Thank you everyone for your advice and support. Like I said if this helps anyone it is well worth it. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens and what action I chose to take.
Hopefully, some of you who don't feel right about taking deposits or think a customer will be put out will read these posts and realize that if a customer balks at paying a deposit or balance in full before the event then there is potential for a problem.
Man, that definitely sucks. I would be so pissed, I'd take her family pet and hold it ransom. LOL
I received a check from a bride the other day that has been stringing me along with the most incredulous stories about why she couldn't pay yet..yet..yet. I'm going to her bank to cash it because Bank of America definitely penalizes customers who deposit checks that have insufficient funds. I didn't think about purposely waiting until Friday...great suggestion!
I hope you get your money out of her. That's terrible you were duped like that.
If you do charge an extra fee if someone gives you a check that bounces how do you get the money? I know that you can keep trying to cash the check until it clears but, how do you get the NSF fee?
Well I would go ahead and put the checks in the bank!! Here in Canada the only NSF charges that are incurred is to the person who wrote the checks! The banks here or at least anytime I have dealt with a bank here, the NSF charges falls completely on the person who wrote it.It is not your problem that she had her money or stolen or whatever her story was...You supplied the cake and your Dad the food so I would say "Tough Luck to you" The banks here will notify you that the cheque went NSF but I don't believe they make you out on the funds! I could be wrong though...Don't completely quote me on that anyway..I feel bad for you!! Hope you end up getting the money!!
No here in Canada they do charge you for a bounced cheque and they also put a bad mark on your account. You are responsible for what goes into your account according to the banks. I don't agree with this but what are you going to do....
Sorry this has happened to anyone and it really shouldn't happen to anyone, but it does.
This kind of story is exactly why I would never accept a check. Period. There's absolutely no reason why someone can't pay with cash or a certified cashiers check/money order. They can come up with all of the excuses in the world, but there are ATM's everywhere, banks scattered about and all but the smallest places have a post office.
People these days are just too shady. It's sad, but true.
Ge978, I hope you get your money. I definitely think you should take her to small claims court. It is only a small hassle, compared to how much work you and your father put into this, and the fee is only like $40. (I think it has a federal cap on the fee, as well.) Good luck to you. (And please from now on only take credit cards or good ol' cash.)
If you decide to take her to small claims court, make sure you add the court cost into the total and also any charges you incurred if YOUR bank charged you. She is responsible for all of it since she didnt' have the money in her account.
Leily
I have had this happen to me and I just kept checking w/the bank and eventually there was enough funds to cash the check. So dont give up and keep trying. Good Luck!!!
Thanks Cashley...I wasn't completely sure...but then again I have never received a NSF check!! That sucks though..How are you supposed to know if it is good or not!
Well I know the pain. I did something really retarded recently. I took a check from a girl for a shower cake and , as I was out one day and needed some cash and her credit union was close by and I remembered having it on me I decided to stop in and cash it instead of going to my bank. It not only wasn't good, but her credit union must have been looking out for her, cuz it was one of those fancy shmancy deals where you don't really even SEE anyone you pick up a phone and a teller is behind that wall somewhere but you see her on a tv screen and they send the transaction thru a chute like the one @ a drive-thru. Anyway they sent my drivers license back and said that there were no funds available and they said .."Oh we will just hang onto the check." Well..I haven't been in business that long and wasn't thinking much about it. Then I realized as I walked out...without the check what can I do? NOTHING...Oh well. I won't do that again!
I wonder if the bank/credit union would give you a copy of the check since it was supposed to be a payment to you for the cake you made. The only other thing anyone can do in the future is to copy or scan into the PC each customer's check. What a lot of extra paper & trouble and all because some people are just dishonest!
You guys are great..thank you so much for your concern with my situation. I knew this would be the place to come to. From now on, I am no longer accepting checks...just cash or certified check. I guess if a customer can't deal with that then I don't want to deal with them anyway.
ge978 - here in Ohio it is ILLEGAL to do write a bad check. The police require it to be denied by the bank twice. After that, you call and make a police report and file charges against them. They get to go in front of a judge over that kind of thing.
You guys are great..thank you so much for your concern with my situation. I knew this would be the place to come to. From now on, I am no longer accepting checks...just cash or certified check. I guess if a customer can't deal with that then I don't want to deal with them anyway.
Ouch kiddo, sorry you had this experience but it is fraud if she wrote the cheque knowing it could not clear.
I only accept certified cheques, money orders or cash. I had one lady complain about having to pay to have her cheque certified but like I told her, she could always go and withdraw the cash. Just like I have to if I deal with a company that only deals in cash.
Hope you and your father see your money soon kiddo, what an awful thing for someone to do, especially when she works for you.
Hugs Squirrelly
Thanks Cashley...I wasn't completely sure...but then again I have never received a NSF check!! That sucks though..How are you supposed to know if it is good or not!
According to the bank and I used to work for one....they say it is your responsibility to know if the cheque is good or not. To avoid all of this you take it to the bank that it is written on and they will give it back if there are no funds. In Canada the banks will not release to you over the phone if there are funds in the account. This is the reason that so many stores now will not take cheques. Debit cards they get their money right away.
Quadcrew: Thanks for the info...its still in the early stages so it hasn't been run through twice, but the money is definitely not there and she hasn't contacted us at all.
I want to avoid going to court if I can, but it might be an option.
Hi Squirrelly: ,
Thank you. I'm only going to be accepting cashiers checks and cash from now on also. I'm hoping that people will look at these posts and maybe rethink their check policy also.
I think what happens sometimes is that we want to give a customer as many options as possible to make it more convenient for them, but what happens too often is that it inconvienences us.
Cashley: thank you for your information also. I agree that it should be our responsibility to make sure the check is good first before we deposit...it protects us so we don't have to go through the hassle of a bounced check. Unfortunately when they give you a check you assume its good until their bank tells you otherwise and then sometimes its a race to get your money. Not worth it for me anymore at all.
OK...so for those of you who accept a deposit in check form ahead of time (like at the time of booking or a week ahead), do you go ahead and cash it?
Ape: Absolutely cash it...otherwise there is no point of taking a deposit. If you offer refundable deposits by a certain date, then I would cash it and set it aside until after that date. Whenever I put a deposit down on anything I expect the check to be cashed. Hope this helps
I appreciate your dilemma (I've had a bride pay with a bad check before) but some of my cakes are ~ $1000. I wouldn't ask for that in cash or cashier's check...it's too inconvenient for the customer (and I would still have to go to the bank). Yesterday I received a check for $800...I could only imagine the look on her face if I said, "Sorry, cash or money order only!" LOL
I believe that getting your events paid for long in advance of the event is the way to go.
Cakepro..I agree...getting them to pay in advance would be the ideal way to go. If you do that then taking a check wouldn't be that much of an issue. I just wanted to offer my experience and advice for those who needed any. Thank goodness this was not a $1000 cake or I would not be as calm as I am
I guess I just thought that if a customer knows they are going to have to pay for the cake the day of delivery, then getting a cashier's check would not be a big deal. The money's coming from the same place, so if they actually have the money in the account they shouldn't have a problem with it.
By the way Cakepro: just checked out your pictures and your cakes are well worth the money!
Thanks for the compliment.
If that's when you ask for payment, then you are absolutely right in asking for cash or cashier's check only! I didn't realize you weren't getting paid until the day you delivered the cakes.
With as crappy as so many people are, I just don't trust anyone paying the day of delivery. It's sad. I hope your lady makes right for you and your dad's hard work.
I used to take a deposit on my cakes then the balance on the day of event, but I always hated talking money on someone's wedding day! So to avoid the kind of issues mentioned above I started always taking a deposit of half when they pick their cake and contract me to do the job and the rest sometime in the week before the event ( no less than 3 days before). I also use the local D.A.'s worthless check unit now. I haven't had a bad one since I started that. But I honestly will now follow thru on it and have someone prosecuted if I have to. Let them open a letter from the D.A> threatening prosecution and I'll bet they can somehow manage to find the money to make good on the check!
P.S. Funny thing someone mentioned cost of cakes, most of my wedding cakes range in price from $450.00 to $1,200.00 and in my experience the more costly ones never give a problem with payment! It is always the cheaper ones! GO FIGURE?!
How about that she used to clean your place.... I think sometimes people see all the stuff you have when they clean your house and then think you are rich! It's not like she never got paid for cleaning...
How would she like the shoe on the other foot. I mean mention that aspect to her. How would she like to have cleaned your house and then you did not pay her.
janethorp: thank goodness I never let her in my house! She did some cleaning at the shop that I have. I tend to make huge messes when I bake
Kayday: I agree with you that it always seems to be the cheaper cakes that people have a problem paying. Maybe they figure its not worth the time to hunt them down for a small payment. I think she figured WRONG!
...in my experience the more costly ones never give a problem with payment! It is always the cheaper ones! GO FIGURE?!
That's the flippin' truth! It's the 'budget brides' that like to tell me all their money troubles or want me to price match Wal-Mart. Hahahahahaha...sorry, I don't price match.
It's not a good sign when the bride hands you the deposit check and nervously says, "Can you wait until Friday to deposit this?"
I appreciate your dilemma (I've had a bride pay with a bad check before) but some of my cakes are ~ $1000. I wouldn't ask for that in cash or cashier's check...it's too inconvenient for the customer (and I would still have to go to the bank). Yesterday I received a check for $800...I could only imagine the look on her face if I said, "Sorry, cash or money order only!" LOL
I believe that getting your events paid for long in advance of the event is the way to go.
Well, try and imagine the look on the customer's face here in Canada if I asked them to pay their deposit three months in advance to allow for the three week timeframe it takes a cheque to clear all banks involved so that my own bank doesn't go back into my account and withdraw the amounts of an NSF cheque. Plus allowing within that timeframe the six to eight weeks I may require to order and receive items I might need for this cake from various places within Canada and the U.S. and receive them in time. Even my florist and the place that I can rent certain stands if they are available as opposed to purchasing them on order from the U.S., require cash deposits or credit cards and these are done in advance too. And then imagine further the look on their face when I tell them I need that final payment and deposit for items to be returned, if paid by cheque another three weeks in advance of their planned wedding date to again allow that cheque to clear. You might see that for me as well as many others, cash, money order or a cashier's cheque is the way to go.
I have yet to make a wedding cake for 100 people that for my cost alone did not run me at least $360.
Squirrelly: is this what her face might have looked like ?
Calejo: I would tell the woman: "I don't mind not getting my payment on time if you don't mind not getting your cake on time"
Actually, I probably wouldn't say that out loud
So sorry you had such a bad experience. Every state and every bank has different policies about checks. When I owned my cafe and then my bar I had very little trouble with bad checks but learned alot. The banks here will not tell you if there is enough money in the bank to cash them if you call. They also run them through twice before returning them to you when you deposit them. As far as trying to take the money out of her pay (I doubt that she will work for you again) that is not legal here. I did that to an employee one time and found out afterwards that it was not legal. Luckily, she didn't know that. Also, I noticed that you said you would only trust immediate family. I have found that not always the best policy either!
lionlady, Thank you so much for the info. I don't charge my immediate family for cakes so that is a surefire way I know I'm not going to get stiffed for them
I decided to deposit the check because I need it to go through at least twice before I take any action. I can't just call or run to her bank everyday to see if money is in there. Its very possible that she will close this account & will make it more difficult to get the money.
I appreciate everyone's help and advice and I will keep you guys posted on what happens..just in case you guys find yourself in a situation like this.
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