kcjodih
Gold Member
- 3,408
It's only my second in my almost 4 years of business but man I hate this! I just went online to make sure a host had deposited the last money owing into my bank account (she lives 1/2 hour away and didn't have a credit card when we closed her show on the phone) and saw an Insufficient Fund Returned Cheque withdrawal on my account.
The good news is that my host HAD deposited the money she said she was going to on the 31st. The bad news is this bounced cheque. The total of the cheque was $132.49 so the amount taken back out of my account was $142.49 including bank fees.
The thing is this has been a wierd show since the beginning. The show was my only July show and was on the 13th. My host knew I was leaving on the 18th for a week's holiday and agreed to close on or before the 17th. Emails me on the 15th saying she only had one more order and was still $45 away from $700 so she'd like to leave it open until I get back. I explained that that would be a delay for her guests receiving their products and she said they were okay with that. So I agreed to call her on the 25th to close her show.
I got an email while camping with another small order and said congrats you're now only $30 away from $700 and more FREE blah blah, talk to you when I get home.
I get home and she emails me with a $22 order on the 25th and I say congrats only $8 away and she says what? I thought I was only $20 away before? I said no, my email stated ... and I cut and pasted. So I said I'd call her that evening.
I call and she's out getting her nose pierced (!) and her daughter said she'd have her call me when she gets back. No call. Then the next day Saturday she emails saying okay, I'll figure out how to get one more small order....Nothing Sunday, nothing Monday the 28th. I email her that evening saying are you finally ready to close, I can call to help, you have this much free etc and I also state we MUST close by Thursday the 31st with ALL payments to me in order to qualify for the July specials (little white lie :blushing she finally emails me Tuesday night saying call me Wed night. I'll call, we close and she says she'll put the $ in my account at her local branch Thursday. I thought okay, but I'm waiting to make sure it's in before sending....
So since I wasn't in a hurry and nothing had shown up on Thursday night or Friday morning (which is typical - the bank insists the deposit must be couriered to my branch) I wait until tonight. No hurry at this point since they will be swamped with shows and what's one more day (and it's a civic holiday here today so HO is closed for 3 days instead of 2).
Now I see a returned cheque! And it's from one of the two bookings on this show. I'm praying it will turn out positive but am prepared for the worst. I'm just thankful that I haven't sent it in yet. I feel bad for the guests but the main delay has been hers (18 days to close) and it's not being delivered to me (1/2 hour away) AND the guest who's cheque bounced and the host are good friends but I'm not confident the host could stand up to her about not delivering her products until I got money if it had already been sent in.
So, now that this is so long my question is what would you do and how long would you wait? I just emailed the guest (since we were emailing back and forth about a show date) and explained that I had a cheque from her returned and now needed XXx amount including the $10 fee either deposited in CASH to my account at her local branch, a credit card number given to me, or I would have to cancel her order. I also stated that I'd call her tomorrow since it was midnight here now.
I also emailed the host saying there was a problem with an order (but not what or why) and that hopefully it would be cleared up by Wednesday but if not then the products would not be arriving by the end of the week as we had hoped.
If I reach her or a machine how long should I give her to repay or cancel her order? Is 24 hours reasonable? And was I wrong in deposited all the cash and cheques I had on the 25th when I got home even though the show wasn't sent in? I deposited it on the 25th and it shows as returned on the 29th. I usually do it immediately after the show (which would have been right after the 13th) since we always close close in but when she wanted to wait I didn't rush. I just don't want to hear the guest tell me it's my fault I waited too long/or cashed it too early etc. Also wouldn't she know by now that she'd bounced a cheque to me? Arrgg!
The good news is that my host HAD deposited the money she said she was going to on the 31st. The bad news is this bounced cheque. The total of the cheque was $132.49 so the amount taken back out of my account was $142.49 including bank fees.
The thing is this has been a wierd show since the beginning. The show was my only July show and was on the 13th. My host knew I was leaving on the 18th for a week's holiday and agreed to close on or before the 17th. Emails me on the 15th saying she only had one more order and was still $45 away from $700 so she'd like to leave it open until I get back. I explained that that would be a delay for her guests receiving their products and she said they were okay with that. So I agreed to call her on the 25th to close her show.
I got an email while camping with another small order and said congrats you're now only $30 away from $700 and more FREE blah blah, talk to you when I get home.
I get home and she emails me with a $22 order on the 25th and I say congrats only $8 away and she says what? I thought I was only $20 away before? I said no, my email stated ... and I cut and pasted. So I said I'd call her that evening.
I call and she's out getting her nose pierced (!) and her daughter said she'd have her call me when she gets back. No call. Then the next day Saturday she emails saying okay, I'll figure out how to get one more small order....Nothing Sunday, nothing Monday the 28th. I email her that evening saying are you finally ready to close, I can call to help, you have this much free etc and I also state we MUST close by Thursday the 31st with ALL payments to me in order to qualify for the July specials (little white lie :blushing she finally emails me Tuesday night saying call me Wed night. I'll call, we close and she says she'll put the $ in my account at her local branch Thursday. I thought okay, but I'm waiting to make sure it's in before sending....
So since I wasn't in a hurry and nothing had shown up on Thursday night or Friday morning (which is typical - the bank insists the deposit must be couriered to my branch) I wait until tonight. No hurry at this point since they will be swamped with shows and what's one more day (and it's a civic holiday here today so HO is closed for 3 days instead of 2).
Now I see a returned cheque! And it's from one of the two bookings on this show. I'm praying it will turn out positive but am prepared for the worst. I'm just thankful that I haven't sent it in yet. I feel bad for the guests but the main delay has been hers (18 days to close) and it's not being delivered to me (1/2 hour away) AND the guest who's cheque bounced and the host are good friends but I'm not confident the host could stand up to her about not delivering her products until I got money if it had already been sent in.
So, now that this is so long my question is what would you do and how long would you wait? I just emailed the guest (since we were emailing back and forth about a show date) and explained that I had a cheque from her returned and now needed XXx amount including the $10 fee either deposited in CASH to my account at her local branch, a credit card number given to me, or I would have to cancel her order. I also stated that I'd call her tomorrow since it was midnight here now.
I also emailed the host saying there was a problem with an order (but not what or why) and that hopefully it would be cleared up by Wednesday but if not then the products would not be arriving by the end of the week as we had hoped.
If I reach her or a machine how long should I give her to repay or cancel her order? Is 24 hours reasonable? And was I wrong in deposited all the cash and cheques I had on the 25th when I got home even though the show wasn't sent in? I deposited it on the 25th and it shows as returned on the 29th. I usually do it immediately after the show (which would have been right after the 13th) since we always close close in but when she wanted to wait I didn't rush. I just don't want to hear the guest tell me it's my fault I waited too long/or cashed it too early etc. Also wouldn't she know by now that she'd bounced a cheque to me? Arrgg!