After a couple of days, I e-mailed the guy and let him know that his check had bounced and the extra charges. He replied with an apology and a certified check arrived in the mail a few days later.
Then last week I get a call from a new prospective client who was recommended to me by the person who wrote the bad check. (I did get the job and hopefully a new client!)
It pays to be professional about some things.
> It pays to be professional about some things.
I agree-good job.
In my opinion, whenever you have a problem with someone else, the first thing you should do is contact the person and give them a chance to fix the error. It is awfully easy to just get upset and assume the worst, but it can sure turn in to a can of worms if you don't at least talk to them in a professional manner and see if it was an oversight on their part or not.
I have seen a problem with other surveyor's surveys and called them and met with them to compare notes. most the time they work with you to figure out what went wrong and rectify the situation. Sometimes you might find that they had a document, or a piece of evidence you never saw.
Same with a commercial product breaking. Some companies avoid the situation and deny any responsibility whatsoever, but I have also had companies that immediately fix the error with no questions asked.
I say always approach the other person with the attitude that it's a solvable problem prior to flying off the handle and/or getting into a fight.
> After a couple of days, I e-mailed the guy and let him know that his check had bounced and the extra charges. He replied with an apology and a certified check arrived in the mail a few days later.
>
> Then last week I get a call from a new prospective client who was recommended to me by the person who wrote the bad check. (I did get the job and hopefully a new client!)
>
> It pays to be professional about some things.
The only bad check I have ever gotten was from a friend of mine. Grew up with the guy and have known him his whole life. I called to give him the bad news. He apologized and asked to call me back shortly. In less than 10 minutes he was on the phone again explaining that the bank had messed up and that if I would take the check over there they would make things right.
I did and the bank apologized for screwing up. (They had transfered money to cover the check but had put it in the wrong account.)
Always remain professional with a client. Most of the time they deserve it. ALL of the time, you deserve it.
Larry P
Being professional about it is an excellent recommendation. What is even worse than the bounced check is no check.
On a number of occasions I have had clients who have no difficulty in paying the invoice yet no check has arrived within a month or more. In every case it was because I had put the invoice in with the survey plats. They had received the plats but merely stuck them in a corner or on a shelf until a later date when they would be vital to what they were doing. They assumed the invoice would be mailed in a few days, then promptly forgot about it. They did not intend to stiff me. They simply didn't recognize that they already had the invoice. The very first time this happened it was for a hospital planning to add onto their building sometime within the next six months.
Communication is the key. More often than not, it can be easily corrected. Those who are trying to stiff you won't bother to write a bad check most of the time.
It's not so uncommon, I'd be willing to bet most people who post here have bounced a check at some point.
> In every case it was because I had put the invoice in with the survey plats. They had received the plats but merely stuck them in a corner or on a shelf until a later date when they would be vital to what they were doing.
I had that happen several times, so now I always mail the invoice by itself. It seems to be paid faster that way too.
As for bounced checks, it has always been a person or organization who have multiple accounts, and either they or their bank accidentally messed up the transfer.
