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Taking Checks

Some nights I’ll get up to $600, in checks. Last year I had 6 bad ones. Customers came in and paid for 4. First I make a couple of calls, I always get phone & DL num. Then I blow up the check and put in on the wall by cash drawer.
If it is still there by the end of the year I send it to State Attorney’s office and they collect the money and send me a check. If it is a good customer or someone that is just having a hard time I can work it out with them. By the time I get notice from the bank, believe me they KNOW they bounced a check on me and should have come in and paid me already. Writing bad checks knowingly is a crime. Not like I can take the food back, they ate it! If I refused to take checks would they use a different method of payment? Guess I should try it and find out. Usually it is “older” people that pay by check.
 
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One restaurateur I interviewed said he quit taking checks not because of the loss, but because customers who just made a mistake would not come back because they would be embarrassed. They would make good on the check, but he would lose the future income.
 
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You really need to look at the big picture…Yes bad checks are a problem, however, if at the end of the day you can carry profit to the bottom line then they help you out…A local grocery store tried to stop taking checks, however, they did not consider that many of their “old age” clients would simply go elsewhere…Sure many folks have debit cards, charge cards, etc. but some still want to pay checks…Some businesses lose no sales when they do not take checks…Others lose so much in sales, although, they have reduced on NSF charges they are carrying less to the bottom line…You need to figure out what works for you…
 
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Royster has a point. Since we’ve been open, not one customer has ever asked to pay by check. And we ask every customer how they will be paying.
 
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