customer says he paid

[Gene $immons]

Recently I sent out monthly invoices. I noticed that one of my good customers had still not sent in his payment from the previous month ($250). So, I sent the statement showing 2 months of work.

The customer calls and said that he mailed the check on such and such date and gave me the check number. I asked if it had cleared his bank, and he called me back and left a message saying that it did clear his bank.

This customer has an excellent payment history, big house etc..

I just don't have any record of the payment on my end. I am usually very careful in recording these things.

Question: Should I ask him for some sort of proof? I hate to offend him, but.........$250 is $250

HELP!:confused:

[paponte]

I would explain the situation, and tell him that you are not calling him a liar. You just need it to see who endorsed it. :cool:

[GreenQuest Lawn]

He may have sent it , may have got lost in the mail, just ask him nicely to call his bank and see if it has cleared.

[BSDeality]

Originally posted by GreenQuest Lawn
He may have sent it , may have got lost in the mail, just ask him nicely to call his bank and see if it has cleared. .... read his post

i just got the opposite today. i got a check for one of my customers last week from the wife's checking account, today i got a check from the husbands. I'll have to give him a ring, and see if he reallly likes my service that much :)

[tiedeman]

sometimes I have forgetting about entering checks into my Quickbooks. I make a run to the post office and then go to deposit them and once in a great while I forgot. Are you sure that maybe you entered it, but just forgot?

Perhaps just tell him, you don't want to offend him, but could you send out please send out a copy of the cashed check for your records.
Or I also look at it this way, how long has he been a customer? If he has been a customer for like 2 years, and has never missed a payment before, then just chalk it up as your error.

[Mike Bradbury]

WHy don't you get a printout of your deposits and see if it's in there! :blob2:

[tiedeman]

my deposit records only show the amount that was deposited. Someone else could have paid $250 as well.

[mtdman]

Originally posted by tiedeman
sometimes I have forgetting about entering checks into my Quickbooks. I make a run to the post office and then go to deposit them and once in a great while I forgot. Are you sure that maybe you entered it, but just forgot?



Once, about 3 years ago, I made a big deposit with about 20 checks in the bank. I totally forgot to record it in Quickbooks, had no Idea who paid and who didn't. I pretty much had to wait and see on it. I was pissed at myself and had to sweat it out. I ended up sending an overdue notice to a customer that had paid, and had to apologize. Now I double check to make sure I recorded the transaction.

In this case, I would ask the guy for a copy of the check. Explain that you don't have his payment recorded and you need to make sure the right person cashed the check. Sometimes it happens.

:D

[Rustic Goat]

If you're still unsure, tell customer you'd like to see the endorsement cause YOU may have someone playing games with your mail, and you may.
He can call his bank, they'll make a copy, front and back, he can tell them to hold it there in your name so he doesn't get inconvenienced, go by and pick it up, see who endorsed it. You pay any fees to bank if they've charged him a dollar or two to make this copy.
Then you'll know if you have a problem with your mail, your customer, or if you're making so much money you just can't keep track of it all.

[tiedeman]

If you are having someone playing around with your mail. I have three words of advice, Post Office Box. Well worth the money. Plus you get your mail early

[crawdad]

When I make a deposit, I write in my book who the checks were from, the date on the check, and the amount. I should, but don't, write the check #.
Crawdad

[Gene $immons]

Thanks.

I will call him and offer to pay any fees for a copy of the check from his bank.

My deposit records will only tell me amounts as well.

I enter all work and payments in 2 places
1. Quickbooks
2 a 3 ring binder

Funny that I missed recording the check anywhere.

Oh, and I use a P.O. Box as well.

Thanks again.

[Mike Bradbury]

Originally posted by tiedeman
my deposit records only show the amount that was deposited. Someone else could have paid $250 as well.

That's why I said to get a printout of your deposits (detail, not just a list of gross deposits), it will list all checks seperately if you ask. You will have to pay a fee for that (of course). Or just ask them to search for a check from Joe Blow from Bank Moe for 250.00. No big deal.

[SprinklerGuy]

C'mon dudes....get a deposit slip book that has 2 copies.....save the second copy, staple it to the deposit slip the bank gives you and file it....then you will know who paid what............simple.

This stuff is basic, by now you should all be doing this.....if you have deposits of over 5 checks this is key.

[lawnMaster5000]

Simmons brought up a good point.

For those of you that are not recording twice and checking yourself three times you should be.
Deposit amount ALWAYS needs to equal what the computer says is deposit amount, checks need to sum to that amount when added by adding machine (tape included in deposit and double in your records) and your paper records need to show payments summing to your deposit amount.

[walker-talker]

Keep us updated on this.....I am interested in what happened.

MATT

[Premo Services]

Yes I did send a letter to a very good customer saying I didn,t receive a payment for a months service. He called and said he remembered paying me. I wrote a letter asking for a copy of the returned check and it took a while for him to get the copy to me, but he actually did pay me. I was very busy and the wife deposited the check without entering it into quickbooks :( I talked to him and apologized and offered to do a hours landscape maint. for no charge for his troubles, he declined and said these things happen. I assured him this will not happen again. As I said he is a very good customer. :)

[thomaslawncare]

I always make copies of the checks from customers and staple the deposit slip to it and keep it all in a binder. It is very handy!

[gogetter]

Originally posted by SprinklerGuy
C'mon dudes....get a deposit slip book that has 2 copies.....


Wanted to thank ya Sprinklerguy. I ordered and just received my deposit slip books with carbon less copies.
This will make record keeping much easier.
I think I paid $35 for like 500. These will last me a long time.

I like that they already have my info (name, account #) printed on them (I always forget my account #).

I had a couple of the same problems the other guys in this thread talked about (forgetting to record a payment, etc.). This will solve that.

[SprinklerGuy]

NO PROBLEM GO GETTER!

Funny thing is...when I read these forums, I see some of the exact same situations from my past come up....I am glad to help. I am no old timer, but being in business for 10 years will teach you a few things and I guess I dont realize it until I see the struggles of others. I am here to help. So are many other dudes here.....that are older timers than me :)

[leadarrows]

I use Quick Books on line banking. I can look to see whats been paid or deposited 24/7. I run a check twice a week just as a SOP.
If you have QB and your not using this feature your missing out on one of the handiest ways to deal with this sort of thing. IMHO

[Gene $immons]

Update

I was correct and the customer paid me. At first he was certain that I had made a mistake.

His bill had been the exact same for two billing periods, so I guess he got confused.

I will be ordering some of the carbon copy deposit slips as well.

Later,

Gene

[KenH]

Your bank can research past deposits for you and will itemize checks deposited. A customer of mine did the same thing, said they paid when I knew they didnt. I told the customer my bank never credited me for the deposit and asked if the customer could get me the cancelled check to show to the bank. I had my bank do some research on their end, and for 5$, proved the check was never deposited.