The Cheque Was in the Post After All. Sadly...

• It wasn't signed, or
• It wasn't dated, or
• It was wrongly dated, or
• Words and figures did not tally.

It is possible for an unsigned cheque to be sent out in error, so you shouldn't assume that this is just another delaying tactic. You might, in any event, be able to present an unsigned cheque if your customer agrees to speak to the bank and request its acceptance of the cheque.

If you receive an undated cheque you can simply add the date, but wrongly dated cheques can be more difficult to deal with.

Cheques that are wrongly dated in error tend to turn up at the turn of the year, and there is no alternative but to send them back and ask that the customer amend the date. Cheques written by people to whom the English dating system (day, month, year) does not come naturally may also need to be sent back for amendment if the date is written in figures - 5/9/09 rather than 9/5/09 for example.

It is, of course, possible just to present wrongly dated cheques and hope that they clear - but it's a bad idea because it can cause unnecessarily long delays in payment if the cheque is dishonoured by the bank.

If the words and figures on the face of the cheque don't agree, it is possible just to claim the lower amount, but again it's better just to send the cheque back for amendment.

ALWAYS TAKE A PHOTOCOPY OF A CHEQUE THAT NEEDS TO BE RETURNED TO A CUSTOMER FOR AMENDMENT. The photocopy cheque is important evidence of the customer's acceptance of its indebtedness and of its intention to pay your account.

Excuses, Excuses... The Cheque is in the Post

The cheque's in the post. Heard that one?

The trouble is - thanks to the Royal Mail! - the cheque really might be in the post. In which case it could turn up 'anywhen' as people used to say where I lived for a big chunk of my life.

The main objective here is find out whether the cheque was actually sent or not, and one way of finding that out is ask for details of the cheque - the number, the amount, the date, the bank, the account number, and so on - because it's really quite difficult to fabricate the details of a non-existent cheque off the top of your head.

If you get the details and you still don't receive the cheque within a couple of days, call back, ask the customer to stop the cheque and issue a new one. If you don't get the details - ditto.

DON'T ask them to post the replacement!

You don't want to be paid 'anywhen' - or even 'somewhen'! - either of which I know from experience could certainly turn out to be 'never'. You want to be paid ASAP. So it's a good idea to tell your customer that - as luck would have it! - you'll be passing by their premises in a couple of days time and you'll stop off and collect the replacement cheque.

It's really very difficult to tell someone that they can't call to collect a replacement for a cheque that has apparently been lost in the post. It's even more difficult to formulate an excuse as to why they shouldn't do so. And as it's a real giveaway to do either one of those things, people tend to come clean if they have a real problem, or pay up if they don't.

Obviously, if your customer is many miles away and you don't employ representatives then it may not be convenient for you to collect a cheque, but these days convenience sometimes has to give way to necessity - depending, of course, upon the size of the cheque in question...

Always Investigate Complaints - They Might be Legitimate

Many companies use complaints to delay or avoid making payment, and no doubt you have had, or now have, or will have customers that use this tactic - but you shouldn't become so suspicious that you treat all complaints as groundless and all customers who complain as nuisances or bad payers.

You should never lose sight of the fact that a complaint might be justified, and that your customer might have a genuine grievance. ALL complaints should be thoroughly investigated - despite the fact that this will inevitably delay payment - and pending the result of your investigation, all collection activity against the complainant must stop.

If you are not totally in control of the collection process, make sure that everyone involved knows that there is a complaint, and that all collection activity against the complainant must stop. There's nothing worse than dunning a disgruntled customer.