posted on January 26, 2001 07:25:23 PM
A buyer sent us one of these for an over $400.00 item. We have found out (called our credit card company) that even if the credit card check clears a charge back can be done for up to 60 days after purchase, and they can actually sieze the money from your checking account. This, and the fact that our buyer sent the check without asking means we're likely going to send his check back and ask for a money order instead. I'm not saying he's surely going to rip us off, I'm saying that I'm not comfortable with the situation. He's not an established ebay buyer by any means. He has 11 positives but none for about 7 months.
I talked with him on the phone and he wasn't too happy about me pulling his contact info.
posted on January 26, 2001 08:49:12 PM
If he wasn't happy to talk to you, that's not good. I'd certainly want to talk to a seller from whom I just purchased a $400 item. I'd send that check back PDQ.
posted on January 26, 2001 08:59:23 PM
No, he didn't like it that I pulled his contact info, not that he had to talk to me but I didn't like his attitude. He thought I was turning him into Safe Harbor or something. The guy obviously doesn't know how ebay works. He said sending a check like that protects him from getting ripped off, and I suppose it does since he could charge back and get his money back. Trouble is it puts my a** out there in the breeze. I just don't have a good feeling about the check or the buyer. I'm sending it back even if I get a neg.
posted on January 26, 2001 09:26:48 PM
Actually you could get a neg and not have the buyer send you anymore money.
They sent you payment once and if it had been a "regular" check would you have accepted it?
It is your auction,and you need to feel comfortable, but so does the buyer.
Ain't Life Grand...
Isn't it true that you have never sold anything on ebay before? You're strictly a buyer right? You always take the buyers' side no matter what. Kind of slanted if you ask me. Get some selling experience then we'll see how you feel.
I don't have to accept the check if I don't want to. I advertised that I accept personal checks and money orders. A credit card check is neither. Yes, I would much rather have a personal check than this.
posted on January 26, 2001 10:26:54 PM
Gosh, I think I have good terms for my buyers: Billpoint, checks and money orders. But if I got a check drawn on a credit card from a buyer I didn't know I wouldn't accept it.
I live rurally. Last year I spent $750.00 to get a locked mailbox on a steel post, imbedded in concrete, installed in place of the old rural mailbox. Why? Because there were three different gangs of welfare mamas stealing mail, specifically looking for envelopes with those credit card checks in them.
BTW, welfare mamas is not a derogatory term. It is what the police and newspaper called them. The gangs were single females, on welfare, with children, living in small towns in federally subsidized housing. Each housing complex developed a gang of welfare mamas who specialized in stealing mail from rural mailboxes. The welfare mamas turned over the stolen mail to the boyfriends who processed it. Each time a gang got busted and carted off to jail, another gang would spring up.
My point is, normal people don't pay for eBay purchases with credit card checks. Be cautious, return the check.
posted on January 27, 2001 08:21:49 AMIsn't it true that you have never sold anything on ebay before? You're strictly a buyer right? You always take the buyers' side no matter what. Kind of slanted if you ask me. Get some selling experience then we'll see how you feel.
Yes, that was true until this past December, I have sold some items and will continue to do so. So you can say I am a part time seller now.
I even had a deadbeat But I will still favor the buyer as they are the customer.
Please explain to me your definition of a personal check?
posted on January 27, 2001 08:28:43 AM
I just wanted to add that I was a bank teller for 4 1/2 years and not ONCE did my bank allow me to accept a Credit Card convience check.
Those checks should be used only Transfer balances from One Credit Card Company to another.
posted on January 27, 2001 08:35:34 AM
Ok now sophie, has put some credibility into not accepting the convience checks... thank you. That I didn't know as even though I usually am sent some by credit union, I don't use them.
Ain't Life Grand...
I have to agree with the other sellers on this thread. If a buyer decides to send me a form of payment that was not mentioned in my TOS, I either "hold" the payment till it clears, or I send it back to the high bidder.
I once had a high bidder send me a MO [nothing like I'd ever seen] when I had stated in both my auction & my EOA email I would only accept a Postal MO for this item.
The trinket was for $2,500.
The MO had a 1-800 # on it so I called them, the second item to come up on the voice mail message was "To cancel this MO please press 2 & enter the MO #"
So, instead of the high bidder getting his item shipped out the same day the MO arrived, I made him wait until I was damn certain the funds had gone from his account, to mine.
A 10 day delay he could have avoided, and yes, he made a slight stink over it. Waaaaah.
In the case of CC checks, [at least for $400]
perhaps I'd make them wait 60 days?
At least with a personal check [from your bank account] the seller in most cases will know within 10-30 days if it's good, or not.
I've accepted personal checks for up to $700, but I base my acceptance on their feedback #, and other info if need be. This is all made very clear in my TOS.
I'd rather take a neg, than lose $400, AND my merchandise.
posted on January 27, 2001 08:46:31 AM
Makes sense Reddeer, but after seeing Sophie's post about banks not accepting them, makes even more sense... I don't disagree about it being looscannon's choice about accepting the payment...just seemed strange about a convience check. But I guess they are not what is expected.
Ain't Life Grand...
posted on January 27, 2001 09:01:25 AM
Loosecannon -- I disagree. I think that "normal" people DO use credit card checks. The credit card companies strongly promote their use and convenienve, to their customers. Our credit card company sends the checks with EVERY bill, plus sends additional ones every 2nd or 3rd month, too. They stress how they can be used to make major purchases, etc. (I would consider $400 to be a major purchase.) (Well, "major" is my term, but they advertise using them to buy things that typicically are not included in one's average monthly budget.)
I also would consider them to be a personal check. They just access my credit card account rather than my checking account. In addition, there is a relatively hefty fee for using them. My bank charges 2% of the face value -- so that $400 credit card check would cost the user $8.00. (Which is enough to make me weigh the choice seriously before using it, rather than writing the checks willy-nilly.) While, I, personally, write my checks to my checking account (I write one large check, for several purchases, to save being charged several check fees) then write personal checks off of that, it certainly seems plausible to write the check for one purchase if that is all one is going to spend at that time.
It seems to me that it is as safe as a credit card, isn't it? So IF you would accept a credit card if you had the ability to do so... what is wrong with the credit card check?
If your buyer is not a frequent purchaser on ebay, I can also understand his surprise/paranoia at having his personal information pulled. It could easily seem that you were suspicious and planned to report him for something. Hopefully you were able to reassure him about that when you called.
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
posted on January 27, 2001 09:01:54 AM
Thank you sophie89 and reddeer.
Here's what's happening with this deal. He knows my reserveations about the check and called again this morning. He's sending a wire transfer to our credit union and were sending his cc check back (certified, return receipt) and giving him free shipping/insurance to help offset his wire transfer charge (it's free for us to receive one so that's cool).
posted on January 27, 2001 09:01:57 AMThose checks should be used only Transfer balances from One Credit Card Company to another.
That's not the case with many cc convenience checks. Some are designed to use strictly for balance transfers and say so on the documentation that comes with them.
But, especially around the holidays, the credit card companies send "access" checks out like candy, with no[/] restrictions and often, [b]no transaction fees.
I have a set of such checks sitting in front of me right now. The letter that came with it (from First Union bank) says:
"It's easy to take advantage of your new limited-time 5.99% APR:
Use the enclosed 'no transaction fee' access checks.
-Consolidate your holiday bills, take care of unexpected expenses, or write a check for cash to use however you wish!"
The checks I get from Discover Card often say "use them anywhere, just like a regular check."
I shred these checks (right along with those foolish "skip a payment" offers) and don't use them. But some people do use them -- and they often are billed as being "good anywhere."
As long as loosecannon's auction terms state "personal checks" -- I wouldn't have any qualms at all about sending back a credit card convenience check. It is not a personal check.
The buyer should have deposited the convenience check into his own account, then written loosecannon a personal check.
posted on January 27, 2001 09:36:58 AM
I have gotten those checks with my credit card also.
There is nothing on them to indicate they are anything other than a personal check. My name and address is imprinted on them like a regular check.
I know that First Union, CitiBank, NationsBank, CitizensBank, BankAmerica, and Barnett Banks all acept them. I have never heard of a bank that didn't. I know of a credit union that doesn't.
posted on January 27, 2001 09:50:10 AM
I paid my rent with a credit card check once in college. My landlord didn't have a problem cashing it, but I can see how chargebacks could be something to be wary of.
posted on January 27, 2001 09:56:02 AML.C....I have never received one so I cannot speak about IT (ck)...But, the fact remains that you stated in your listings THE TYPE OF PAYMENT you will accept, and THAT was NOT one of them...
I agree with the majority: send it back, requesting either a personal ck, but preferably Money Order or Cashier's check, as it could well turn out that bidder, in anger, might put a stop payment on a personal check...Good luck, my friend.
********
Gosh Shosh!
posted on January 27, 2001 10:02:21 AM
I don't think I have ever received one of these checks as payment for an auction, but I haven't thought much about it either. The statement about using them for transferring balances only, not true with all of them. When my washer blew up, I used one at my local appliance store to buy a new one.
posted on January 27, 2001 11:33:36 AM
I shred thoses puppies as soon as I get them. Someone could pull one of those things out of the trash and have a real good time at my expense. They say they are good for anything, but never having used one I couldn't say if they are or not.
But I will still favor the buyer as they are the customer.