Bounced Cheque from Customer

enajaluap

Hi,

We accepted a cheque from a customer for £250 at the beginning of Jan and because we are a shop, the customer took the goods away with them at the time. It was an inexperienced member of staff who took the cheque, she wrote the long no across the middle of the card etc on the back of the cheque. We've since had the cheque returned from the bank saying "refer to drawer - please represent" so we represented it and its bounced again, reason this time is "refer to drawer not drawn in accordance with cheque card criteria"

I'm guessing the cheque guarantee card limit was less than £250 hence why the bank won't guarantee it, OK I can deal with that, but my main question is... how do I go about getting my money from the customer?

The member of staff who took the cheque was so angry and upset that this person took advantage of her inexperience she did a little detective work of her own by checking the girls name out on Facebook lol! Anyway turns out that this girl had all of her address and contact details available on there so we have this info.

I've decided to write her a letter because the phone no we have says it won't accept calls from our number?! (And we've tried a few different phones!) Can anyone help me out with the wording of the letter? I don't want to write anything which may jeopardise me getting my money back in court should I need to go that far. Also, do you think it would be appropriate to pay this girl a visit? We also know where she works, would it be bad to contact her there if there was no joy at home?

Any suggestions welcome - we need this money!

oasisfeverish

First thing is not to visit, as it could be seen as harrassment should the customer choose to contact the police. Then if it did go to court she would be able to present the court with a reference number from the police as she felt your approach was heavy handed.

Write a letter, make it sound like that this could of been a simple oversight on the customer's side (ie, be understanding in your letter, not agressive), rather than they have tried it on. Give them 14 days to make payment and clearly state how they can make that payment, by cheque or cash / postal or in person to the shop.

Send letter by trackable means, ir Recorded or Special Delivery as this will be very useful should you get as far as court to prove to the judge you explored every possible route first before weighing in with court letters.

After 14 days if no contact or payment received send a LBA (Letter Before Action). Along the same lines as before but now mentioning that if no payment received in 14 days, legal action will be taken.

Again send trackable means as per the first letter for the same reason.

If after those 14 days expire, file claim with MCOL, and ensure you complete the reason you are claiming in full (ie. £250 + claim fee + compensation should you wish to cover your expenses of getting this far). Clearly state claim is for goods received but not paid for.

She will then have 14 / 28 to enter a defence or pay up, if she does nothing by then, you get judgement by default, and can send in the DCA or Bailiffs.


Just had a thought but if you also have CCTV in your shop and can identify her on it to prove she came in, you could also mention this in your first letter, explaining should the court request this, you would be happy to provide.

Good luck, don't let them get away with it.

enajaluap

Oh there is no way she's getting away with it.I'm going to send her a copy of the receipt of the goods she bought as well in case she's "forgotten"

Just out of curiousity... if it weren't for our member of staff being such a detective, how else would we have found out her address? I would doubt if the bank would give us it? I don't think we'll be taking cheques any more, it's too much of a risk and I see a lot of other places don't take them anymore - no wonder!

Mikeyorks

Go to the place of work ..... with the returned cheque in your hand ..... ask for cash to be delivered to you, within 48hrs. Otherwise you will be back - this time to deliver a copy of the papers you will be filing with the small claims Court.

Harassment my backside - she's ripping you off. How do you think other companies collect their debts. The experts do a 'face to face' if at all possible.

noelphobic

enajaluap wrote: »

Just out of curiousity... if it weren't for our member of staff being such a detective, how else would we have found out her address? I would doubt if the bank would give us it?

The bank would be acting illegally if they gave you the person's address, as they would be contravening the Data Protection Act.

Mark7799

Usually, the Bank would say that they would forward a letter on if you sent it care of them.

I wouldn't have thought one polite contact would be called harrassment (if it were I could get a lot of doorstep salespeople arrested!!!!!!)

enajaluap

Thanks guys.

Think I'm going to go down the letter route I've tweaked a letter I found online to suit our circumstances:

Dear Miss xxxxxxx,

Your cheque, dated 07/01/09, for the sum of £251.36 has been returned to us by our bank, marked 'refer to drawer'. I have enclosed a copy of the transaction receipt which details the goods taken by you in exchange for the aforementioned cheque.

I write to demand immediate payment of this amount, in full. We will only accept payment in cash or by banker's draft. TAKE NOTICE that if payment is not received within 14 days it is our intention to:

(i) commence proceeding against you in the County Court, seeking payment of the amount owed to us; and

(ii) notify Devon & Cornwall Police of an apparent contravention, by you, of the provisions of Section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 (which refers to 'fraud by false representation', for which the maximum penalty is ten years imprisonment.)

What do u think? In one way I think its a bit harsh but then I think nah stuff her, I want my money! She's already got her goods. Grrrrr!

enajaluap

Oops sorry about the font=arial etc I copied the letter direct from word, must've copied over the background stuff too - ooh check me out with my technical jargon lol!

Elaine_Wilson

I may be soft but I think it is a bit harsh for a first letter.

The first time the cheque was presented it was returned with the instruction to represent. This could have been because funds were in the account but not cleared. It is possible she may not know about this.

I think your suggested letter is better suited for a follow up letter. An initial one suggesting an oversight and asking for it to be corrected would seem more appropriate.