Helix Bounced A $57 Check...

[rawTOP]

Just a warning to those of you who have signed up for HelixCash (http://www.helixcash.com/track/NjMzOjE0OjQ/), they managed to bounce a check they gave me for $57.25. If you're about to deposit a check from them you may want to contact them to make sure they've resolved the problem and have sufficient funds in the account so you avoid problems with your bank.

It was a "uncollected funds hold" bounce - so it seems they have the money in their account, but haven't thought about how much time it takes to clear. Still, it takes a little while to mail the checks, you'd think they'd have $57 of cleared funds in the account by the time I tried to deposit the check.

I'm hoping they'll pay me back for the $10 my bank charged me for the bounced check...

[gaybucks_chip]

Honest mistakes happen, and many programs (ours included) have an account set up just to pay affiliates, so often times the program will be moving money from a main account to the affiliate payout account.

Also, don't discount the fact that banks are getting more and more shady about putting holds on checks... just last week, Bank of America tried to put a 12 day hold (!) on a $3000 check from Wells Fargo, from a vendor that we deposit from on a regular basis. Keep in mind that Wells is in California, as is BofA, and checks from them clear in 24 hours. We got them to take the hold off, but... if we had just deposited it without paying attention, that's what would have happened.

So, in the case of Helix, I can imagine a number of reasons why this could have happened.

Did you contact Helix first and give them a chance to correct the problem before going and posting about it on the boards?

[Seth]

Helix has always paid us on time, every time. All checks have cleared. My latest deposit from them was on 3/20 and no sign if it coming back.

I too would ask if you contacted Helix directly and given them a reasonable amount of time to respond and resolve the issue before posting on the boards?

[rawTOP]

Read my message again - I don't think my message implied it was anything other than an honest mistake. I did contact them first, but just before posting here. The point of my message was to say if you're about to deposit a check from them you may want to check with them first to avoid problems all around.

Let me state clearly - it may have been a sloppy mistake, but I don't think it was intentional.

The fact that it's was a funds clearance problem shows they tried. At the same time I run a business and have a payroll account that my payroll service pulls money out of. I get the scenario. But I always transfer money from accounts at the same bank so there are no uncleared funds issues. I wouldn't deposit a check in the payroll account - that muddies the waters and sets you up for problems like Helix is encountering.

[RottenRay]

Helix uses Wachovia.

I had a similar problem in late 2006 with PrideBucks - who also uses a Wachovia account.

My bank returned the check claiming the account it was drawn against didn't exist.

IMPORTANT - Harlan at PrideBucks overnighted me a replacement after I emailed him. That check, against the same account, went through fine.

I think it's a problem with how Wachovia clears checks...


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[basschick]

i had the same problem once with nastydollars, and at the time, they also used wachovia. not for a single second did i believe that nastydollars didn't have the money in their account :D

[gaybucks_chip]

I guess the point I'm making is... when you make a post saying about helix "they managed to bounce a check" and "you might want to make sure they have money in their account" the implication (at least to me) is that Helix might be broke or whatever.

If the interest is genuinely to ensure that others don't have similar problems, perhaps encouraging Helix to either post directly or to contact their affected affiliates might be a better move. Threads like this, with the headline "Helix bounced a $57 check" don't reflect positively on affiliate programs.

I know that I always appreciate an opportunity to resolve a problem before someone feels the need to post it on the boards. Some people don't believe in doing that, and it's their perogative, but I also believe that what goes around comes around :)

[BabyMaker]

I think you should have waited a bit too, or made a fey atempts too contact them. but what is dont is done .

[marcjacob]

I agree you should have asked them to post here, but I can also see what you were trying to do. Your lucky a bounced check only costs you $10. My bank would have charged me $60 to bounce a check I paid into my account. Thats a fairly standard rate in the UK.

If I used Helix I would appreciate the advance warning that some affiliates may have trouble cashing the check, just to help me avoid getting a ridiculous charge from my bank (as if they dont make enough money as it is!)

[phil450studio]

So now you should wait for Helix to post an explanation about it.

[ChadKnowsLaw]

I once deposited a $25,000 check at Bank One. The teller gave me the receipt that showed it had been deposited and no hold on it. That evening, someone reviewing deposits decided to put a hold on that check and never bothered to tell me. Even though I had the receipt IN MY HAND that showed that I had good funds in that account, internally there was a hold on that money. Of course you know what happened -- I had checks bounce because I thought I had $25,000 more cleared dollars in the account than the bank would let me access. The check cleared, I had to make some apologies, and I reamed the branch manager a new asshole before closing that account. I did not mind the hold being placed, but not telling me was pure bullshit and it caused me a lot of embarrassment due to the bounced checks.

Did you contact Helix before publicly posting this? I honestly think you should have handled this more privately.

[rawTOP]

I still completely disagree with those of you who said I should have waited before posting... If it were genuinely a private matter, then sure, I'd handle it privately, but this problem has to effect more people than just me...

That said... I waited for two days to get a response to my e-mail. Nothing. So I called. The guy sounded a bit shocked that they had bounced a check, but said the guy who dealt with that sort of stuff wasn't in. He took my number and promised the guy would call me the next day (yesterday). The call never came. So now I'll call them again later today... [All this for a $57 check!]

Let's just say I'm hugely disappointed that 1) they bounced the check, 2) they didn't respond to the e-mail, and 3) they didn't deal with it in a timely manner even after I gave them a call.

For the people who were quick to criticize me - if it had really been some weird quirk and they had dealt with it quickly, I would have said as much in a follow-up message and no harm done. But that's not the case...