Chris, I’ll pm you some of the details.
Finish fast Dom
This mornings client might not make it.
Lol. Already have the first version of it running and in testing.
Has anyone else tried Google’s Checkout merchant account? It functions similar to PayPal in sending an invoice. It’s not at intuitive but it is better than PayPal and funds automatically transfer to your designated bank account at the end of the week. There is no monthly fee like a typical merchant account. I’ve used it for about a year or more and it functions fantastic! It used to be FREE but now it’s 2% plus approximately .20-.30 per transaction. I ask specifically if a client would like to pay with a credit card prior to the inspection to garner points and many pay this way (about 50%). The rest are cash (good) or check (risky). I’d rather get paid with the credit card because for the small fee - you have the funds BEFORE the inspection and no risk of a bounced check. The advantage with PayPal is that on the road with a PDA smartphone, you can email an invoice very easily. Not as easy with Google’s Checkout with a PDA but depending on the PDA’s or smarphone’s browser it may be feasible. Just my input.
Bounced checks are illegal, so that’s a crime that is punishable by the legal system. Payment by credit card, however, can be reversed for up to six months. All the Client has to do is contest the charge and provide a reason. The problem comes because at that point it is a very large bank and credit card system against little ol’ me since the banks and credit cards are going to go to bat for their card holders.
There is risk in everything, so what one has to do is weigh the risks that one wants to take and then go for it. It’s riskier driving to and from the inspection than it is taking checks, credit cards, PayPal, or any other payment type.
Might be illegal but it doesn’t stop them from being written. I talked to one inspector that had 6 bounced checks last month, although most ended up being from illegals. That’s Southern California though. I talk to guys in other states who say they’ve never received a bounced check!
You are correct about bounced checks being illegal but try to process action against one…the time and effort might not be worth it. With a credit card - I have never had one come back - if you delivered the service it’s hard for the chargeback to come to fruition especially with a signed agreement, which is a legal document enforceable by law just like a check. You do get a chance to dispute it with the credit card company and if you have proof of the service delivered (agreement and copy of a report), it’s hard to repudiate. I agree with you but still think credit cards are very viable with negligible risk compared to a check. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have proliferated to the extent they have. Just trying to highlight another merchant service besides PayPal, which on its own isn’t bad despite some of their practices. Take care!
I use Quickbooks with the free paypal addon pack which allows me to create an invoice like any others and send it to the client with the push of a button in quickbooks.
Bradley Schumacher
I wish I could say I’ve never received a bounced check. However, in almost 10,000 inspections in seven years, I did, indeed, receive one bad check. And 99% of my inspections are paid by check. My Client called me a couple of days later to tell me that the check they wrote me would probably bounce because his wife hadn’t transfered money from their money market account into their checking account. He apologized profusely and asked me to call him as soon as the check was returned. A couple of days after that, I received a not of apology in the mail with a replacement check that included my $25 returned check fee. He asked me to just tear up the bad check when it came back.
I know that I can’t be simply lucky over the years. I believe, instead, that It’s all about creating trust and rapport with one’s Clients. If that is done successfully, one will never get a bad check, and if one does, the above will probably happen.
The District Attorney takes care of them here, free of charge. Just send in the check, a note about the services provided, and voilá!
Correction (in other words I was wrong): ART tells me we’ve had two bounced checks in seven years. The first one was $399, the one the Client called about. The second one was a $999 check. The Client disappeared, and both the Realtor and I understand that he is still a fugitive. The Realtor wrote me a $999 check to cover my fee. As he said, “I need your services on a regular basis, so I can’t afford to have you upset at me for a Client that I referred to you.” He’s still one of my best Realtors; in fact he closed 38 escrows in May. Guess how many of those 38 inspections I did in March, April, and May?