On November 5th I wrote a check and didn't realize that my husband had taken money out of the account. The check bounced. I called the company to which I wrote the check. I was told that I would be contacted with information on how to clear up the matter and get the money to the correct person. I know that I was at fault in that situation. I take responsibility for the bounced check. And as such, I wanted to clear it up right away.
Well, I finally received a letter on January 6th from TeleCheck. "TeleCheck has purchased the check referenced in this notice. As a result, we have entered your name into our NATIONAL COMPUTER FILES." Okay, I get the point. I need to pay my debt. I want to pay my debt. Reading on in the letter...
"With your permission, and with funds available in your account, we are able to draft your account for the amount due. There is a charge for this service. That's cool, so I call TeleCheck; mind you they DO NOT provide an 800 number to reach them, only long distance. I talk to someone and ask for the draft from my account to have it over with and my debt paid.
They want $11.95 to process a check by phone. WHAT!?!?! Okay, so if I don't agree to pay an extra $12 my checking account gets held hostage until they receive my check, enter it into their system, deposit it and then they have to receive confirmation that the check is good.
Their letter it states, Until this is resolved, we may not approve your checks or the opening of a checking account at the more than 300,000 merchants and banks who use TeleCheck nationally. I figure that with this being the first time that I've ever dealt with them, I will still be able to write checks. You would figure that TeleCheck would offer at least a 15 or 30-day "grace" period for the consumer to re-pay the debt in good time.
Um, no!
I went shopping that night and my check was refused. I know I owed a debt and I WANTED to pay it. But where does TeleCheck get off!!! The original check was $17.02. So for a $17 check, I either get raped by paying $11.95 EXTRA, on top of the $30 NSF fee, to have them take my check over the phone or wait.
I decided to wait. I was already giving enough of my money to this company. I wasn't giving them anymore. Two days after I mailed my check, the original check was re-deposited and cleared my bank. Again, WHAT!?!?! I called TeleCheck and was told that AFTER they receive the check I mailed, and all of the above criteria met, it will take 4-6 weeks to get a refund of my money.
I'm waiting - albeit not very patiently.
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