# Customer bounced a check



## RW Plumbing (Aug 16, 2010)

Well, there's a first time for everything I guess. I had a customer that wrote me a 750 dollar check bounce it. Guess what, she won't return my calls now. I called the police and filed a criminal complaint, I guess we will find out what this will do. 

I'm trying to think of what I can do to avoid this situation in the future. Does anyone here have a limit on the amount of a check they will accept from a homeowner? I'm thinking of limiting the amount I will accept on check to 300 dollars otherwise it needs to be a CC or certified check. 

What do you guys think?


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

RW Plumbing said:


> Well, there's a first time for everything I guess. I had a customer that wrote me a 750 dollar check bounce it. Guess what, she won't return my calls now. I called the police and filed a criminal complaint, I guess we will find out what this will do.
> 
> I'm trying to think of what I can do to avoid this situation in the future. Does anyone here have a limit on the amount of a check they will accept from a homeowner? I'm thinking of limiting the amount I will accept on check to 300 dollars otherwise it needs to be a CC or certified check.
> 
> What do you guys think?


May want to check into your laws. Here you cannot prosecute on bounced checks without a drivers license number on them, cops use it to put an attachment so when they get pulled over, poof. Other than that, blow up her phone and a good bit of passing by when you're in the area.

I had one that bounce a check on my boss, I took it personal because the job was extremely nasty. I tracked the lady down at her work and proceeded to call 3-4 times a day at her work and personal number. Didn't take long before we got paid.


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## Greenguy (Jan 22, 2011)

We don't take cheques it's cash or CC's.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

Once a check is NSF

You can always bring it to their bank and get it certified if their is funds avaiable. But there is a fee.. if you dont belong to their bank.

So open an account at their bank..... and once there is money in the customers account deposit the cheque... ussually do this on thursday or fridays this is the day most people get paid.


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## GREENPLUM (Jul 27, 2008)

people go to jail for writing bad checks, happens all the time


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## gitnerdun (Nov 5, 2008)

OldSchool said:


> Once a check is NSF
> 
> You can always bring it to their bank and get it certified if their is funds avaiable. But there is a fee.. if you dont belong to their bank.
> 
> So open an account at their bank..... and once there is money in the customers account deposit the cheque... ussually do this on thursday or fridays this is the day most people get paid.


That is the way we have done it in the past. Just keep checking with their bank to see if the money is there, when it is, get it. My wife did this with a check months after it was written. I like to verify funds before depositing to avoid the fees of a bad one.


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## hroark2112 (Apr 16, 2011)

I have only had one issue with a check. I helped a lady get her house repiped, she was on slab leak #4 and I talked to her insurance company, told them it was going to be cheaper to repipe the house than to keep paying carpet extractions, wall & slab repairs, and this one was under a tile floor. They agreed to the repipe when I told them that, and I even helped her cover her deductible. As soon as I was done with the repipe, she gave me a check but told me not to deposit it yet because she hadn't gotten the check from the insurance. This went on for about 3 months, and then I decided to move out of Florida. A month later I went down for a visit & went to her bank with the check. The teller asked me if I cared that I was going to go into her overdraft protection by cashing the check....I said "Hey, that's what it's there for!!"

I got one nasty phone call from her, but obviously she had blown through all the insurance money and thought she could just screw me over. Too late, I had my $$$!!

Sometimes I hate doing work for friends of friends. She called her friend about it to *****, and her friend told her she should have paid me 4 months ago, and to be grateful that I had helped her so much. I could have kissed her for that


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## smudge (Jan 19, 2010)

RW Plumbing said:


> Well, there's a first time for everything I guess. I had a customer that wrote me a 750 dollar check bounce it. Guess what, she won't return my calls now. I called the police and filed a criminal complaint, I guess we will find out what this will do.
> 
> I'm trying to think of what I can do to avoid this situation in the future. Does anyone here have a limit on the amount of a check they will accept from a homeowner? I'm thinking of limiting the amount I will accept on check to 300 dollars otherwise it needs to be a CC or certified check.
> 
> What do you guys think?


 Had the same thing happen. Went to police to file a complaint, had the cops call her from police station, she came down with cash in 20 min. Why dont you ask cops to call her before you sign complaint? I would still accept checks it is not the norm to get bad ones.


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## Optimus Primer (May 20, 2009)

Maybe there is a way to have checks electronically deducted from their account immediately. I know walmart does it now. of course you would have to run it through as soon as you got it or at least the same day.


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*got one too*

i got one on my desk for 950, but she just called me a few days ago and apologised for the mistake.....

if you wait till the 10 of the month which is pay day for many, and you go directlly to their bank..... 

you can score if they have just deposited their money... 
and you are first with your hand out

you might have to pay for a cashiers check cause its in a business name.... but that is part of the process...


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## grandpa (Jul 13, 2008)

You can take her to small claims court. In CA you can ask for triple the amount as damages. the judge may or may not give you that, depending on if he thinks it was an intent to defraud. Once you get a judgement, you can make life hard on her, but it may also cost you some money for service, garnish, etc.


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## smoldrn (Oct 4, 2010)

I've had a few act surprised that I take personal checks. I'm a big guy, so I just give them an evil grin & say 'I know where you live'.


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## RW Plumbing (Aug 16, 2010)

Yeah as this economy gets worse, I think we are going to see more and more of this. What I would love to do is go over to her house and take the Fin heater. Leave the water on and flood her basement. That obviously isn't realistic. It's crazy how most people would never think of stealing something from a store but screwing a contractor is fine with them.

Over the past year, I've had to file liens on people's homes a few times for lack of payment and now this. I'm not sure what the answer is. Prequalifiy with a credit card before installation? Require certified checks? I hate to make every customer inconvienanced by a few bad apples but, I think this will become more and more common. I didn't think about taking the check to her bank and seeing if I can get the money that way. Perhaps I will try that.


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## Greenguy (Jan 22, 2011)

What you do is say to the customer I'm going to put X amount say (1000$) on to there cc then when the job is done refund the difference from the job. Plus it'll make billing easier next time if they need something else done you have them in your system already.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

I almost never get a bad check. Once a lady gave me a check without sufficient funds in her account to cover it. I visited that bank a few more times each time asking if there was enough money in the account to pay me. When the account had enough money, I cashed that check and then eventually wound up firing the lady. She was a slum lord. She had about 100 rental properties. But the living conditions were atrocious. Years later when I was driving passed the county court house, I saw her and her husband walking out of the court house. One of her properties had been condemned by the city.


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## RW Plumbing (Aug 16, 2010)

I decided to use my lein service to send out an intent. Cost 70 bucks but wouldn't you know it, a certified check showed up in the mail today. It's a shame that it cost me money to get my money back on this one. This customer will go on the "No Work" list.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

RW Plumbing said:


> I decided to use my lein service to send out an intent. Cost 70 bucks but wouldn't you know it, a certified check showed up in the mail today. It's a shame that it cost me money to get my money back on this one. This customer will go on the "No Work" list.


You should still do work for them...

Just cash up front.... lots of times I made people pay in cash up front... hand over $ 500.00 and I will give you back the change when I am done.


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## breid1903 (Feb 8, 2009)

os is right, cod. i don't lien them at first, i send a blank lien with "your name goes here" written across the middle in large print. a lot cheaper. i get forms on line. if they say they have lost the bill i send another marked up 2 or 3 hundred. every last one has magically found the "lost" bill. lol. breid..................:rockon:


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## RW Plumbing (Aug 16, 2010)

breid1903 said:


> os is right, cod. i don't lien them at first, i send a blank lien with "your name goes here" written across the middle in large print. a lot cheaper. i get forms on line. if they say they have lost the bill i send another marked up 2 or 3 hundred. every last one has magically found the "lost" bill. lol. breid..................:rockon:


I like your lien idea. I might try that first. I will try the bill idea too. As far as working COD, I cannot work for a criminal. I refuse to help some peice of trash out of a bind. I feel like I'm one of the better plumbers in the city, and they can get the work done from someone who does a lousy job. Or they can pay premium dollars to some rake you over the coals outfit like PCPlumber. 

I simply don't want to play the COD game with people I know tried to screw me once. You show up and they don't have the cash, what do you do then. Leave and you wasted your time or work and hope you don't get screwed. I would rather just leave that peice of garbage for one of my competitors.


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## slowforthecones (Apr 20, 2009)

RW Plumbing said:


> I like your lien idea. I might try that first. I will try the bill idea too. As far as working COD, I cannot work for a criminal. I refuse to help some peice of trash out of a bind. I feel like I'm one of the better plumbers in the city, and they can get the work done from someone who does a lousy job. Or they can pay premium dollars to some rake you over the coals outfit like PCPlumber.
> 
> You are so right about the above mentioned outfit.


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## alongston (Dec 27, 2010)

If you are still going to take checks implement a returned check policy where you will charge them extra for the bounced check to cover the fees you have to incur.


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