Nick Trollope Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Some b*****d has bounced a cheque on us - first time it has happened. Before I go & plead stupidity with my bank, what do I do with it?Our bank has sent it back with a report from the issuing bank, which claims "provision insuffisante", so I assume that the cheque was not "stopped".The issuer lives locally. Can I go & kick her door in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Nick, from memory they have 30 days to put it right, before you can bring the heavy guns in. So a 'calm' visit is in order...[Www]I believe I'm correct in saying that they can, if they don't correct this, be banned from holding a bank account anywhere in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 [quote user="Bugbear"]Nick, from memory they have 30 days to put it right, before you can bring the heavy guns in. So a 'calm' visit is in order...[Www]I believe I'm correct in saying that they can, if they don't correct this, be banned from holding a bank acount anywhere in France.[/quote]But only for 10 years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Nick,We have had two experiences of this.In the first case, we contacted their bank to see what we should do, we were told to send back the cheque to see if funds were then available but no funds were paid in to clear the cheque. Our bank at the time, could do nothing (that case was over 10 years ago and we never ever got anything back and found out a long time later that they had gone to Morocco.In the second case it was for several meals and a stay, we followed the original route in sending it back to the bank but with no joy. We had their address from their booking and sent them a copy of the "cheque en bois", it got no reply. We then sent a lettre recommendée and after two weeks, we got another cheque from them and lo and behold, it cleared !If they are local, you can first try the bank again, if the cheque returns again unpaid, then take it around to the house, be polite, take no notice of any macho talk you might get on the net, anyone can be an Ali, few are in real life, take no silly chances, act in the right manner, if this doesn't work, see if your bank can be of more use than ours were and give you some sensible advice.If they cannot, then the fun starts, as it is pretty damned difficult to get money from people who have fled from a known address, luckily not so in your case. Take no notice that there is an instant bank ban, it all has to be proved and then recorded plus in many first cases, it will not be sufficient to ban the person. As you have found, sadly to your expense, those who think cheques don't bounce in France are miles off target. If they try to denounce the amount or try to say (if it was for work done) that they deny it fully done and a million and one other reasons, then it may well be a long winded case, even though they have criminally bounced a cheque on you. There are no heavies one can send in, it is a case of going through the right channels and issuing a demand but for the moment, do try their bank again and then them personally, for the debt.Good luck, we've been there, it is not funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 We have friends who ended up in a similar situation after a small company sold an item "on commission" for them but in their case it was a bouncing bank transfer.Cutting a long story spread over many months short they eventually ended up with the huissier/baliff who said he knew of the company and they weren't the only people in the same boat. He went on to explain that if they tried to take any "official" action the likely outcome would be that the company would be declared insolvent and the small credtors, like them, would get nothing as the government would get their cut first.He made a very firm phone call to the company involved and pointed out to them the seriousness of what they were doing and said that my friends would be visiting them in a few days time and it would be in their interests to agree a payment plan. It's taken a long time but they eventually have got their money.The moral here is even if you stick to the legal niceties and follow the official route you can easily end up with nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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