Tony Shelton
BS Detector, Esquire
Our electric bill is in our company name. So, we pay for it with a company check. Shelly usually pays it at the Smith's grocery store and has for years.
May 5 we paid the bill. Usually they run it through a machine and give the receipt and check back to Shelly. This time the guy said he was having a problem with the machine and that he was going to try another machine. He gave her the receipt, but not the check.
That night the money came out of our account as an ACH.
Five days pass.
Each morning Shelly gets a report of all checks that will be presenting to the bank the next evening. She noticed the electric bill check trying to go through again.
We called the bank. The told us to call the electric company. The electric company told us they had already been paid and we had a zero balance and that we should call Smiths.
We called Smiths and asked them to look for the duplicate payment. They would not. After arguing on the phone I told them I was going to put a stop payment on the check and they can investigate it all they want after that and asked them to note it on the account.
The bank told us the only way the could return it would be as "refer to maker - check presented 2 times". That way it would be on Smiths to contact us if they don't find their money.
I called Smiths (Kroger corporation headquarters) and told them what I was going to do and they seemed fine with that.
Three days later they tried to run the check through again. Shelly caught it and we had it sent back and called Kroger again. Then they gave us a laundry list of things we need to send them including a COPY OF OUR BANK STATEMENT. They would not call our bank and told us it was OUR RESPONSIBILITY since WE WROTE THE BAD CHECK. (Shelly was patiently dealing with this while I was working)
She sent everything they asked for and then called to verify receipt. Somehow the conversation went to bad checks and Shelly was informed that because of this our company was put on a bad check list.
Now it's time for ME to take over. Once my sister was on a bad check list for another error and it took us literally a year to get her off of it.
So this morning I've been on the phone trying to take care of it. They are morons. My bank has called them twice. One of the calls was from the vice president of the bank. They are telling us that everything looks good, and their
"investigation" should be complete within a couple of weeks and then we might be able to write checks again.
I gave them till 4pm today to have a faxed letter at our office stating their error and an email stating the same.
If it is not there I will probably be on the news again. Last time someone pulled this type of BS was when Chris walked out of a Bank of America with a fake $100 bill when cashing a check and was arrested 10 minutes later trying to use it. The bank claimed that Chris could have easily switched bills with a fake one when he left, but admitted that they, in fact, do not and will not CHECK for fake bills and it is up to the customer to check for fake bills before they leave the bank. I settled that one with a bullhorn outside the Bank of America and lots of police. The president of the bank called me and I sent Chris in to get his $100.
I guess it's time to bring out the old bullhorn again. Glad I've got the day off.
May 5 we paid the bill. Usually they run it through a machine and give the receipt and check back to Shelly. This time the guy said he was having a problem with the machine and that he was going to try another machine. He gave her the receipt, but not the check.
That night the money came out of our account as an ACH.
Five days pass.
Each morning Shelly gets a report of all checks that will be presenting to the bank the next evening. She noticed the electric bill check trying to go through again.
We called the bank. The told us to call the electric company. The electric company told us they had already been paid and we had a zero balance and that we should call Smiths.
We called Smiths and asked them to look for the duplicate payment. They would not. After arguing on the phone I told them I was going to put a stop payment on the check and they can investigate it all they want after that and asked them to note it on the account.
The bank told us the only way the could return it would be as "refer to maker - check presented 2 times". That way it would be on Smiths to contact us if they don't find their money.
I called Smiths (Kroger corporation headquarters) and told them what I was going to do and they seemed fine with that.
Three days later they tried to run the check through again. Shelly caught it and we had it sent back and called Kroger again. Then they gave us a laundry list of things we need to send them including a COPY OF OUR BANK STATEMENT. They would not call our bank and told us it was OUR RESPONSIBILITY since WE WROTE THE BAD CHECK. (Shelly was patiently dealing with this while I was working)
She sent everything they asked for and then called to verify receipt. Somehow the conversation went to bad checks and Shelly was informed that because of this our company was put on a bad check list.
Now it's time for ME to take over. Once my sister was on a bad check list for another error and it took us literally a year to get her off of it.
So this morning I've been on the phone trying to take care of it. They are morons. My bank has called them twice. One of the calls was from the vice president of the bank. They are telling us that everything looks good, and their
"investigation" should be complete within a couple of weeks and then we might be able to write checks again.
I gave them till 4pm today to have a faxed letter at our office stating their error and an email stating the same.
If it is not there I will probably be on the news again. Last time someone pulled this type of BS was when Chris walked out of a Bank of America with a fake $100 bill when cashing a check and was arrested 10 minutes later trying to use it. The bank claimed that Chris could have easily switched bills with a fake one when he left, but admitted that they, in fact, do not and will not CHECK for fake bills and it is up to the customer to check for fake bills before they leave the bank. I settled that one with a bullhorn outside the Bank of America and lots of police. The president of the bank called me and I sent Chris in to get his $100.
I guess it's time to bring out the old bullhorn again. Glad I've got the day off.