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Message
What to do when you get nsf checks?
Posted on 7/15/15 at 8:39 pm
Posted on 7/15/15 at 8:39 pm
So I have been in business now for five going on six years. I went until May of this year before I had recieved my first bounced check. Since then I have had another one and a non payment on an job.
On that one it actually came from a closed account out of Florida, so I turned it over to St. Bernard sheriff's office and will just deduct the $95 from taxes not that big a deal (I think you can deduct non payments same as returned merchandise, maybe not...idk)
On the second one, lady was scheduled for April, she pushed it back to May. I do the job, get the check and deposit it that Friday. Comes back NSF (not closed account) So I call her and she says the repair I did failed. ( I repaired the main control on a freezer and it didn't come on before but did after I left. I can't wait around 24 hours for it to settle to temp so I had no way of knowing there was also a freon leak)
So I offer to fix the obvious freon leak FOR FREE, if she only pays the $225 she owes for the board+install.
She agrees. Well she keeps calling my office manager and rescheduling and rescheduling. This job was opened on April 3rd. I finally went back TODAY.
I get there and she is not there, teenage son let me in. I did my job, verified Freezer was getting colder and psi was perfect. I leave a bill and tell her to call with a CC (at this point I'd rather pay the 3% than deal with a check from her again).
I run the credit card.... Declined.
Now I wasn't there when I ran the card. Do I even call back or do I just call the DA at this point?
I'm going to have my office person call in the morning and re-verify the card number, maybe I wrote a number down wrong. I pretty much already wrote this job off. It's been over two months since the part was installed. I actually have $70 of my money in the repair.
I'm almost at this point not even caring about getting it, but I'm too nice a guy to want to make a case out of it. Though I know a guy who did time over bad checks, so I know it's a crime.
Third issue is even worse. I did a job for a Pita chain, and these bastards owe me $305. I didn't give them net terms the owner said "check is in the mail" on June 3rd. I have sent two certified letters since then. I did not get a bounced check or any payment. The owner is not answering his phones and a manager is never there.
I know small claims is an option, but I know they are intentionally trying to F me.
I did two repairs for them and bought the parts Next day air, and still came in well below $400 on a commercial restaurant repair (unheard of).
So how long I wait before I go in there and block the register until the owner or manager shows up.
On that one it actually came from a closed account out of Florida, so I turned it over to St. Bernard sheriff's office and will just deduct the $95 from taxes not that big a deal (I think you can deduct non payments same as returned merchandise, maybe not...idk)
On the second one, lady was scheduled for April, she pushed it back to May. I do the job, get the check and deposit it that Friday. Comes back NSF (not closed account) So I call her and she says the repair I did failed. ( I repaired the main control on a freezer and it didn't come on before but did after I left. I can't wait around 24 hours for it to settle to temp so I had no way of knowing there was also a freon leak)
So I offer to fix the obvious freon leak FOR FREE, if she only pays the $225 she owes for the board+install.
She agrees. Well she keeps calling my office manager and rescheduling and rescheduling. This job was opened on April 3rd. I finally went back TODAY.
I get there and she is not there, teenage son let me in. I did my job, verified Freezer was getting colder and psi was perfect. I leave a bill and tell her to call with a CC (at this point I'd rather pay the 3% than deal with a check from her again).
I run the credit card.... Declined.
Now I wasn't there when I ran the card. Do I even call back or do I just call the DA at this point?
I'm going to have my office person call in the morning and re-verify the card number, maybe I wrote a number down wrong. I pretty much already wrote this job off. It's been over two months since the part was installed. I actually have $70 of my money in the repair.
I'm almost at this point not even caring about getting it, but I'm too nice a guy to want to make a case out of it. Though I know a guy who did time over bad checks, so I know it's a crime.
Third issue is even worse. I did a job for a Pita chain, and these bastards owe me $305. I didn't give them net terms the owner said "check is in the mail" on June 3rd. I have sent two certified letters since then. I did not get a bounced check or any payment. The owner is not answering his phones and a manager is never there.
I know small claims is an option, but I know they are intentionally trying to F me.
I did two repairs for them and bought the parts Next day air, and still came in well below $400 on a commercial restaurant repair (unheard of).
So how long I wait before I go in there and block the register until the owner or manager shows up.
This post was edited on 7/15/15 at 8:40 pm
Posted on 7/15/15 at 8:47 pm to Napoleon
quote:
So I call her and she says the repair I did failed
Even if the repair failed that has nothing at all to do with the NSF.
quote:
Well she keeps calling my office manager and rescheduling and rescheduling.
Would have written her off at that point.
Others will know more than me but can you get a lien on the property?
Posted on 7/15/15 at 9:02 pm to foshizzle
Posted on 7/15/15 at 9:50 pm to Napoleon
Can you deposit the check again on the still open account and hope you catch her with some money in her account? I thought you can. I would run it on a payday like the 15th or 30th if so.
I would file a workman's lien on the 3rd guy before you run out of time to.
I would file a workman's lien on the 3rd guy before you run out of time to.
Posted on 7/15/15 at 10:02 pm to Napoleon
Can you go into the pita shop and unrepair and take your parts back?
Posted on 7/15/15 at 10:25 pm to Tigerpaw123
quote:
Can you go into the pita shop and unrepair and take your parts back?
I just got the following email word for word.
quote:
Zach. I am traveling right now. It will be handled. Please calm yourself.
The second, I didn't think about running the check again, I didn't get the original back they gave a me a bank copy but it says it can be used like a regular check.
I will try to get a better credit card tomorrow, and if that doesn't work I'll run the bank copy check.
I give the restaurant a little longer. I guess that's my reply to the letter I sent Friday.
It's actually illegal in Louisiana to take off any parts you install on a repaired machine. So basically once I put a part on an appliance, you own that part, even before you pay, it's why many appliance people want the money up front on two part jobs. I'm more trusting.
Posted on 7/15/15 at 10:45 pm to Napoleon
Is that not the point of the repairman's privilege? I'm honestly just trying to learn.
Posted on 7/15/15 at 11:06 pm to Napoleon
quote:
Zach. I am traveling right now. It will be handled. Please calm yourself.
Whoever this guy is, he isn't serious about taking care of his bills.
He knew his travel plans. And he didn't make sure his accounts payable were paid before he left the airport.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 1:53 am to Napoleon
My dad used to do this trick for the insufficient funds issue. He had clients that would purposefully keep their balance just below the level where the check that they had given him was. So he would go to their bank and try to cash it with the teller. The teller would say insufficient funds, the teller can't tell you the balance but can tell you how insufficient the funds were. So then he would deposit cash into the deadbeats account just enough to cover the check. Then cash it leaving the account with zero funds
Posted on 7/16/15 at 7:38 am to Old Sarge
I've had so much smoke blown up my butt over the years, it could fill the Superdome. Believe me - these people are con artists and NEVER had any intentions of actually transferring money from them to you. They are great actors and have honed their skills over time at the expense of other well-meaning vendors. While I have compassion for anyone that struggles financially, these people are the scum/scourge of the earth.
The common storyline is the promise of new business for the vendor. The most effective is the one where you're promised future business if you do the first gig. Right....
Asking for a modest deposit would clear all that up. You might not get the job, but in hind-sight, that would have been great.
The common storyline is the promise of new business for the vendor. The most effective is the one where you're promised future business if you do the first gig. Right....
Asking for a modest deposit would clear all that up. You might not get the job, but in hind-sight, that would have been great.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 10:44 am to tigerpawl
ran CC again and it went through this morning.
So now just two owe. Feeling better now.
So now just two owe. Feeling better now.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 11:08 am to Napoleon
Couple of suggestions regarding payment acceptance:
--don't take personal checks from individuals you don't know; tell whoever schedules your calls to tell the customer that you don't take checks & payment must be rendered in debit/credit at the time of repair
--get a Square account (or similar) so you can run the debit or credit card immediately in front of the customers. They are less likely to give you a bum card when you run it immediately in front of them. If it does fail, you can address the situation immediately, in person...asking for another card, alternative form of payment, etc.
--don't take personal checks from individuals you don't know; tell whoever schedules your calls to tell the customer that you don't take checks & payment must be rendered in debit/credit at the time of repair
--get a Square account (or similar) so you can run the debit or credit card immediately in front of the customers. They are less likely to give you a bum card when you run it immediately in front of them. If it does fail, you can address the situation immediately, in person...asking for another card, alternative form of payment, etc.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 11:11 am to Napoleon
You should get one of the little things you can put on your smart phone to run credit cards right there before you leave the work site.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 11:13 am to hungryone
quote:
don't take personal checks from individuals you don't know; tell whoever schedules your calls to tell the customer that you don't take checks & payment must be rendered in debit/credit at the time of repair
Actually I prefer checks to debit credit, that 2.79% adds up. Out of maybe a thousand checks I've collected, two have bounced and now one has been paid back on.
Accepting checks is a convience factor and a sign of trust. I write checks to pay for parts and I accept checks. Now if this were more common I would stop the practice.
I do use square ( I used to use Payanwhere and after that PayPal Here) yesterday the customer was not home so I entered the info she gave me over the phone into my square app.
She didn't give me the card, I ran the numbers, when I ran them today it went through. She says her "fraud protection" blocked the transaction yesterday.
I'll have the money in my account by 8am tomorrow.
I went so long without problems.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 11:17 am to Kingwood Tiger
The customer was nt home when I did the repair, she called with the card number to finally pay me.
I actually have two square readers and the new chip reader coming next month. An Amozon reader (never used once) a Payanywhere and a Paypal Here scanner.
I run the cards like that most of the time. I also take payments over the phone (which I may do 1-2 a day at the higher rate of 3.2%)
I actually have two square readers and the new chip reader coming next month. An Amozon reader (never used once) a Payanywhere and a Paypal Here scanner.
I run the cards like that most of the time. I also take payments over the phone (which I may do 1-2 a day at the higher rate of 3.2%)
Posted on 7/16/15 at 11:31 am to Napoleon
quote:
I actually have two square readers and the new chip reader coming next month. An Amozon reader (never used once) a Payanywhere and a Paypal Here scanner.
Good for you...too many small businessmen are slow to adopt tech that will make their lives easier. The % per transaction does eat into your profit, but the easy answer to that is to raise prices by a slight percentage to cover it, then offer a cash discount price if you want people to feel like they're getting a good deal.
My better half is a criminal defense atty....no, he doesn't take personal checks (LOL), except in very very rare circumstances. Square makes it MUCH easier to collect, and a slight cash discount (quoted over the phone) can sometimes entice potential clients to show up with cash in hand. Of course, he also accepts barter at times....shrimp, etc.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 11:36 am to hungryone
quote:
The % per transaction does eat into your profit, but the easy answer to that is to raise prices by a slight percentage to cover it, then offer a cash discount price if you want people to feel like they're getting a good deal.
You can claim the credit card processing fees on taxes so there really is no reason at all for companies not to adopt this. I hate when companies in this day and age are cash only. I rarely have a dollar on me.
I take barter too. One guy always gets me with soft shell shrimp, I love soft shell shrimp and it's hard to come by.
This post was edited on 7/16/15 at 11:39 am
Posted on 7/16/15 at 12:37 pm to Napoleon
my grandmother's xmas check to me came back as NSF. I thought about putting a lien on my inheritance but decided that was a dick move.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 12:51 pm to Napoleon
Not really suggesting you do any of these things, but had a crazy friend with an auto shop. He has pulled parts off of cars after non payment, mostly batteries.
Posted on 7/16/15 at 1:10 pm to Napoleon
quote:
Zach. I am traveling right now. It will be handled. Please calm yourself.
that would piss me off
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