BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: DebC
Date: 03 Jun 08 - 04:14 PM

Update-I took the cheque to my credit union and they will try to deal with it. The manager I spoke to said that as long as the amount in US dollars is below $200 (which it is) there shouldn't be any problems. So, we'll see.

Thanks again for all the information. Once again, Mudcatters have proved extremely helpful.

Deb Cowan

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: DebC
Date: 03 Jun 08 - 12:21 PM

Very insightful, Jack. But I WILL cash it!!


Deb

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Jack Campin
Date: 03 Jun 08 - 10:49 AM

I suspect that National Express sent the refund that way on purpose knowing that Deb couldn't cash it.

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 09:26 PM

U. S. banks by law are not permitted to deal in foreign currencies unless they are a federal reserve bank. Only a few of those.
It is a nuisance, but unavoidable.
The bank can bag your furrin money and send it, at considerable expense and with forms explaining the source, to a federal reserve, so only larger amounts, and no coin please, are pay the costs.


Mastercard, Visa, etc. have made it easy if the UK or U. S. business accepts them. There are outfits like Paypal and Moneybookers, but I have never dealt with them.

Canada is easier, UK sterling or American dollars. I buy UK sterling money orders at my bank for purchases from UK in those cases where the seller does not take plastic.
I received a refund in Euro currency from a fellow in Germany, and the bank would not accept it, so I had to send it back.
Canadian banks are not prohibited from dealing in foreign currencies, but there are restrictions that make some payments costly.

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Bee
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 08:48 PM

I've travelled through Europe, lived in the Netherlands, and visited and briefly lived in the US. Only place I had bank difficulties was the US. In Boston, couldn't even find a bank that would change Canadian dollars - eventually found one, apparently the only one that does, and they treated me like I had visible cooties. In the Netherlands, dressed like a raggedy art student, I could walk into a bank and cash a hundred dollar personal check from a relative in Canada, in Canadian dollars, with no account and just a passport for ID. No questions asked, just hand over the guilders with a smile.

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: DebC
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 08:37 PM

Hi Anne!

We met a bazillion years ago in Massachusetts :-) I do use Paypal for folks in the UK who want to buy my CDs and when I am working in the UK I get paid in cash. This past year, though, I have had a couple of instances where people made out cheques (these were guest lecturer spots at a couple of Universities) and it was a major deal to get cash instead of a cheque. That was how I found out that I couldn't just sign the cheque over (this was a policy at Barclay's) to my friend.

To send the damn thing back to National Express, wait for them to deal with it just seems like a huge hassle.

The money isn't a fortune, but enough to be sure I get it. I think I'll just go to my credit union tomorrow and see if what they told me on the phone will work. They are really fantastic and bend over backwards for us.

Another good thing is that the cheque is drawn on an HSBC bank that has branches here in the US, so it may be a bit easier for my credit union to deal with it.

I suppose a UK bank account is in my future.

Oh yes and GtD? The cheque is in the post :-)

Debra Cowan

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Anne Lister
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 05:55 PM

I recently received a payment, in the form of a cheque drawn on a US bank in dollars, from an "angel" for my forthcoming album and was told by my UK bank that it wasn't worth their while to convert it for me. Which is why I've asked people outside the UK to use PayPal. It's not perfect, but it's the simplest way. I can imagine the complications for this refund!

Anne

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 05:34 PM

The best way to avoid bank charges would be for me to send you a cheque payable in dollars for (lets say 10,000 or so), then for you to wire the difference to my numbered Swiss bank account, allowing me to avoid paying inheritance tax in my own country....

Or at least that is what it said in the e-mail I got his morning...

Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 05:31 PM

It's almost impossible cost effectively to generate a small US dollar payment from the UK unless you have a dollar bank account. The "International Money order" is not obtainable in the UK (believe me I tried) and the equivalent from American Express or similar will double the cost of the payment. So will getting a US dollar bank draft or a bank transfer to a US bank.   

About 15 years ago the standard US bank deal for collecting a UK cheque was 28 days and a $28 charge or 7% of the total if greater.

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 04:55 PM

It costs too much to handle small checks so most banks charge exorbitant fees to discourage people from trying. The fees will often eat up the amount concerned.

If whatever transaction you're being credited for initially took place with a credit card then the UK company should have credited the amount back to that account in dollars. Perhaps you should contact your credit card company and see what advice they can give you.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: DebC
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 12:22 PM

Thanks to all for the advice. As to your question, gnomad (and I might be talking out my posterior here) I am assuming that it is not in most US bank's interest to deal in foreign currencies. If one wants to buy a different currency, one has to order it in advance, almost as much as a week to ten business days.

As it turns out, I called my bank again (credit union) and spoke to one of the managers. She said that they would deal with it by crediting my account in US dollars to the amount in UK pounds. Then once the cheque clears, I'll be credited the full amount in US dollars.

I did think about sending it back to National Express and asking them to credit my card, and I may still do that.

Again, thanks for the help.

Debra Cowan

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 11:10 AM

US banks might lose money on the transaction, as Oz banks could a few years back when I worked in the bookshop of a Govt Agency.

In the days before we had eCommerce, we received a US check for $17USD (even tho we always asked our international customers for "Payment in Australian dollars by a cheque drawn on an Australian bank") instead of $17AUD & a $AUD was worth less than a $USD we lost out on conversion, + bank fees.

If I'd received it, I would have sent it back (less experienced colleagues processed it before I saw it), fooey to prompt customer service, if folks can't read instructions, they can wait for their goods. I'm sure they would not have accepted an Australian cheque in $AUD!

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: gnomad
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 10:38 AM

Endorsement of a UK cheque, either "in blank" or to a named third party, was legal at one time, though the practise was dying out in the 70s & 80s when I was involved as a bank counter clerk (US teller) and was never really liked by bankers.

Around the 90s legal status was given to the special crossing "Account Payee" which was previously little used and could be legally ignored by a collecting banker, though at his own risk in the event of non-payment of the cheque. The crossing suddenly gained great popularity, and is now just about universal. The effect of the crossing is to make the cheque non-transferable, so your friends are unlikely to be able to help you.

I am assuming here that your cheque has on its face 2 vertical or near vertical lines, with the words Account Payee close by. If this crossing is absent and your friends know their local bank staff well enough to avoid having to deal with a jobsworth (and believe me banks attract them like flies to roadkill) then they might be able to help.

Assuming you originally paid by card I would send the cheque back to the bus company and insist that they refund your card as originally instructed, telling them why, as they are unlikely to work it out alone. They do have the means to do this, it is a requirement of being a card merchant. It is even in their interests as they will get back the percentage they had to give the card company to accept your card in the first place, and will not have to pay the bank charge for issuing your cheque.

As a slight thread drift, does anyone know why US banks are so widely unwilling to deal with foreign cheques and currency? Such things are quite commonplace in UK banking, and both overseas visitors and such cases as this one must be becoming more frequent.

Subject: RE: BS: Help Appreciated-UK Cheque
From: Mr Happy
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 10:08 AM

Contact National Express again & ask them to send your refund in a ready negotiable form fo the US?

Subject: BS: Advice on UK Cheque
From: DebC
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 08:58 AM

I am wondering if any of you have some information for me. I received a refund from National Express (UK) and it is a cheque in UK pounds. I am in the USA and do not have a British bank account. My bank here won't deal with it. I had asked them to credit my credit card, but sent the cheque instead.

I have many friends in the UK, but apparently one cannot sign a cheque over to another in the UK like we can here in the US. Or maybe I can?

Any assistance in this would be greatly appreciated.

Deb Cowan