Returned Show!

[MSmith]

Okay, I'm sure that part of it is the holiday influx of letters & mailings plus the business closings in celebration of Christmas...and I'm hoping that it's just delayed and not lost...but, I mailed about $400 to my bank on the 13th of December and it STILL has not posted! In addition to that, PC has tried to collect the show TWICE and I had to pay $40 in returned fees.

I called PC and they said that if it's not there the 1st time, they'll try again in 5 days (which just happened) and then again in 3 days. At which time, they will contact me for another form of payment.

I am so embarrassed and upset and frustrated and scared! It is such a huge responsibility to take care of that kind of money and I feel like it is my fault.

I've got corrective actions that I'm going to take to make sure that this doesn't happen again, but I hate that I'm now going to have to contact each person and ask them to put a stop check payment and re-write a check(which will cost them money and then they may not want to do business with me again)!

sigh. has this happened to anyone else but me!? This is such my luck.

 

[ChefLoriG]

I've never mailed money to my bank for a deposit, just go in person. But if your bank is long distance, I guess you have no choice. If possible, I would see about opening a local account so you don't run in to that problem again. Another option is to open a PC Credit card, and pay your shows with that. Then when the PC credit card bill comes, just write one check. Then you never have to worry about when PC takes the money, cause it won't come from the bank, it will come from the PC credit card. That is what I do now.

 

[friday]

I'm not sure I understand why you have to call each person? I have bounced a show, and have helped out team members who have bounced shows. It is usually something just like you are saying- the bank doesnt clear a cheque in time, or one of the customers cheques bounces and there isnt enough to cover it. What I had to do was get a money order for the amount from my own account, cover the fees and mail that to PC. None of my customers ever had to do anything or even know about it.

Alison

 

[pamperedbecky]

I'm not sure I understand why you have to call each person? I have bounced a show, and have helped out team members who have bounced shows. It is usually something just like you are saying- the bank doesnt clear a cheque in time, or one of the customers cheques bounces and there isnt enough to cover it. What I had to do was get a money order for the amount from my own account, cover the fees and mail that to PC. None of my customers ever had to do anything or even know about it.

Alison

What it sounded like to me was the maybe the deposit was lost in the mail somewhere? And maybe there's a chance someone else got a hold of it and may try to cash the checks? That's why she'd need to contact the customers to have them stop payment.....at least if I'm understanding it correctly.

MSmith---That's a big bummer! Maybe it'll still turn up. I've never had this happen to me, but my bank is about 3 minutes away, so it's easy for me to run there and do deposits. It does sound like the PC credit card may be the way to go for you. Sorry that this happened to you.

 

[Chef Kearns]

Shared Branching

We live in Arizona now and our bank is a relatively small credit union based out of Texas. You should check with your bank to see if they offer shared branching at a local bank near you. That's what we do. There are some services that we cannot use, but for the most part it is exactly the same and much safer than mailing large sums of money through the USPS. Imagine if it had been a $1000 show!!

Hopefully everything will work out. Keep us posted. Maybe it is just slow in getting there (I like to give people the benefit of the doubt).

 

[MSmith]

All of these checks are floating around somewhere between Arkansas & Maryland in the mail system. That is why I need to get a hold of everyone and have them put a stop check and re-issue a new one to me. This is the first time it's happened to me and I usually wait until all of the deposits are securely in my account, but I wanted to submit the show in time for Christmas shipment deadline. (murphy's law, right?) I had been wanting to open up an account here, but there are several reasons why I haven't done so. Now, I realize that this situation far outweighs any reason! It is making me ill, but at least it's past the point where I was anxiously checking the account hoping it would be there....it's not going to be there and I have to get active in resolving the situation. Unfortunately, this also means that I have to submit orders the slow way until I get all of the monies for this one show sent to them plus another $20 fee. Anyway, I have learned a valuable lesson, eh?

Thanks for the advice to get a PC Credit Card. I have applied for that. Thank you for letting me vent

 

[MSmith]

Update...

Guess what? It posted! whew and woohooo...
It took 17 days, but at least I don't have to contact all of my customers! I'm hoping that PC will let me pay the hostage show with a credit card instead of money order b/c I don't want the hold on my shows until the snail mail (which I have little faith in now) gets to them for processing.
thanks,
ms

 

[pamperedbecky]

That's great! I'm so glad to hear that. LIke you said, it was a lesson learned!

 

[scottcooks]

Been There, Done That, Don't Want the T-Shirt...

Comisseration... yup. It stinks. I've not been in the bind over mailed checks, but have had my bank deny the TPCDebit several times-- once because a prior transaction created a $2.64 deficit for the PC show!

SOLUTION Open A Separate PC Checking Account at your bank. Or, as I did, open a new account for your personal finances. Leave the existing account which PC already has on file, as the PC account. Watch your balance like a hawk, and you're Good To GO! Doing this has saved me hours of headache, and my customers, days or weeks of waiting for their product.