advice on how to deal with cheque lost in post

pinkgem

i received a cheque from a buyer on saturday 11th and posted it to my bank the same day in one of their pre paid envelopes. i also did the same with another cheque on tuesday 14th and yesterday wednesday 15th.

so far every other cheque paid in this way has been added to my account the following working day.

the cheque posted saturday 11th is yet to show in my bank account, however the cheque i posted on tuesday 14th showed yesterday afternoon (wednesday 14th) so it looks like the saturday cheque has got lost in the post. arrggh

i rang my bank and they said they have not received the saturday cheque yet, they said it has either gone missing or been returned due to an error in the writing of the cheque.

yesterday i emailed by buyer to explain that it seems to have got lost in the post, or possible returned due to an error in the writing of the cheque as suggested by my bank. i told them to feel free to check with their bank that it has not been cashed and that they should be able to cancel it free of charge due to being presumed lost in the post. i asked if they would be able to send me another cheque or make payment by another method and that i was happy to wait until they were satisfied that i had not cashed their cheque or that the cheque had been cancelled.

today i receive a short reply telling me that the cheque was filled out correctly as they have a copy on their pc and then ended with "please advise"

well all i can reply to that is again i can only presume it is lost in the post and would they be able to make payment again once they are satisifed that etc...

i get the impression my buyer thinks i am trying to scam him by accepting payment from him twice.

what is the best way to deal with this?

if only i had changed all my auctions to immediate payment by paypal a week ago and not 2 days ago!

frivolous_fay

For some inexplicable reason I had a big delay on a cheque I'd paid in. (In my case I pay it in at the PO, and (I didn't realise back then) the PO post it to the bank. (smile)

I think that one took about 2 weeks to clear. When I made enquiries, the PO blamed smile and smile blamed the post.

Never had an explanation. I go to branch for large cheques now.

soolin

What a nightmare, I really don't know what to suggest. Regulars will know I dislike cheques and Postal orders as I always seem to have problems with the darn things and end up wasting hours sorting it all out.

How about emailing the buyer again, ask them if they would like to do a direct bank transfer, and if not say that you will send them a stamped addressed envelope for them to send a new cheque (that means less leg work and no second stamp for them to buy).

pinkgem

i think i will wait for the buyer to reply, and then suggest what you said soolin.

i used to pay cheques in at the bank, but it meant a special trip in to town, car parking, fuel etc. Then when i found out that you could pay them in at the post office i did that and they were usually added to my account the next working day. Since i moved house and have started using a different post office, they have been taking 2 or 3 days to be added to my account. i think that was because the post office were taking longer to post them. so i asked my bank for some pre paid envelopes and posted them myself, and then it was back to them being added the next working day.

i had just changed my auctions to immediate paypal payment only due to a couple of non paying bidders. It will also save me all this hassle with cheques and postal orders.

i also recently had someone pay with postal order, but i never received it. buyer was great though and made payment by paypal instead and just asked me to refund her paypal payment and cash the postal order if it ever turned up, if not she was going to claim it back from royal mail.

custardy

kind of off topic but who keeps a copy of a cheque on their PC?

pinkgem

custardy wrote: »

kind of off topic but who keeps a copy of a cheque on their PC?

you tell me lol! i did think that was a bit odd, he's probably talking rubbish anyway.

Sharon87

This should sort itself out in time. Either the bank finally receive it and cash it for you. Or the buyer can cancel it. Try to reassure the buyer by telling him to cancel the cheque and post the new one when he's happy. He should know the cheque number if he's got a copy of it on his pc! Patience is the key with cheques!

soolin

Sharon87 wrote: »

This should sort itself out in time. Either the bank finally receive it and cash it for you. Or the buyer can cancel it. Try to reassure the buyer by telling him to cancel the cheque and post the new one when he's happy. He should know the cheque number if he's got a copy of it on his pc! Patience is the key with cheques!

The problem is though that the item needs to be sent otherwise the poor OP is likely to get badly hit with her star ratings for despatch times. Cheques do take patience (which is why I prefer not to accept them) but all a buyer will see is how long they have to wait for their goods, I can almost feel the buyers fingers itching towards the 3 * for despatch time already.

As far as th ebuyer is concerned they have sent the cheque and the seller has it and they now reasonably expect their goods to arrive. If it was you who sent the cheque how patient would you be at this point?

This is why I think the OP is in a nightmare situation, all ways out of it are likely to cause her to suffer either via feedback or by stars.

Sharon87

That's true, but if the cash hadn't left my bank I'd know something went wrong somewhere. I know some buyers can be inpatient and leave bad feedback because of it, but I would suggest as long as you keep the buyer informed it may help. I hate buyers/sellers who don't respond when there's a problem.

pinkgem

after not hearing anything from the buyer for over a week i sent him a message to update him that i'd still not had the cheque paid in to my account and i asked if they had managed to cancel it ok.

this is the reply i received

"hi,i have cancelled check with the bank, but i am still annoyed about the check being lost as the bahk said it has all my details on it,so it would not be worth sending another cheque, i think its best that we agree to cancel this sale, regards"

not quite sure who he is annoyed with - i'm guessing he means me, but it was either royal mail or my bank that lost the cheque. also not sure what he means by not worth sending another one as the cheque had his details on? i don't know what his concerns are about sending another cheque now that the 1st one is cancelled. i'm convinced he thinks i'm a scammer!

well i've bitten my tongue and just told him that's fine and i've tried to do a mutal, and will have to cross my fingers that he agrees to it and that he doesn't leave me neutral or negative feedback

lightisfading

It's not always free to cancel cheques. HSBC generally charge about £15 O_o

I have to laugh at people who get all paranoid about cheques 'having all their details on'. Yes. They do. So why do you use them?? I used to work at HSBC and the amount of dodgy cheques out there is amazing ... as such I only ever use them in an emergency and wouldn't for random people on ebay.... and if I had any more money in the bank I wouldn't use them at all :rotfl:

by the way, pinkgem, I just noticed you talk about cheques being 'added to your account the next working day' .... you do know they're not cleared then, right? they can 'bounce' up to the 6th working day after being paid in.