How Do You Know Your Checks Are Wrong?

[Jeff in BigD]

Answer: the cable company shuts off your internet access.

My bank sent me checks with the wrong account number, so the check had to be returned, so there was the payment that wasn't met (even though the check was sent in good faith), plus a $25 return check fee was applied. I'm thinking everything is hunky-dorey...then *bam* no cable TV or internet. No call, no notice, nothing.

So I had to go down to the cable company, get a copy of the statements, take it to the bank & get them to credit the two $25 return check fees. Uggh! Anyway I'm having to do my online stuff here at my folks' place. Hopefully I should be back online in a day or two, but anyway, it's been frustrating.


The bright side is I have an interview tomorrow so wish me luck!

 

[worm761]

sorry to hear about the cable. and good luck with the interview!!!

 

[Gail T AGAIN]

Cable sucks here in MA and even Texas. That is frustrating but on the up side I bet you do well on the job interview, my fingers and toes are crossed for you, GOOD LUCK!

 

[Krisu]

It's too bad the bank still charged the retun check fee even though it was their error Or did they say it was your responsibility to know the account number was wrong?

 

[nativetxn]

Sounds like it was the printers who were the bad guys here?

What a frustrating thing to have to deal with, Jeff. Hope you get your internet access back soon.

 

[EROS]

Jeff, another good reason to use electronic banking. I seldom write checks anymore ...

 

[Serena]

Good luck Jeff, I hope it's something you want and you get it.

And um, hey jeff, triple check the account numbers next time.

 

[DVC-Don]

I'll back EROS on this one, plus read the numbers on the bottom of the checks next order.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I would get the printing company to pay those bank fees! It was their error.

 

[kylara]

Jeff,

Sorry to hear about the confusion. Glad you got it straightened out and the bank will cover the fees. Can't say as I blame the cable company...from their point of view it probably looked as if someone was trying to pass a bad check...not just one that had NSF but one that was conterfeit. If you sent out any more, I would call those companies and explain so that they don't mark it against you. Also get a letter from the bank explaining the error to keep on file just in case it shows up in your credit report down the road.

 

[LunarLady]

Please bear in mind that I'm a 12 year banking veteran when I post this and that I'm NOT flaming Jeff or anyone else.

It is the customer's responsibility to double-check all their check orders when they come in. The customer needs to make sure their name, address, phone numbers (and any other extraneous numbers) are correct as well as compare the new checks to the old ones to make sure the R/T line (that numbered line at the bottom) is the same as their old checks.

In every single check order I've ever gotten, there's always a reminder slip attached to the first pack TELLING customers to do this. Banks are NOT responsible for printing company errors. Most banks DO NOT print their own checks, and with all the cheapo printing companies springing up (for example: Current), banks simply WON'T be held responsible for the customer going out on his/her own and having their own checks printed up.

It was a hard lesson to learn, Jeff, and I'm glad the bank credited back the $25.00 fees (although legally they didn't have to). Hopefully others who are reading this thread will remember to closely scrutinize their replacement checks when they get them to avoid troubles like this one.

 

[RUDisney]

Everything LunarLady said is right. I've got 18-years in banking under my belt, plus I've managed the item processing department off and on for many of those years.

What we have a bigger problem with are customers who use cheaper companies or print their own checks. It is hard to make some people understand that even though everything may look ok on a check, if the magnetic ink that the MICR line (the line at the bottom of the check with your bank's ABA number and your account and check number on it) is bad. It has to be printed well enough, and in the proper position for our computers to read the documents.

If you had ordered your checks through my bank and had the error you described come up and bite you in the butt, we'd have done right by you and paid for our vendor's error by refunding your return item charges. If you had ordered from a cheaper vendor, (Current, Checks In the Mail, etc.,) we wouldn't have done that for you, as we assume the risk if our vendor prints something wrong, but it's your risk if you choose an alternate vendor.

Oh, yeah, I also agree with Eros... use online banking... it's the best!

 

[ncligs]

I agree with EROS, we have all of our bills(cable,electric,cell,taxes,telephone,everything) directly billed to our credit card(FF miles). I only write about 2 checks a month(only because they don't take checking debit or credit card). It is much easier to keep track of your bills through the credit card (on-line). Besides getting FF miles that really add up fast. The key is to always pay your credit card bill in full each month so you don't pay any intrest.

 

[LunarLady]

Originally posted by ncligs
I agree with EROS, we have all of our bills(cable,electric,cell,taxes,telephone,everything) directly billed to our credit card(FF miles). I only write about 2 checks a month(only because they don't take checking debit or credit card). It is much easier to keep track of your bills through the credit card (on-line). Besides getting FF miles that really add up fast. The key is to always pay your credit card bill in full each month so you don't pay any intrest.

HHmmmmm.....paying your bills ONLINE with a CC that gives you FF miles?

THANK YOU NCLIGS!!!!

That's a really good idea! Since MWE is my favorite airline, I think I'm gonna look into this! I love their services, but they tend to be a little more expensive than the other airlines.

 

[LunarLady]

Rats...rats...double rats-a-roni....

Their frequent flyer Mastercard comes with either a $70.00 annual fee or a $50.00 annual fee. I don't have any annual fees on any of my other credit cards, so it wouldn't be worth it.

Rats.

 

[RUDisney]

It all depends on how much you charge each year. IMHO, 2 years worth of $50 fees are a great incentive for me to shop with AA's visa. I can easily rack up 2 free tickets, if not more over a 2 year period.

One of the benefits to not having a corporate card and having to charge bank-related expenses to our personal card....

The bad part of charging everything is that Girl Scouts don't take the card when selling you cookies.

 

[janette]

That I know of there are no flyer miles cards that don't have an annual fee.

$50 is a good price for a ticket though and in 2 years I'll have enough for 4. I did move and do some other big ticket things but use them for almost everything and they do add up quickly.

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by LunarLady

Their frequent flyer Mastercard comes with either a $70.00 annual fee or a $50.00 annual fee. I don't have any annual fees on any of my other credit cards, so it wouldn't be worth it.
Rats.

LunarLady,
The card we use is the Continental Chase Master Card, it has a $50 fee per yr. But for us it is well worth it.This past yr we accumulated over 65,000 FF miles from charging. So I just booked 3 rt tx to San Antonio next summer to visit relatives. It didn't cost me a penny.If I would have paid everything(bills,groceries,gas,etc) without using a creditcard, we wouldn't have had 3 FREE round trip($900 value) tickets.

 

[EROS]

I agree with ncligs. The fees associated with FF cards are MORE than worth it IF you charge substantially.

We have a Platinum Delta Skymiles AMEX card; the annual rate is $135........,BUT the returns are GREAT!!!!!!! With each annual renewal, you're given a FREE COMPANION FARE ( worth at least $500 to us for our coast-to-coast flights).......AND ........ 10,000 MILES if one charges >$25,000/year; the 10,000 miles are roughly worth $200 to us.

So for an outlay of $135 annually, we receive $700 back in benefits PLUS miles to be used towards our next flight

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Ok, I'm finally back up & running!

I went on the interview...well actually they had me take a personality profile test, but the fax to the main office was down, so I won't know until Monday, but it seems like a fun place & I wouldn't have to buy much uniform-wise.


Ok here's the things about the bank...
-I wouldn't do electronic bill pay because:
I already had a previous problem with them putting someone else's auto-pay for their car on my account & I had to make a couple calls to get the situation resolved, meanwhile I had to spend the weekend with no money. Also, since I'm going to be waiting tables (again), my funds are going to vary, so say if the car company looks to get their money on a Friday morning, I might not have enough to cover it until after my shift that night & I'd be overdrawn. If I was working with a salary or more steady income, I'd do it, but right now it would make things ten times worse for me.

-The checks came directly from the bank & they were the first batch that came when I opened the account. They had all the right numbers, but the 3rd & 4th digits were reversed. I showed them a print out from AT&T & the bank covered the two $25 fees. They've since sent me replacements & I checked them again & again & again & one more time. Aside from this check incident & the auto-pay one a number of months back, I've been pleased with the bank & probably won't change, especially given their hours (M-S open until 7, Sunday 11-3).