of times and make a few phone calls to them. If you don't do your own due diligence first, when you go to file a complaint that's what they'll tell you to do. Filing a complaint is a last resort, as in you have no choice because they refuse to contact you or answer their front door. In my state, if the person writes a certain # of checks on a closed account, no matter the amount it's for $1 or $1 million, the bank automatically files a complaint with police and a warrant is issued for their arrest. And it's the same with business owners...if you want to file a complaint you have the right...it's not harassment. Writing a check on a closed account is a felony against both the bank and the person OR business the check was written to.

The banks can't do anything to the person other than file a complaint either. If the account is closed, it's closed....they're not going to give you any money or any real solution either. They just tell you to talk to a lawyer or file a complaint with the police....but they are usually able to back you up with the info they have on the account/person.

It seems, in this instance, that more than one "gentle reminders" (as in phone calls) have been given....unless she has a family member in the hospital or something like that, or is "on vacation", there's no excuse why she hasn't returned the calls if it was an "honest mistake".

If I were in your shoes, unless I could justify losing that money and paying my bank fees that I personally did not cause, I would file the complaint. It's not something you have to pay for, it's a public service. And filing a complaint is just that....filling out paperwork. Where I live, the police are more than happy to help you straighten things like this out without having to arrest someone, if it's possible. It doesn't mean that the person will immediately go to jail...you have to file CHARGES before that will happen, it's just a complaint, something to jumpstart some results....scare the person into doing right...and hopefully they won't do it to someone else. When we filed our complaint against our former customer who wrote us a bad check, from the time we filled out the forms at the station until we had the money in our hands was maybe 4 hrs total....that included talking to a lawyer on the phone to make sure this was the nicest, simplest way to do things first.

I hope you get this figured out.

I would definitely not recommend going to the persons residence. They could claim harrassment. I have seen it happen before. Stick to phone calls and signature mail.

Someone suggested that she go knocking on the woman's door. I was the one that said that wasn't a good idea, that people that are in the habit of breaking the law are usually the first one's to use the law to hide behind, so she may be charged with harassing and stalking if she keeps on calling or showing up at her door.

To use the legal alternatives that she has at hand, let the law hash this out with this woman.

The person that posted that this woman was a theif..hit the nail right on the head!

The way I look at it, she took the bread from your family's mouth! Will you allow that? I think NOT.

The best check policy is the "NO CHECK" policy..lol Especiallly when they are picking up a cake!

C.O.D. only......Cash Upon Delivery!

What a horrible thing to happen!!!! I agree with ThePastry Diva and wouldn't let her get away with it!! She commited a crime and must pay the consequences!!!



Daniela

they cant really claim it unless ur going over there 20 times a day everyday. plus phoning they can do the samething. so it really doesnt matter which way you go.. as for mail it would just be a waste bc like other ppl have said on here she doesnt have sign for it..

As a residential property manager, I have to agree with JennT. I receive monthly rent checks from quite a few people, and I have had to report tenants to the police for various forms of fraud (inclucing identity theft). One of the things my tenants know is that if you try to get one over on me, I will take action.

Go to the police. This customer knew she was writing a bad check. You probably weren't the first and you won't be the last. Do not contact this person at all unless it is with a supeona to small claims court (get it served by the sherriff because they like to do it EARLY in the morning when folks are least suspecting it). Don't take this lying down!

Debbi

wow... i think here in tx you go to the DA's office and they do paperwork and send here a notice to pay if not then they do a round up which means pay or go to Jail!!!

my general rule is I accept cash, checks, money order, and credit cards until two weeks prior then its cash or credit cards only.

So sorry this happened to you. I just wanted to also suggest going back to the bank to see if you can find out when the acount was closed (not sure if they can/will give this info. out) but let them know this is for a legal matter. If the bank does give you the date and the check was written after account was closed then YES do file a complaint regardless of how much money is involved. The person shouldn't get away with this crime!

I know when an individual writes a worthless check here in Louisiana, after the District Attorney's office receives 10 on a person, they're arrested for worthless checks. More than likely, this person has others out there too. I'd go to the police department and swear out a formal complaint on this person. DO NOT take the law into your own hands by going to this person's home. Go to your police department or to your District Attorney's office and file a formal complaint against this person.. it's not the matter of the amount of the check, it's the fact that the account was "CLOSED". I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and I'd still send a certified letter, restricted delivery (address and to be signed by only her), return receipt requested. If she did not pick up the letter, I'd file the complaint. She will have had ample time to correct her error. If no response, make your complaint. I wouldn't care if the check was for $5, she knew the account was closed and here where I live, I believe that's a felony offense after so many checks have been written. Unless you stop her, she can and will do it again to someone else.

It used to be that you could take a bad check to the local Sheriffs office...it was called "protesting a check"....not sure if that still holds or not..but the Sheriff would send them a notice.