Vent: Are you kidding me

So you telling me you guys held a check for over a month and decided to go into the bank instead of depositing it like a real company, I will call you right back.

I calls grannie to ask (she wrote the check) if she knew the deposit check bounced. She mentioned she wasn't aware . So I called the BOA, I'm on my grannie checking account . The bank lady tells me a check didn't clear it was $9.10 short of funds. Long story short , we wrote that check last month on the 5rd and they just now trying to cash it. Who the hell holds a check over a month. Called grannie back and she forgot she even wrote the check and bought pillows at JC Penny's . So now I'm furious because the banquet hall didn't even try and contact me until today to inform me. I would have put the money in the account or got a dang money order.

Calls the banquet manager back to explain and again told him I will bring cash in this evening when I get off work. He then says " Miss.Scott we have already gave the date up to the next inquiry for that day. I can recommend you to a few places that might have some openings. But someone will be on-site for you to bring in the $240 owed to us today. In other words I won't say what I said to him after that. I honestly don't think I should pay the cancellation fee , they honestly never contacted me until today. PISSED Now I have to look for another place with 6 months away.

The End ( Sorry for my rambling I'm so pissed I had to leave my desk at work)

Oh my goodness that is terrible! I would be just as mad as you are, totally understandable. Hopefully something else works out and it ends up being better than you planned with the first venue. If their customer service is that bad, I wouldn't want to get married there anyway! Screw them. I would do whatever I could to get out of the fees. I know this is hard right now but hopefully on your wedding day this will be something you can laugh about and put behind you.

So sorry!

A lot of my vendors have stated on their contract that if the deposit check bounces they will not work the customer. I totally understand, if you don't have the money for the deposit its a huge risk to trust you to pay them in full. The $240.00 is for the hassle and holding your date for that month, they possibly turned potential customers away. Even though the held on the check for the month, whats the big deal? Sure its annoying but either you have the money or don't. Not trying to be rude

Honestly...its not the venue's fault for holding onto the check for so long...most banks have a "stale check" date of anywhere from 3 months to a year and I think this is actually a state mandated thing. Cashing a check, especially in a business, only a month after it was given isn't all that uncommon.

The account holder should be a bit more conscious of her checking account and see that the deposit check had not yet cleared and there for be sure that the funds to cover it are in her account at all times as the minute she wrote that check the money ceased to be hers, so I honestly can't blame the venue for dumping your date....weddings cost a lot of money and you can't fault them for wanting to get paid and taking any and all steps necessary to make that happen.

Learn a lesson and move on...its not worth arguing with them about.

This sucks; first priority is to find another venue with your date ASAP. Worry about paying the bounced check later. I hope it all works out.

I would also be so annoyed but unfortunately I think they are within their right to do so. Our venue doesn't even take personal checks bc this happens to them.

Sounds totally legit, sadly. they turn away biz and get a fee for bounced checks. i'd check the contract to see if they said it would be that much or a % of the deposit etc to be sure. but it sounds like any other vendor would do. its up to the check writer to balance the checkbook and be aware of the funds as they leave the account. banks notify the account holder when a check is bounced.

hopefully you can find a much better place.

Wow that is crazy, I would first off go over their contract completely to make sure everything they said was written in the contract. Then I would go over and speak with his supervisor and demand dates and times that they tried to contact you about the check, they have to document that to prove they tried to contact you. Funny how they could reach you to demand extra money for doing nothing but couldn't contact you about the check bouncing. Good luck finding another venue, sorry you have to deal with a jerk like that.

Didn't she get a notice that the check bounced? It's not their responsibility to keep track of it. Whether or not they tried to contact you, if your check bounces, in many cases it's one strike and you're out.

You're talking about a prime date on Memorial day weekend, and all of us are turning people away. While I'm surprised that they didn't cancel you earlier, it's not that unusual.

Possibly you can talk them out of the early cancellation, but not the bounce fees. As Maltese said, learn a lesson an on to the next.

I get what you guys are saying . My grannie wanted to help so bad and of course she is on fix income and don't really have a lot of extra money . Since I'm on her account I should have watched to make sure it cleared and the funds was available. My issue is they didn't contact me until today to tell me about the check. They wasn't even willing to let me bring in the cash to cover the check and returned fee. Oh well

Sorry to hear that and it's a messed up situation, but I have to agree with Maltese and had that in my mind when I was reading. Unfortunately, the venue is right to cancel. It is up to you and/or your grannie to keep track of the checking account. I have a spreadsheet for all my accounts and any checks that go out, I make sure that they are noted and the funds remain in the account. If I notice a check has taken too long to post, I confirm with the person/company I made the check payable to that they have received it, haven't lost it.

Good luck

That sucks but you can find a new venue. My husband and I had to do it three months before our wedding date because the township got into a pissing match with our registered historical venue over some sidewalks. It was a mess. Not only that, but on top of having to pay for a new venue that was twice as expensive in such a short period of time, we had to pay to have new invitations printed, and then had to pay to have half of our envelopes redone by a calligrapher because the old invitations were already sealed and stamped, ready and waiting to be sent out.

Things could be worse. It could be closer to your wedding date.

That is horrible and I understand your frustration but do see their side of it to a point. They should of deposited and called you right away if any issues arose in my opinion. I would start looking for a replacement venue ASAP, and as for the bounce fee, yes it needs to be paid but the $240.00 fee I am not sure if they can legally do that if they cancelled your date. I also doubt it would be worth them getting an attorney to try and recoup the $240.00 fee from you.

Companies, especially wedding vendors are not obligated to deposit checks right away. I sent our last payment to the videographer a couple of weeks before our vow renewal, and it was taking a while to post so I contacted him and he said that he had been so busy with weddings, editing videos, etc., he hadn't been in the office. A few days later, he said he had the check and would be depositing it.

FutureMrsKing - Do you have other vendors lined up (i.e. photographer, videographer, etc.)? If so, check with them to see if they can recommend other venues.

The cancellation fee IS your responsibility. If you (or your grandmother, or FH) signed a contract that said an X% bounced check will be added with any returned checks (as most contracts DO state somewhere) then you do have to pay that back...I would be willing to bet that this venue probably tried to call your grandmother (as I'm assuming she is the primary account holder and her name is listed on the check that was written to them) and the chances of her not answering or missing the call are a lot more likely.

99.9% of the time a company will cover its ass...this isn't the first time this has happened to them, thus the return check policy and I'd be willing to bet the inclusion of the policy on the contract.

I understand your frustration, but plenty of businesses take their time to cash checks. It is the responsibility of the person who handles the funds to make sure the amount they wrote the check for is in the account until the check clears. Maybe next time you can see if it is possible to use a debit or credit card and then pay that back, instead of the check. At least you wont forget that.... Either way, the situation still sucks, I couldn't imagine finding out that I had to get another vendor at this point. Best of luck to you!

Sorry you are dealing with this. Unfortunately, they are under no obligation to contact you if your check bounces. Once this occurs, it is considered breach of contract and they can terminate the agreement at their discretion.

@Nay: Yes , I will start on that later this week , my nerves bad right now.

Oh that sucks! I get where they are coming from it's not a good first impression to have. No use crying over spilt milk. Try to find a new venue. Nothing has gone out yet so if you have to change your date it's no big deal and likely won't cost you any more money. Good luck hun!