Bounced Checks and Emails - Update Post 11

[Lynnv]

Oh, and it just occurred to me: for those of you who have mentioned accidentally writing checks off closed accounts, there is a way to rectify that.  The bank I worked for could re-disposition those items if we are alerted to them before they get returned.  It really was a very simple process.  When an item for a closed account comes through, it goes onto an "unposted" report.  From there, we run a program that looks for specific account numbers (those we've been alerted to) and debit those items out of the customer's existing account.  It takes about one extra day to do that, but it's a lot less headache than trying to chase after everybody you've written a check to and trying to get it all sorted out that way.  The catch is that we have to know before the items get returned.  After we've returned them, it's too late.

It won't hurt to ask-but it is not universal by any means.  None of the banks I worked for were able to do this easily.  And only 1 of the 5 (by the time you count all the buyouts) could do it at all.

[mmswm]

Oh, and it just occurred to me: for those of you who have mentioned accidentally writing checks off closed accounts, there is a way to rectify that.  The bank I worked for could re-disposition those items if we are alerted to them before they get returned.  It really was a very simple process.  When an item for a closed account comes through, it goes onto an "unposted" report.  From there, we run a program that looks for specific account numbers (those we've been alerted to) and debit those items out of the customer's existing account.  It takes about one extra day to do that, but it's a lot less headache than trying to chase after everybody you've written a check to and trying to get it all sorted out that way.  The catch is that we have to know before the items get returned.  After we've returned them, it's too late.

It won't hurt to ask-but it is not universal by any means.  None of the banks I worked for were able to do this easily.  And only 1 of the 5 (by the time you count all the buyouts) could do it at all.

My apologies for not being clear. I really did mean to say "it doesn't hurt to ask".  Scout's Honor!    The particular bank I worked for is a gigantic American bank, so odds are a fair number of ehellions may use it, which is why I tossed the information out there.

[Lynnv]

Oh, and it just occurred to me: for those of you who have mentioned accidentally writing checks off closed accounts, there is a way to rectify that.  The bank I worked for could re-disposition those items if we are alerted to them before they get returned.  It really was a very simple process.  When an item for a closed account comes through, it goes onto an "unposted" report.  From there, we run a program that looks for specific account numbers (those we've been alerted to) and debit those items out of the customer's existing account.  It takes about one extra day to do that, but it's a lot less headache than trying to chase after everybody you've written a check to and trying to get it all sorted out that way.  The catch is that we have to know before the items get returned.  After we've returned them, it's too late.

It won't hurt to ask-but it is not universal by any means.  None of the banks I worked for were able to do this easily.  And only 1 of the 5 (by the time you count all the buyouts) could do it at all.

My apologies for not being clear. I really did mean to say "it doesn't hurt to ask".  Scout's Honor!    The particular bank I worked for is a gigantic American bank, so odds are a fair number of ehellions may use it, which is why I tossed the information out there.

Just shows how much banks vary.   

The only bank of my 5 that would do it was the tiny two branch local bank.  And it was done manually by the junior bookkeeper (aka ME).  The gigantic bank that I worked for did nothing like it at all. 

[greencat]

I'm glad that your friend seems to be on the up-and-up about this - I had a very bad experience with my high school best friend writing me a bad check.

I had loaned him the money to pay his rent - I think he needed to cover two months - and he wrote me a check to pay it back.  It appeared to post into my account...and I left on my previously scheduled vacation.  I had some unexpected expenses (had to get a hotel room for a couple extra days instead of staying with a friend as I had planned) and so had dipped further into my bank account than I had originally budgeted, but there was still a fair bit of money in it.  When I checked my bank account towards the end of my trip I saw that I had gone from $$$ to a negative balance!  I called and found out that it was because the check from my friend had been returned and a fairly hefty fee had been assessed, along with a couple of overdraft fees when my trip spending and a few autopay bills exceeded what was left in my checking account.

My friend claimed that the check had been written off an old closed account with an identical checkbook, but couldn't explain why he didn't have the whole sum of the money he owed me - or how he didn't notice it not having come out of his account when he looked at it online!  He ended up paying back a token amount and then our friendship more or less just...ended. 

[mmswm]

Oh, and it just occurred to me: for those of you who have mentioned accidentally writing checks off closed accounts, there is a way to rectify that.  The bank I worked for could re-disposition those items if we are alerted to them before they get returned.  It really was a very simple process.  When an item for a closed account comes through, it goes onto an "unposted" report.  From there, we run a program that looks for specific account numbers (those we've been alerted to) and debit those items out of the customer's existing account.  It takes about one extra day to do that, but it's a lot less headache than trying to chase after everybody you've written a check to and trying to get it all sorted out that way.  The catch is that we have to know before the items get returned.  After we've returned them, it's too late.

It won't hurt to ask-but it is not universal by any means.  None of the banks I worked for were able to do this easily.  And only 1 of the 5 (by the time you count all the buyouts) could do it at all.

My apologies for not being clear. I really did mean to say "it doesn't hurt to ask".  Scout's Honor!    The particular bank I worked for is a gigantic American bank, so odds are a fair number of ehellions may use it, which is why I tossed the information out there.

Just shows how much banks vary.   

The only bank of my 5 that would do it was the tiny two branch local bank.  And it was done manually by the junior bookkeeper (aka ME).  The gigantic bank that I worked for did nothing like it at all.

That they do.  My viewpoint might be a bit skewed because I worked in the department that actually did that type of work, so I would have seen it far more often than your average person.  Actually, it was fairly surprising the number of employees at the store level who had no idea we could do such a thing and were very surprised when they were presented with that option to give to the customers.  Now that I think about it, there were a number of little "magic tricks" we could pull off that the "front lines" were unaware of.

[Outdoor Girl]

^ I think an easier way to not have to worry about writing a check on a closed account is shred the dang checks as soon as you close the account!   

[artk2002]

Oh, and it just occurred to me: for those of you who have mentioned accidentally writing checks off closed accounts, there is a way to rectify that.  The bank I worked for could re-disposition those items if we are alerted to them before they get returned.  It really was a very simple process.  When an item for a closed account comes through, it goes onto an "unposted" report.  From there, we run a program that looks for specific account numbers (those we've been alerted to) and debit those items out of the customer's existing account.  It takes about one extra day to do that, but it's a lot less headache than trying to chase after everybody you've written a check to and trying to get it all sorted out that way.  The catch is that we have to know before the items get returned.  After we've returned them, it's too late.

I have anecdotal evidence that this is a very bad policy. My dad had closed his checking account because someone had fraudulently cached a check on it. The same person came back, tried again, and the bank cashed the check from his new account! So he had to go through the exercise again. If an account is closed, it's closed for a reason and the bank shouldn't be re-dispositioning anything without the account holder's explicit permission.