What Do I Do??!?!

[tigerbabygrr]

My deposits are non-refundable... long story short, a money order was sent as a deposit for one of my chinchillas and the person did not show up to pick up the chinchilla because of multiple reasons.

But here's the catch...He/she reported the money order as STOLEN! It's not stolen!! We signed the freakin' thing and cashed it?!?! It's costing us $200 in overdraft fees/returned checks, etc.!!! Why would someone do this?! :angry: :angry: HOW can they do this!? I don't understand how it can be reported as stolen?!?!?

I hope someone can help... I'm furious right now...

[TheChinClique]

That's terrible :( . However, unless you had a contract SIGNED by both parties, I am afraid that it is just your word against their word. Maybe if you have e-mails from the other party it would help to prove that they sent you the deposit and intended on buying the animal? It's always worse when there is an innocent animal is involved. Hopefully this person will come to their senses and just drop it.

-Andrea

[paris26]

oh jeez Mandi! I would start by showing your bank a copy of the signed contract by this individual. They will have a copy of the signed money order to verify the signature. Maybe they can send this to the "bum clients" bank to contest the charges on your behalf. I would also check to see when the M.O. was issued too. Usually you only have a certain period of time to declare it was "stolen".

Good luck!

[tigerbabygrr]

Well here's what I'm thinking... If you have your name on a check "Jane Doe" let's say. And Billy Bob tries to cash it, he can't because he is not Jane Doe, correct? My boyfriend's name was on the money order and he deposited it into his account... How can they file it as lost/stolen after it's been cashed?!? I don't get it.. We tried contacting his bank and Western Union but they are both closed. His bank account was overdrawn and we're afraid they are going to charge daily late fees... well he doesn't get paid until NEXT FRIDAY!!! I don't know what to do...

[chuckles]

I would talk to your bank. I don't see how they can just pull it out of your account without the other person providing proof that it had been stolen first. Hope you saved any emails in which you stated that the deposit was nonrefundable, etc.

[tigerbabygrr]

So now he/she is stating that they sent me a message via Yahoo that they were cancelling the MO. I never received an IM or an e-mail...

[FurryFriends]

This is a weird situation. I have had a money order stolen. I had to fill out the paperwork and send it in. They told me that if it hasn't been cashed, I could get the money back minus their processing fee. In my case it was cashed already and they sent a copy of it to me. They told me to report it to the police, it was out of their hands.

[foxbite2]

I agree with Furry Friends... when I had a money order lost in the mail, it was a long drawn out process of filling out forms, and I too was told that if the MO was cashed I could very well be out of the money. It must depend on the company issuing and backing the money orders as to how they proceed to process claims of lost or stolen money orders. I think it would be just about impossible to argue with the company that issued the money order that you had an agreement and the money order was not stolen. They probably really won't care about your proof or your arguments.

[chinchilla_boy]

Was the money order made out to you or your boyfriend or a business name? If it was made out to your name, but your boyfriend signed it and then deposited it, then it could pose a problem. If you are in tight with your bank and they know you and your boyfriend are together, then they could have comfortably overlooked the fact that the "pay to" was not the same person as the signature on the back. Was this the case or did you both sign it?

What's to stop people from declaring a money order stolen every time they used one for something? I would be a wealthy man and have alot of free stuff if I pulled this stunt for every purchase I have ever made with a money order. If your bank gives you a hard time about it, feel free to use my argument and see if they can come up with a better comeback. I don't see how money could just be taken out of an account without an investigation being done by the "bank" that is representing the money order.

Something had to be amiss such as signatures not adding up which could have sent up a red flag. If they did violate your contract then I would take them to small claims court for the other monetary losses they incurred upon you. You don't want to have bounced checks on your credit report that were not your fault. Protect your credit rating with your life. ;)

[Nel]

People are freakin unbelieveable!

If you had the email saying that they were canceling the MO you could take that to the bank and show them that it wasnt stolen and the person sending knew that. They only said it was stolen to try to get the money back!

I dont see how the bank could do that?! They must not have double checked who it was made out to or who cashed it. I would be super mad at the bank too!! I fricken HATE banks!!