Before I weigh in here, I feel like I need to check first: Is this pile-on okay to join? 
I don’t consider myself one of the above and I have a big problem with the OP’s attitude toward the person she fleeced. She’s pitting someone for requesting repayment of a $200 check. WTF
Did your aunt contact the D.A. when the bad checks were presented? If not, then it’s not the fault of the sheriff’s office. Theft is theft and they will pursue it. But you have to tell them a crime has been committed.
Damn, I’m late for the pile on.
Oh well, badkittypriestess, you’re a fucking idiot for bouncing a check at all, a complete fucking idiot for doing it on “Pampered Chef” shit and not needed food or essentials, you’re a rotten friend for doing this at your friend’s party and making her look bad, and you’re a total fucking bitch for getting pissed at anyone except yourself.
Of course, this is only a type 1. If badkittypriestess had a history of these kinds of threads and someone here had brought that fact up, THEN we would have one of those dastardly type 2 pile-ons.
Good God, please retract the claws, okay?
I was speaking though the experience of two of my aunts, one who owned a store and one who manages one. Both of them have turned over bad checks to the appropriate authroties with the full intent of prosecution, but nothing ever came of it.
It may be an issue with my jurisdiction, but around here, bounced checks are rarely, if ever prosecuted. Once in a great while, I see someone in the paper before a judge for it, but it’s generally for very eggregious offenses.
Years ago, I was in a store purchasing a new stereo. The manager of the store was on the phone with a customer.
"Hello…is this Mr. Smith?
This is John Smith from Stereos Backward “R” Us. I’m calling to tell you that your check bounced.
I’ve built my business on mutual trust. I trusted you to pay for your stereo with a good check. You have until closing tomorrow to make it good. At that point you can trust that I will contact the D.A. and you will be arrested for theft."
It was beautiful. I have no doubt he followed through on his threat.
I can’t say for sure. I know for a fact she turned in some of them because she was upset when people pulled the same scam* on her, but from what I heard of it, she was so dissapointed in the results of her efforts that she pretty much didn’t bother towards the end of her life.
- She was a tender-hearted creature who always wanted to believe the best in people. If someone wrote her a bad check, she would believe them when they said it was a mistake and tell them that they could repay her. However, her generosity wast stretched when she would see more bad checks from them in the till bags.
Assuming she wrote the bad check accidentally, how monumentally clueless does one have to be to not know that an *entire month’s * salary has been spent in one week?
What the fuck does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
Ditto what Sarahfeena said about lack of embarassment. And hell, like Dangerosa said-if she’s that impoverished that she can’t scrape up a measly 200 bucks until the end of the month, what the FUCK is she doing spending all that on her little kitchen toys?
Jesus-one wonders what will happen if she has a real emergency, and doesn’t have the money to pay for it?
I took an intro accounting class (mostly to fulfill a distribution requirement) and the book did cover promissory notes. The class just glossed over it, since, after all, when was the last time you signed a promissory note? I thought about mentioning that the last time I dealt with a promissory note I stole it from the shopkeeper, bought a boat, and sailed in pursuit of my kidnapped love, but then I decided just to shut up instead.
She probably wasn’t listening. The courts are not in the business of pursuing citizen’s complaints against each other. In fact we don’t have the authority to sign complaints on disorderly persons offenses (except it the case of domestic violence) unless it was personally witnessed by us. It is up to the victim to sign the complaint and then go to court and follow through. Most people get frustrated that “nothing is getting done” when the law is explained to them. They expect the government to come in a fix the problem. The system is set up for the victim to take care of things both on the criminal and civil side but it is up to them to get it done.
Again of course this may be different depending on your state but things are pretty similar in the states I am familiar with.
It’s the Category 4 pile-ons that are the bad ones.
Mkay, I’m not one to come in to these pile-ons, but I just have to say to the OP, who probably isn’t viewing this anymore:
1 - You know you fucked up when I, of all people, can ream on you about financial mismanagement. I have occasionally “floated” a check if it’s the day before payday and I need food, but I would never bounce a $200 check (!) on PAMPERED CHEF items! And then have the unmitigated gall to be MAD AT THE LADY for wanting her money? Come on! My mom sells Tupperware and if someone did that shit to her she’d prosecute them so fast - you’re lucky you’re not in jail.
2 - Why would you expect your husband to bail you out? If I were married to you I’d tell you to pay for your own God damned pampered chef items, “'til death do us part” or no.
3 - You know you fucked up when I agree with something Guinastasia or catsix said. Grow up, honey.
(I almost never get to say that. You really fucked up.)
~Tasha
Methinks it is her hubby who controls the money int he relationship, since he’s the one she wanted to fix the situation for her :rolleyes: .
I don’t know where the OP banks, but every bank I’ve ever been with has had a policy that they will pay out a certain amount in overdrafts. It varies from bank to bank, but- remembering my contracts- it’s always been something from $200-$500 (and I’m only 21 with a college account, but I’m thinking as far back as my high school student checking).
That says to me that, unless the OP’s bank is particularly odd, she had already overdrawn her account and this was just another thing that bounced. That might not be correct, but it’s the first thing that came to mind.
PS: I don’t mean overdraft protection based on credit or anything, I mean this has just been a standard feature on all of my bank accounts.
Bank of America honored an $8000.00 check my brother wrote once. I forgot how much was in the account when the check actually hit, but it was less than 2 grand.
He immediately showed up at the bank the next day with cash.
Bounce another fucking check, what else.
I must also disagree with a few of the posters who have endorsed returning the merchandise, pampered chef lady is now praying to try and move those same items at future parties or offering specials to try and recoup a portion of the lost revenues. Several of my jobs have required parts valued at nearly what I keep in my account and I require a parts deposit since its always a custom need anyway.
If that check bounced and the customer just said, never mind, I don’t want it afterall I would be sitting with a pile of several thousand dollars in parts with nobody to sell them to unless I want to go door to door trying to sell a 2 Terabyte network attached storage unit.
Cough up the cash bitch, including the fees, and apologize, and thank her for her patience, on your knees, then sign up as a new distributor under her.
Pampered Chef stuff would be much easier for the Party Lady to unload. But that’s hardly the point. The poster needs to pull her head out of her ass. This wasn’t a “whoopsie”…it was a deliberate act of theft. If I was her “friend” I’d be mortified.
So, how much are you asking? I might be interested…
Around here, they start putting your picture at the registers if you have a habit of bouncing checks.