I cashed a check from a company that closed the account the check was on. The bank is now charging me $6 for the check being returned. Can they do this?
Yep.
And they only charged you six bucks?? Only six bucks!!
<jumps up on desk> Ladies and Gentlemen! Please allow me to draw your attention to one of the biggest bargains in modern banking. We have discovered a bank that charges a mere pittance for dishonored checks! For the merest of cost! Hurry in before they wise up or go out of business!
Seriously, six bucks for a dishonored check is a heck of a deal. Most banks charge ~$15 for the privilege of telling you that check you deposited was written by a deadbeat.
I would ask them to waive it. I have found most will waive charges on a “one time basis.” Harris Bank was the only bank I have ever dealt with that has not accommodated me.
I even had an employer of mine write me a bad check that I cashed at a currency exchange and the owner said “since I was such a good customer” he would waive the fee.
I’m in the camp that says six bucks is a bargain. Save your pleading for a case where the charges are more typical.
I’d love to have record of paying $6 for a dishonored check, so I could argue that this should be the strandard fee for such a case (the last time, it was $30).
I don’t see why they charge anything, they don’t charge for a good check. But this is an issue for another thread.
Ask them to waive the fee. If they don’t, tell them you’re afraid of the stability of the institution if they need the $6 that bad. If they refuse again, pull the money and open an account at another bank. Then every 6 months or so, especially if you happen to open an IRA, mortgage, etc., go in and show the senior banker (prefferably the President) just how much that 6 bucks helped the profit margin
I would go to the company and tell them they owe you $6.
like ruadh said…
Most stores I’ve seen that accept cheques as payment will have some sort of notice that dishonoured cheques will be charged $20. I suppose this covers the bank charge and their extra overhead.
Boy the bank gets you coming and going doesn’t it? Wouldn’t they also charge the person/company that wrote the cheque for insufficient funds?
Its a sad day when we’re all so thrilled by the low cost of a “service” which we shouldn’t be charged for at all.
I was charged $15 when someone gave me a bad check. I saw it disappear from my account, and went in to ask what the $15 charge was for. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Um, I have this statement… there’s this charge listed here for a returned check fee? What’s that all about?
Teller: Yes, let me look that up… <clickity clickity click> apparently you deposited a check in the amount of $50, which was returned due to insufficient funds.
Me: What, the person who wrote the check bounced it to me?
Teller: Yes.
Me: So… she’s the one who didn’t have the funds in her account to cover the check.
Teller: That is correct.
Me: So… exactly why am I being charged $15?
Teller: That’s our returned check fee.
Me: Right, but… she’s the one who made the mistake and wrote the bad check.
Teller: Yes.
Me: But I’m being charged for it. Something I had absolutely no control over.
Teller: That is correct.
Me: Because…?
Teller: Once the check is written to you, you are responsible for the funds being transferred.
Me: I’m responsible for ensuring that she has enough money in her account to cover a check that she writes to me?
Teller: That is correct.
Me: Please explain to me exactly how I should go about assuming responsibility for the checking accounts and spending habits of everyone I do business with.
This went on for several more minutes. They refused to waive the charge.
Yes. They really can charge you for this.
I have never agreed with this fee either, but you agree to assume responsibility of such fees (and many scarier prospects) when you open the account. You’re the easiest source for the bank to recoup their ‘added expenses’ - and let’s not forget that your account is a convenience, not a necessity. Every argument you might make for its “necessity” is really an argument for its immense convenience. Even if your deal with a company that explicitly requires you to have a bank account, it’s still a convenience - for them, at least, and presumably for you as well, since you choose to do business with them.
Read your Terms of Service. The array of ways you could potentially be screwed is staggering. Of course, banks rarely exploit all of them (just wait!) but it certainly does happen. Some victims of a recent variant of the Nigerian scam recieved forged bank cashiers checks for $100,000s, and were assured, by their bank managers that such check were safe - “as good as cash”- only to have the bank come after the depositor for recompense, often months later, when the check did not clear and some of the depositied proceeds of the ‘good as cash’ check (which may exceed the depositor’s net worth) were long since spent. Ebay sellers have fallen prey to a similar scam.
More bank managers, and some tellers, are now more savvy to the details of bank cashier checks and offer better advice, but even if you relied on the assurance of a bank officer, it’s still up to the bank’s discretion whether to let you off the hook or not.
A couple of years ago a depositor was ruined for what turned out to be a mistake - the check was valid. (Alas, my link to that story is dead; that news site only keeps articles up for public view for a few months.) The resulting civil suit might take years to resolve.
If I sound paranoid, blame the fact that my home heating has been so flaky the past couple of days (even after a visit from the repairman) that the furnace and backup stove together are barely holding the house at in the 50s! Being cold and miserable in your own home for a couple of days really jacks up the ‘fear of destitution’ hormones, no matter how much you have in the bank.
I feel for those who live in uncertainty all winter. Time for me to go write some charity checks.
About 20 years ago, interest rates were extremely high (I bought a GIC for five years at 20% simple interest per year). Then banks were begging you to open accounts so they could lend the money at 25% and pay you 8%. Now interest rates are low and banks are doing everything they can to discourage individual depositors. So they could care less if you closed the account. They make very little from such accounts. They make their real money from large business depositors.
Someone I know moved from Montreal to Toronto a couple years ago and could not open an account, even with a branch of his Montreal bank (which was Bank of Montreal) until he had lived there three months. They simply didn’t want his business. He found a friendlier credit union and still uses it although he is back in Montreal.