Vent: Are you kidding me

Two words girl: online. banking.

That's all I have to say.

Also, to avoid a lawsuit, pay the $240.

Sorry, but I have to ask. You said "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".... then why would you even accept money from her? If that was my grandmother, there wouldn't be a shot in hell that I would accept her money.

Lesson Learned for sure !

@Kristenann: Telling a elderly NO when they want to help or offer something, is like hurting their feelings. Every time anyone visits her at home we leave with a brown bag of fruits,cheese and can goods.LOL I told her No 4 times, she wouldn't take no and before I knew it she was writing the check out. She was with us when we looked at the venue.

Who writes checks anymore?? We are using credit cards for everything so that it can all be tracked. Then we just pay that amount so we aren't paying interest.

^^^^^ a 78 yr old woman

So you have to pay the cancellation fee even though the cancellation was their choosing. I have no idea if that makes sense in the legal world but in the regular world that sounds like bullshit. My venue has a clause where they can decide at their discretion if they want to cancel the event or not due to late or no payment but if they do then all monies given is lost - not any extra canceling fee.

BTW Vanessa my venue is cash/check/certified check only. No cc's allowed.

I'm writing checks for everything......? Its only to the venue (all inclusive) and my photographer, but still.

^^^29 years old

OP, that's a sucky situation but unfortunately they are within their rights here. I hope you find a new venue soon!

Vanessa - Checks are still used. I used checks to make a few payments to our vendors. Checks can be traced too. I printed out canceled checks and attached them to the copies of the letters I sent. When I didn't write checks, I used cash or debit cards. No credit cards.

I write checks too! Our venue, for example, charges 3% transaction on card payments which would equate to over $500. My archaic apartment complex only takes checks too so I write at least 2 a month, but I stalk my bank account so it's rare that anything would get past my radar.

Hm... I know very few people that use them. Maybe its just me. *shrugs*

I write a lot of checks. I like the paper trail, and hate stupid "convenience" fees.

You poor girl! It is a very honest mistake on your part. I almost bounce a check a couple of weeks ago. Most of the time I am super responsible but lately I have been so busy it just slipped my mind to double check I have enough money in the bank.

I completely understand your frustrations about the part they tried to contact you several times when in reality they probably didn't. I would be pissed too if they claimed that if it weren't true.

Like you said lesson learned. Pay the $240 (after you verified in your contract you actually owe this amount) and never think about this again. I wish you the best of luck.

Alot of my vendors will onlytake checks, some are ones that will only take a cashiers check as well. Sorry this is happening, but you will find something better- and watch, it wll allwork out for the best

Really hoping this doesnt happen with me, I believe we just have to pay them 10 days before and give them the final count...

Nadia, a check is a financial contract. If it bounces, the payee can sue the payer in court for up to 3x the value of the check plus court costs, filing and attorney's fee.

We still use checks. It's the only way we can pay our rent. Once easy way to avoid this is set up a separate account for wedding funds. That way nothing else is coming out from that account except for the wedding expenses. We pay cash and get receipts for most of our wedding payments (most of our vendors offered a cash discount) but we still need to write a few checks for specific vendors.

I agree with kristenann and my grandma is just like yours with never letting us leave without giving us each $10 or any other kind of stuff she has lying around but that is a LOT of money. Way different than a bag of groceries!

I agree about using a designated account for wedding related items only. That's what we did and it was much easier than keeping track of different accounts. And if your grandmother wants to help, which I understand you feel bad telling her no, then maybe get cash from her and deposit into that designated account.

Also what helps me is that I'm spreadsheet queen. I keep track of every transaction that goes out and comes in and if it's a check that hasn't posted yet, I highlight that item so that I know it's still outstanding.