I recently moved almost 2 hours north. From Eastgate, Ohio to Wilmington, Ohio due to the good fortune of saving the down payment on a house. My new wife and I made sure that set aside extra money for all the little costs that we knew would come up, plus the ones that we were told to expect. The Sears in Eastgate (Eastgate Mall) has never done me wrong and so I wanted to return their loyalty with that of my own. I found a nice lawn mower on sale, a edger, trimmer, a few needed extras (extra trimmer string, blade for edger, etc) and a few hand tools I knew I would need (shovel, rake, hoe, and post hole digger). Though it was a large sum of money (to me), I knew that the 537 dollars and some odd cents was a great deal for what I had purchased. The Asst Manager at the desk was happy that I had found most of it without him having to move from his spot and asked how I would be paying for it.
Quickly my mind reminded me that the debit card had a $500 limit and decided to use a check. Before writing the check I explained to the man that I was moving and that in about a month I would be closing this account. I then point blank asked That will not be a problem will it? The man chuckled and told me that he was sure that the check would go through in days. Happily I accepted help form the two men at pickup, closed the door on my truck, and started the two hour trip to the new home.
One month later, I closed the account as we (my wife and I) had agreed. We opened the new account and got new checks. Two weeks later I receive a letter from the bank telling me that I have bounced a check from the old account. I was angry first at myself for not being sure that all had cleared before closing it, but it had not been used in two weeks prior to closing it. I quickly went on the hunt to find out who it was that held the check that bounced. After about an hour, I discovered that it was Sears. Feeling bad I quickly contacted them and hoped to fix my error. They, of course, referred me to Certegy and gave me their 1-800 number. I called, but without the exact date and amount the automated system was useless to say the least. After several attempts I finally found a way to talk to someone live. I sat on hold for 47 minutes before Cheryl answered.
I spent 23 minutes on the phone with Cheryl' explaining what had happened and how I wanted to take care' of my error. She put me on hold and there I waited for 32 minutes before she came back to tell me that they had no record of me bouncing a check. Now, normally this would be a good thing, but with my previous account closed there is no way that they could have put it through a second time and have it clear. I explained this over and over to Cheryl' telling her that I didn't want this to affect my credit/purchase history at Sears, since I love to shop there. Certegy was unwilling to help me in anyway. The only help they had to offer was You will have to wait until you get a notice in the mail. And Until it is in my computer there is nothing I can do.
I think this is a horrible way to do business and I cant help wondering how many have had their credit bashed' because of these practices. I have reported this to the Better Business Bureau and also contacted Sears to tell them about this problem. Unfortunatly, Sears contract with Certegy leaves them with no record or information of the checks that they have taken. One customer service representative told me that in essence, Certegy buys' the checks from Sears and then collects the money themselves. To me it seems that honesty and good faith mean little to Certegy.
I am sure that later I will start recieving collection notices and they will demand collection fees as well. What a rip off, I will be sure to start checking to see if the stores I deal with use Certegy or not. If they do then I will take my business elsewhere!!
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