Larry
West Sacramento,#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, May 29, 2007
You wrote a check for $57.33 and it was presented to your bank as being $570.33. I had a similar situation once many years ago because my handwritten decimal point on the check looked like a zero to a data entry clerk. If you can get a copy of the check you wrote to Pep Boys, your check should show your handwritten amounts of $57.33 and Fifty Seven and 33/100 dollars. When a check is processed at the bank they key in the amount with magnetic ink in the lower right of the check, with the last two places being the cents. Your check will probably show the numbers 0000057033 in the lower right corner, instead of the correct amount of 0000005733. My guess is that your mis-coded check was returned to Pep Boys and some idiot clerk assumed that it was a bad check instead of a mis-coded check. It is doubtful that anyone at Pep Boys ever went back to the source documents (the invoice and the deposit slip) to see that there was an error made at the bank. It will take some work on your part, but find name and address of Pep Boys' CEO from the California Secretary of State website or from whatever agency keeps corporate records in your state. Then write to Pep Boys and demand that they put an end to this lunacy. Include the threat from Certegy that they are going to have you prosecuted for a felony. I once had a problem with something at Pep Boys and it got corrected immediately when I to the top management.
Donna
Wauregan,#3Consumer Suggestion
Mon, May 28, 2007
If you look at the number pad on your keyboard you will see that the (0) is just to the left of the (.) key. It is very easy to hit both keys at the same time while entering numbers and A (0) could easily be added to the dollar amount. That is my guess as to how the problem started. It was a simple, honest mistake that should have been fixed by the first individual that you spoke to on the phone. Now that it has gotten this far, and credit collection agencies are involved, it is time to get a lawyer. Even if you have to pay the lawyer 2 or 3 times the amount of the debt that the agency claims you owe, it will be worth it. It's not just the numbers in your checking account that matter. It's the number of your CREDIT SCORE that you have to protect AT ALL COSTS. Good luck, I'm sorry to say you're going to need it.
Danielle
Champaign,#4Consumer Suggestion
Mon, May 28, 2007
How is it that Pep Boys was able to change the amount on your check? Did you ever get a copy of the cancelled original check? You say that you noticed they took out the wrong amount and THEN put a stop payment on it. How is this possible? My experience having had worked for a bank is that once a check clears, it clears. You cannot put a stop payment after the fact. Was this a checkcard that you used and they put in an extra zero? As for the felony threat, it is bogus (though I'm not a lawyer). The law as I understand it reads that it is a felony to write a bogus check over $100 with the intent to defraud the individual to whom the check is written. These debt collectors bought an old debt. You did not write the check to them. I would send them a letter demanding that they cease to contact you.