Guest wants me to not cash check

[babywings76]

I did a show last Friday night. Today I went to the bank to make the deposits. My host is wanting to close the show tonight or tomorrow morning as soon as 2 orders come through the website tonight that she was expecting.

So I just got this e-mail:

we met at Xxxxxx's last week and i gave you a check for my order i think the total was $70.00...my bank had messed up my banking account ridiculously this week and im trying to get it all sorted out..i was wonder if there was anyway i could just give you my card numbers to pay because then it would come out a a different account..instead of the check and i would just have you ripe the check up...because i dont want you to like cash it and then it bounce and screw everything up..if that works with you just write me back and i can send you all my card infor...sorry for the inconvience...also i beleive my mom said she summited an order for megan online just a little bit ago!

I'm going to call my bank tomorrow (if they have hours, I don't know). I do my deposits utilizing the ATM, so I'm wondering if there's a chance they didn't retrieve my deposits yet.

Do you have any advice on what could possibly be done on her end or mine?

[Sheila]

She can put a stop payment on the check which means it would be deposited into your account, and then withdrawn again. I'm not sure if your bank will charge a fee for her check having a stop payment or not. You'll need to ask.

Just e-mail her back & let her know that you already did the night drop prior to receiving her e-mail & see if she wants to go that route. Her bank will probably charge her a fee for the stop payment, but it might be less than you both paying a bounced check fee.

If she does that, then she can still pay you with her CC # since you haven't yet submitted the show. ;)

[NooraK]

You could call the branch to see if there's anything they can do. If it's Bank of America, and one of the new ATMs that scans the check, they won't be able to do anything. The scans of the images are viewed by associates in a call center type environment and don't need to be retrieved from the ATM.

[jwpamp]

Just an idea for the future (can't give any advice for the current problem)... I have started requesting Debit and Credit cards for payment at my shows and from outside orders via the host. I did it at my last show and had over $800 in payment that way.

I also include a line on my outside order form under where it says "make checks payable to: " that says
"$20 NSF charge for all returned checks".

Since changing my approach, many people are either using a card or paying the host with cash.

I have had an increase in customers checks being returned and I can't think of any other way to handle this issue.

[legacypc46]

This is a great idea Janice. Thanks for sharing!