posted on September 4, 2001 03:05:00 PM new
Hi friends,
I guess this post could go on any board - but I prefer to talk to fellow Yahooers
I'm just looking for advice, suggestions or ideas...
This month I've seen more feedback ratings stating that "" she wrote me a bad check"" etc. Some people even call the bad check writer ""bouncy"". Cute huh?
Some of these people are even running auctions right now. I was going to bid on a doll and saw that the seller was writing bad checks for her auction wins. So.. needless to say I didn't bid. Maybe I'm wrong but if the person is honest enough to send a good check then how can I trust her to send the doll after I pay?
My question (Sellers) --> what is your procedure for recouping the money owed from a bad check? Is there a service you use? Any cheap services? Do you know of anyone who's been successful on collecting on bad checks? Any tricks of the trade?
Anything would be helpful .. for woe is me.. I have a customer who sent a bad check as well. My approach so far is to email her and give her a second chance but no more checks.
My feeling is that I can kiss the money goodbye because she's written several bad checks this month to other sellers.
Yes - on Yahoo
CHECK FEEDBACK before mailing packages too!!
I goofed on this one
Have a good auction week.
posted on September 4, 2001 08:52:26 PM new
Hi,
I usually write them and give them a dead line for a money order that also covers my bank fees. That works most of the time.
I have never sent to a collection agency, but I know many people on the ebay board use madagency, which I believe is at www.madagency.com
Good luck to you.... I have just eaten a few because they were for such a small amount it wasn't worth the extra effort.
posted on September 5, 2001 10:23:00 AM new
When I had a couple of bad checks from eBay buyers, I wrote to eBay, and they gave me some suggestions. One that worked for me was that apparently, as long as the item is shipped in the US, you can claim mail fraud. I threatened this, and lo and behold, the cash arrived very quickly! You can check it out at the post office, this was quite a while ago.
posted on September 7, 2001 09:19:29 PM new
Amber is correct. If someone sends you a bad check, and you've sent the item(s), you can file mail fraud charges.
I've had two bounced checks; both were made good including my bank charges....eventually. Both users had pretty good feedback, but it took several email reminders and phone calls (I never threatened them with mail fraud or anything else, but I was getting closed to doing so) before they made good. And both wanted their bounced checks back.
posted on September 8, 2001 07:03:43 AM new
One of the problems of what's practical to do about bad checks is that mostly state laws are relevant and they vary somewhat. On top of that, the local enforcement people (police or sheriff if not a municipality) are responsible, sometimes with a district attorney or prosecutor in the loop somehow. In some cases they have a procedure that makes it not so tough to get the check kiter into quite a mess, in other towns they shrug you off, especially for small amounts.
Two years ago, having nothing much better to do, I took enough personal offense at being lied to with a couple of bounced checks involving maybe $25 total on a Yahoo listing that I actually called the police in a buyer's out-of-state jurisdiction (Utah). In that case, the officer was quite polite, yes I COULD file charges BUT since prosecution would require some proof of INTENT to defraud (stupidity or carelessness at the time of writing the overdrafts lets the buyer off a lot of legal hooks, I bet including with the postal inspectors), AND the prosecutor even then makes a decision whether the case is worth their time to pursue.... forget it.
In other jurisdictions, I think you fill out paperwork with copies of bounced checks and their ass is grass if they get stopped say for a traffic violation and the cop looks at his computer screen. In other cases there SEEMS to be a tough law on the books but it's never enforced in real life, like cohabitation statutes and such.
The real question is, at what point is it worth your time versus the amount of money involved? Some few people nearly make it a hobby to pursue anything like this as a matter of principle; others pool a bad check in with the cost of doing business and forget it unless it's large enough to turn over to a collection agency.
People who only rarely bounce a check in my experience are quite scared of possible legal ramifications (and impact to their credit rating) when they do so and generally make the debt good promptly. Anyone who ignores you or keeps lying has likely found that nothing much happens to them where they reside, or is something of a gypsy and knows you won't be able to follow them on their next move to somewhere else. In those cases, you really can't do much to them and they know it.
My policy on seeing a (thankfully very rare) check bounce is to assume first it's a rare accident for the buyer and to be very diplomatic and polite in emails. If I have to conclude it's a real problem, I make sure to neg them in FB so other sellers are duly warned; then I decide if the amount is large enough for collection and move on if it isn't. I think the best policy is to make sure you wait for a check to clear before shipping if it's large enough that you'd feel compelled to place it for collection if it bounced.
posted on September 9, 2001 11:03:00 AM new
the last time i file mail fraud and rubber check is mail fraud in your case,the post office notifies the city police and police sends letter to bouncy,so bouncy gets two letters -usps and police.local chamber of commerce could be contacted too,so this could be the third if he is registered to do business.
use your judgment,some outright fraud you may as well write off,others you need to be persistent.
also allow room for them to save face,give them a call.
posted on September 10, 2001 04:54:59 PM new
Great comments everyone! I'm using a few right now. I guess it is a judgement call. When I started my auction business - I expected to take losses. It's my nature to think everyone's honest but we all know that's not true.
Thanks again.
Janet
AuctionsRFun.com
Yahoo ID: AuctionsRFun
posted on September 22, 2001 09:15:59 PM new
I can't understand all the bad check problems. Bank fees are high and in the case of low end sales it just doesn't pay a bidder to write a check that he knows will bounce. In over three years of selling, I have only had one check bounce. When I resubmitted it to my bank, it cleared. Don't you guys resubmit your checks? Try it.
posted on September 23, 2001 03:49:58 AM new
In all my 4 years, I've only had 2 bad checks. The first one, the buyer sent me an email warning me that she had insufficient funds and it would probably bounce, but a new check on the correct account was on the way.
With the second one, I discovered she had written bad checks to other sellers. I happened to live in the state she was in! So I wrote to each of the other sellers to get their permission, and then told her I was taking all of these checks to our local DA. We all were paid promptly! By her husband. Texas is pretty tough on hot check writers, and periodically goes out and rounds them all up, arresting them where they work or live, usually on tv. Gotta love it!
