Minimize The Pain of Check Recovery

$350 million in bad checks are written each and every week. That fact alone makes bad checks a serious problem for American businesses. It is almost inevitable that, if your business accepts checks, you have been affected by this. As well as being stuck with bank fees for depositing a bad check - and the very real possibility that the bad check could impact your bottom line - there is the time, aggravation and cost associated with recovering the funds. It is often the case that recovering the check can incur more in costs than the value of the original debt. Inevitably, many smaller businesses write off bad checks, believing that they cannot afford to pursue the debt. However, there are a number of ways your business can fight back and minimize the pain of bad check recovery.

IT'S AN INNOCENT MISTAKE...

For small and mid-sized businesses, the first recourse is to call the customer and explain the problem. Don't immediately assume that the customer intended to defraud your business. It is often true that an innocent mistake has been made and a calm, reasoned telephone call will recover your funds and keep what may be a valuable customer. Please be aware that threatening a debtor with publicizing their name or notifying their employer is illegal, so speak only to the person owing the funds and stay cool !

PURSUING THE DEBT

In most States, you are required to send a certified letter to the check writer before you can institute court proceedings. You may request that the debtor also repays the bad check fee you have incurred. The check writer is usually required respond within 10 or 30 days. This varies by state, so please check with your State Attorney General's office. Again, a calm and reasonable tone often works well and will ensure you stay within the law. Reviewing the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/fair-debt-act.html ) before you draft your letter or make a call is highly recommended.

While these two methods are time and cost-effective, if you have still been unable to recover the check the obvious next step is to institute court proceedings or hire a professional debt collection agency. However, these are time consuming and potentially expensive options and - for many small businesses - may mean that the cost outweighs the benefit. Nevertheless, there are alternative check recovery methods that don't have these possible downsides.

CHECK ENFORCEMENT UNITS

Some areas now have a check enforcement or check recovery unit that is part of the state or district attorney's office. These are not available in every state and the services provided do vary. In general, though, the check enforcement unit will investigate and prosecute the debtor on your behalf and you will receive the full face value of the check. Contact your local District Attorney's office to see if this service is offered in your area.

ELECTRONIC CHECK RECOVERY

A better all round option is to consider using one of the electronic check recovery services now available. There are many advantages to electronic check collection over traditional recovery methods, not least the fact that many of the companies offering this service charge no fees to your company. Other benefits include:

i) Increased Recovery Rates : The National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) reports increases in recovery rates by as much as 50% in comparison with traditional recovery methods.

ii) Low Recovery Costs: No bank fees for redepositing an NSF check electronically.

iii) Benefits to Customers: No need for customers to receive collection letters and calls or supply a money order or cashier's check.

iv) Fast Recovery Times: Traditional recovery methods can take between 30 and 60 days. On average, electronic check recovery takes 7 days, after which time the recovered check is deposited into the merchant's account.

v) Out of town checks are handled as quickly and easily as local checks.

While bad checks are a fact of business life, recovering funds owed to you is not the herculean task it might first appear. You can fight back and still avoid many of the headaches that have been traditionally associated with pursuing a debt.

Jason Schwartz is CEO of Creative CashFlow Solutions, a check processing company established in 1998. Learn more about their free electronic check recovery service here: http://www.ilovechecks.com/recovery/

---

You Bever Know Who Youre Serving

You Never Know Who You're Serving when customers turn irate.I... Read More

How to Transform Your Voicemail into an Effective Medium of Communication

"Hi this is Randy. Leave me a message after the... Read More

Astonish your Customers With These Customer Service Tips

Customer service today is getting worse. Win customers over and... Read More

Be A Resource

What is one of the greatest ways to add value... Read More

Customer Loyalty

Loyal customers are the foundation of almost every business. Going... Read More

Creating the Right ?Viral Reputation?

Unless you are brand new to business, or have been... Read More

Why Cant Microsoft Make Soft Packaging?

Why is it that Microsoft wants you to buy its... Read More

Have You Hugged a Customer Today?

It all started a couple of weeks ago when a... Read More

Customer Service Tips for Mail Order Businesses

Can we be too good to our customers?... Read More

Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction

Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations... Read More

How to Provide Instant Customer Service

Customer service is an essential component of any business. Clearly,... Read More

Mastering Challenging Service Situations

During the course of everyday business, many of you encounter... Read More

Are You A Coward? I Was

Over the last month, I have come to hate emails... Read More

Making Customer Satisfaction Surveys Work

Why bother? Good customer service is the life blood of... Read More

How To Handle Customer Billing Snafus

Q: I just discovered that for the past six months... Read More

5 Ways Customer Service Managers are Implementing to Increase Customer Focus

According to a Forum Corporation survey of commercial customers lost... Read More

More Customers - Watch those Little Things

Two situations, two perfectly acceptable experiences, but in one case,... Read More

Service Equals Performance Equals Service

Service can be described as a "performance" of some kind... Read More

How To Keep Your Customers Coming Back -- Understanding Customer Retention

Why do some businesses offer points, stamps or every tenth... Read More

Moments That Matter

Many years ago, I was a first year apprentice assigned... Read More

The Nine Principles of Customer Service for the Travel Industry©

If you want to learn how to get your clients... Read More

Create Win-Win Deals With Your Competitors

In the competitive world of the 20th century, we generally... Read More

Customer Service Is Dying - and Im Not Feeling So Good Myself

Have you ever called a company and been greeted with... Read More

How To Build Stellar Client Relationships

Your opportunity to build a stellar client relationship starts with... Read More

Over Delivering Provides Big Results

Over promising is a problem only when you under deliver.... Read More

Cultivating the Trust Factor

In today's highly competitive economy, it is difficult to maintain... Read More

Complaining Consumers

The salesman's job is to be well informed; extremely well... Read More

Doors by Catering to Your Clients

Clients? they are the most important influence in the success... Read More

Treating the Customer Dissatisfaction Epidemic: How to Go Beyond Simply Masking the Symptoms

Corporations in every sector are spending more than ever before... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to See Customers Problems from Their Creative Side

Customer Service is a blessing and a curse; a blessing... Read More

Customer Service - How Good Are YOU?

At 8.30 am a wealthy client (on his way to... Read More

Revealed ? A Simple Formula For Success! Exceeding Expectations

Delight = Customer Expectation plus 1. This was the simple... Read More

The death of customer servie

The other day a reporter call to interview me on... Read More