I worked for School of Walk as a dog walker and trainer for a few months in the fall of 2011. I had to leave the job due to a family issue that arose. I gave School of Walk two weeks notice of my departure in writing. I was given my last paycheck, which I deposited on November 14, 2011. On November 16, 2011, the check bounced, and the funds were withdrawn from my checking account. I was out of the country when this occurred, and contacted School of Walk via email to let them know of the problem with my last paycheck.
They responded saying they would look into it and get back to me. After that email, I received no further communication from School of Walk regarding the bounced check. I reached out to them politely several more times via email, but was ignored. I returned to the United States in February 2012 and attempted to get the issue resolved with either my bank or School of Walk's bank, but to no avail.
I tried one last time to reach out to School of Walk via email, but was again ignored. I decided my only remaining course of action was to sue them in civil court. I sent them a formal letter through certified mail stating my intention to take them to court over the amount of my last paycheck that I was still owed. Upon receipt of the letter on March 8, 2012, I received a text message stating the funds would be mailed to me the next day. They were not.
I received an email 6 days later on March 14, 2012 requesting the information for my Paypal account and was told if I provided this information, the funds would be sent to me via Paypal that night. I did send my Paypal account information the same night, March 14, 2012, but did not receive funds. On March 19, 2012, I received a Paypal email informing me that an echeck for the amount of my final paycheck had been deposited. On March 22, 2012, the echeck cleared. This was 4 months and 8 days after the money was originally owed to me.
I want to warn both prospective clients and employees of School of Walk of these kind of bad business practices. If I had not sent the company a letter stating my intention to sue them, they never would have paid me my final check. They were trying to get away with not paying me by simply ignoring me. This kind of irresponsible and unprofessional behavior is not acceptable.