Help Needed: Bounced Cheque and Return Shipping Questions

[2pamperedhw]

Hello all!

I am a new consultant and at our (I co-consult with a friend) 4th party a guest bounced her cheque for $170.00. Having only had 1 paycheque we became overdrawn and then there was fees for honouring the payments TPC took out, $13.00 in total. The guest in not responding to our contact in asking for the monies, and I fear she will not come through with the money.

I understand that the items can be returned within 30 days after the show date, via return sticker, however my questions are as below:

1) Do we pay for return shipping?
2) Who covers her $4.75 shipping fee and her "Round up from the Heart" of approx $4.00?
3) Do most consultants defer additional bank fees for returned cheques to the applicable guest and if so how much?
4) How does TPC return the funds and how long does it usually take?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.......2pamperedhw

 

[BethCooks4U]

Hello all!

I am a new consultant and at our (I co-consult with a friend) 4th party a guest bounced her cheque for $170.00. Having only had 1 paycheque we became overdrawn and then there was fees for honouring the payments TPC took out, $13.00 in total. The guest in not responding to our contact in asking for the monies, and I fear she will not come through with the money.

I understand that the items can be returned within 30 days after the show date, via return sticker, however my questions are as below:

1) Do we pay for return shipping?
2) Who covers her $4.75 shipping fee and her "Round up from the Heart" of approx $4.00?
3) Do most consultants defer additional bank fees for returned cheques to the applicable guest and if so how much?
4) How does TPC return the funds and how long does it usually take?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.......2pamperedhw

Call HO and tell them the situation. They will send a call tag to pick up the products. I'm not sure how they do the refund - I think they would do a commission adjustment (pay you on the next paycheck). Of course they will subtract it from your sales for the month.

I am lucky that my bank does not charge me for bounced checks. I have only had about a half dozen checks bounce in 4 years and they did charge $5 for the last one (but later reversed it when I questioned the charge). I have never charged the customer anything extra but I did this time and she didn't blink an eye - most companies charge $25-$30. My husband said I should definitely charge the $5 from now on for my stress and trouble.

 

[2pamperedhw]

Thank you for your reply Beth.

Great news, the guest has finally called (her cheque was returned 12 days ago for reason of "non-sufficient funds") and she is coming over with cash before the end of the weekend.

Hooray!!

 

[lizcooks4u]

re: bounced checksCheck with your bank, even if it's a personal checking if you explain the situation they may waive the fees. My bank doesn't charge unless the 2nd time it doesn't go thru they'll hit me up with I think $ 5.00 fee. Beth is right many charge customers 25-30.00 fee charge. In my past DSA's it was offered to the customer who bounced the check if she would hold a show must be a house show if that can be done, then you'd take care of the fees. You may put on your catalogs that bounced checks cost or have fees applied towards them, but for the most part people that come to these party's don't bounce checks intentionally and may have had a problem or forgotten to write something down or a check cleared prior to a deposit, that's happened to me a few times. My deposit is made and no cleared checks and all of a sudden a check clears and I get hit with 29.00 fee

At least your guest came over (FINALLY) and with cash too

Liz

Thank you for your reply Beth.

Great news, the guest has finally called (her cheque was returned 12 days ago for reason of "non-sufficient funds") and she is coming over with cash before the end of the weekend.

Hooray!!

 

[brandenc]

My bank charges me 2.00 per returned check and they mail me the check. If I call and they fuss about it, I send them 1 certified letter requesting a money order for the amount of there order plus I do charge then 15.00 for return check.

As this point if they don't pay within 15 days of receiving the letter, I then turn it over to our District Attorney for collection and they end up having to pay for the amount of the order plus the 15.00 return check fee, and attorney and court fee.

I know 1 store where I use to live charged 80.00 if your check was returned.

I have had only 1 check returned, because the customer didn't receive a product, and I plainly stated to her it was broken and I was getting a replacement and would send it to her. She received all the times(Avon products) and she went to the bank and put a stop payment on the check. Well she didn't return the products to me and got her money back, She ended up having to pay me the cost of the check, the attorney requested 65.00 for the return fee, plus 195.00 for the court and attorney fee which she had to pay, so I make it clear to all customers on the bottom of a receipt that there is a return check fee.

 

[2pamperedhw]

The fees I was charged were to cover payments TPC was taking from my account to cover order, supplies etc...thankfully my bank did not return my cheques. There was 2 handling fees @ $5.00 for covering those payments and there was a $3.00 chargeback fee, therefore $13.00 in total.

In Canada we don't have a District Attorney for these small matters, you deal with it yourself or send it to collections with your bank or with a Collection Agency. I wouldn't want to do the collection route as the fees charged would be substantial and returning the product would be more profitable.

Luckily, I checked my banking that day and saw the cheque returned, because the host was delivering to all guests that same evening. We deposited the show on the 27th, submitted the show on the 28th and the guest cheque was charged back on March 6th. I have grave concerns for my bank as I worked there for 19 years and know that the timeline is not acceptable. Imagine if the guest got the product that evening and did not agree to come over with cash(which we requested). There was ample time for the cheque to clear, however we have learned not to submit the show for at least 4 - 5 days till after all deposits to cover have been made.

We charged her $25.00 for her returned cheque, and she has not come over yet with the cash but has called and has said she will by the end of this weekend.

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed for resolution.

 

[2pamperedhw]

Well, it's like I thought! She has now lost our phone number again?! and has instead e-mailed asking for another 2 - 3 days to pay!

The guest has continually lied and is continuing to lie and I am not expecting to see any money from her. We do still have until Friday(not confirmed with HO yet) to return her product and that is what will likely happen.

I must say how terribly disappointed I am, also knowing that it is likely that she is bad mouthing us around with her story of events which are entirely untrue. The fact simply remains that her cheque was deposited on the 27th and charged back to our bank account on the 6th. What does she needs a couple more days for after she has already had 4 weeks and 2 days since the cheque was originally issued.

Any tips on accepting cheques would be much appreciated?

 

[pampchefmom2002]

In the future, you might want to wait until the checks have cleared your bank before submitting the show.

 

[BethCooks4U]

Any tips on accepting cheques would be much appreciated?

Instead of cashing them into your own account you could take the check to THEIR bank, cash them and then deposit the cash into your account. You can also insist that they pay by debit or credit card - then at least the products wouldn't be sent until all accounts are settled. That way you can still submit the orders to get in on promotions, etc.

 

[pampchefmom2002]

I have taken checks to THEIR banks in the past and get this......their banks want to charge ME $8.00 to deposit their check!!!! Their banks can obviously see whether or not they are good for the money! What a scam! So I don't even try that way anymore.

 

[Marg]

Beth - we aren't set up to take Debit cards in Canada.

Really the only thing you can do is wait to submit the show until the cheque clears.

 

[pampermeRai]

Hello all!

I am a new consultant and at our (I co-consult with a friend) 4th party a guest bounced her cheque for $170.00. Having only had 1 paycheque we became overdrawn and then there was fees for honouring the payments TPC took out, $13.00 in total. The guest in not responding to our contact in asking for the monies, and I fear she will not come through with the money.

I understand that the items can be returned within 30 days after the show date, via return sticker, however my questions are as below:

1) Do we pay for return shipping?
2) Who covers her $4.75 shipping fee and her "Round up from the Heart" of approx $4.00?
3) Do most consultants defer additional bank fees for returned cheques to the applicable guest and if so how much?
4) How does TPC return the funds and how long does it usually take?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.......2pamperedhw

Hi I always have the guests make their checks out to the hostess and then have the hostess write me one check for everything (except cash and cc) People are less likely to write bad checks to their friends You are a stranger to them, they think they'll never see again after all......

 

[BethCooks4U]

Hi I always have the guests make their checks out to the hostess and then have the hostess write me one check for everything (except cash and cc) People are less likely to write bad checks to their friends You are a stranger to them, they think they'll never see again after all......

That certainly is an option but then you have one large check and if the host doesn't get the checks in to her bank or one of the guest's checks doesn't clear the whole check will bounce. I would much rather have a smaller check bounce and have to deal with that then a whole show!

In 4 years I have had about a half dozen checks returned and all but one made good immediately. Fortunately, the one who didn't return my calls had the order shipped in a show that was delivered to my address so she never got the product. I really think most people are honest and are embarrassed when this happens.

 

[2pamperedhw]

Bads news. Like I had expected the guest has not made good on her cheque, so the products are being returned. Guest's cheque was originally dated Feb 27th and today is the 23rd, more than enough time to cover the cheque if she intended to in the first place.

Sorry for going off about this, but I am terribly disappointed. Our director has been doing this for years and has never had a guest not cover a cheque!

Not a great way to start a brand new business, we are learning along the way and this is just one of those things we cannot change.

 

[2pamperedhw]

FYI

My husband had suggested taking a credit card number with every cheque and recording it on the back of the cheque, including expiry etc. I had said to him that it would be of no benefit to do that as I do not have the capability of charging any credit card after the show has been submitted.

It has also been suggested not to accept cheques and Head Office confirmed that as a Consultant we do have the option of what payment options to offer and accept.

However, my partner called Head Office and they said that if credit card information has been recorded and we are unable to collect that the guest's credit card account could then be charged by HO and that PC would send us the money.

hmmm.........Something to consider when taking cheques.