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Bounced Cheque - retailer charge


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I recently purchased some new glasses for which I paid for by cheque. Eyes not being so good, I gave the opticians a cheque from an account I hold which did not have the required funds, i.e. I took along the wrong cheque book in error without realising. This cheque bounced THREE times and was finally honoured the fourth time it was presented. I had no idea the cheque had bounced until I received my bank statement.

 

The cheque was bounced on three occasions before I had the goods (my glasses) in my possesion. They gave me my glasses a few days before the cheque was finally honoured and at no time told me there had been a problem. A few weeks later I received a notice from the opticians saying they wanted £95.00 from me as a bounced cheque fee. I wrote back asking why they kept representing the cheque when there was a problem and asking why they did not mention this on the occasions we spoke whilst my glasses were on order and why they did not contact me on the two numbers and e-mail address I gave them. They ignored my letter and passed everything to a debt collector. I responded to this and again was ignored. They have now sent me a final notice demanding the £95.00 and say they will take me to court.

 

I purchased the glasses in good faith and at no time was aware my cheque had bounced. The glasses have been paid for in full via the original cheque.

 

Can they charge such a fee - over £31.00 per bounce?

 

I am writing to them again - what should I be saying?

 

I think this is totally unfair - my bank, incidentally have refunded the charges they made for my returned cheque. Had Specsavers warned me of the fee when accepting my cheque, I could have easily paid by cash.

 

What are my chances if I refuse to pay? Can they lawfully do this without first making their terms clear to me when I paid?

 

Thanks.

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Even if it's in their terms & conditions that you might have agreed to, presumably they knew that you would not be able to read them!

 

It does sound a lot of money. As you say, why did they keep on trying without contacting you?

 

Have you got a copy of their terms & conditions?

 

It might be worth writing to them to ask them to explain this charge & why they didn't contact you the first time the cheque bounced.

 

Grumpy

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Thanks for your advice. I did write to them (Specsavers) asking why they did not contact me or indeed mention it on the occasions we spoke in between and they completley ignored me. I sent a similar letter to the debt collectors (Buchanan Clark + Wells) which was also ignored and followed with a Final Notice.

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Send specsavers a strongly worded letter by special delivery demanding a reply to your previous letter, including a copy of it for ease of reference. These charges appear very high and, as you say, they had your contact details :confused: Surely, phoning or even e-mailing you would have been polite rather than re presenting the cheque and incurring huge charges. Tell them that your bank have refunded the charges and ask them to see sense over this genuine mistake.

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I would also write to Buchanan, Clark & Wells and tell them the debt is in dispute and to hold off with any further action.

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Thanks for all your responses. Can I make clear a the chain of events:

 

Cheque paid to Specsavers on 1 November

 

Notification of charges from Certegy Ltd sent to me on 5 December

 

Cheque cleared on 10 December

 

My response to Certegy Ltd sent on 11 December stated I did not feel the charges were fair and asked several questions, to which they did not respond

 

Buchanan Clark & Wells sent demand for the money in January. I sent them a copy of my letter to Certegy Ltd, they did not respond. Also I have realised that a mystery card left in February stating someone would call between 9am and 9pm was from them. No one called

 

Final notice issued 27 March.

 

My question - should I go back to Specsavers in the first instance or deal with Certegy? Will they be interested now the case is with (has been sold to) Buchanan?

 

Thanks

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Certegy are payment processors, and operate Transax. In effect, they pay the retailer, and take any risk associated with the cheque themselves. This would explain why Specsavers didn't mention anything - they probably weren't aware that there was a problem.

 

From past cases, it seems that Certegy consider that a Transax sticker at the point of sale is enough to let customers of a retailer know that they are entering into a contract, even though the retailer is their client. Even if this highly dubious point were valid (even if not read by you :) ), then it's hard to see how these charges can be viewed as other than disproportionate and a penalty - and thus unlawful.

 

To my mind it's similar to courier companies charging an admin fee for customs clearance - the sender of the package is the client, not the recipient, who is not given an opportunity to choose whether to accept the fee or not. I've had a few of these, and the companies know they are wholly unenforceable, and have always given up after one DCA letter.

 

It seems to me that the debt can be disputed on the basis of there being no contractual basis for the fee, and that the fees are unlawful penalties, disproportionate and do not bear any relation to any actual loss incurred.

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