Hi Alexia,
As you are our resident banking expert, can you tell us how we can know when a payment is really ours and can no longer be withdrawn by the issuing bank?
Booking scams
also talking re bank accounts I have had email from a French web site and after a few emails between potential guest and myself he wanted to book 3 weeks in July and needed bank details of how to pay the money in. I gave him out spanish bank account number and address and also on the form was out address in spain. He has now cancelled, (no money was deposited) and am panicking that somehow I have been ssamed but not sure how?? Can he do anything with the bank account details or knowing where the address is???
I'm not sure, but I'd get all the money out of that account ASAP.
Here in the US once you give someone your bank account information, the only way to really stop them from withdrawing money from it is to close the account. If a client wanted to wire money straight to our bank, I would open a separate account that had only a few dollars in it, so that they couldn't steal from me if they tried.
Here in the US once you give someone your bank account information, the only way to really stop them from withdrawing money from it is to close the account. If a client wanted to wire money straight to our bank, I would open a separate account that had only a few dollars in it, so that they couldn't steal from me if they tried.
Brooke
Paolo,
Disclaimer:No, no, I am not an expert in banking (I wish I were)..... The situation described in the article I cited would never happen to any minimally competent adult - would you withdraw £10000 in cash for a (nearly) complete stranger? I wouldn’t withdraw £10000 cash for anyone, including myself.
For the rest of us, drawing on a cheque that eventually bounces is not dramatic - the money we withdrew, thinking the cheque was good, would have had to have been spent anyway:we would have had to pay the gas bill (or Harrods, or the plumber) with or without that cheque and it’s no more than bad luck that that client turns out to be rotten....... we don’t lose anything (except small bank charges and interest).
This is why a bank won’t give you the money you have prematurely spent - you spent it freely (even if you gambled it all away - nobody held a gun to your head) - and if there were a banking error they would only refund their charges and the interest. They won’t pay the gas bill you spent their money on (and if the cheque bounces, it was the bank’s money).
If anyone is really concerned (last minute payment,for ex.), in the UK just get the client to pay in cash to be credited to your UK bank. This is easy and costs the client nothing.
In France, 3 working days (it’s something outrageous like 10 or 15 in the Poste) are deemed sufficient to clear funds: wait 6 if you’re nervous.
Wherever you are, specify that the cheque has to be payable in your country of residence. I once accepted a Wells Fargo cheque payable in the US that took 8 weeks to clear: never again. Try explaining to the clients at the end of their holiday that you can’t refund their security deposit because you haven’t received it yet!
Disclaimer:No, no, I am not an expert in banking (I wish I were)..... The situation described in the article I cited would never happen to any minimally competent adult - would you withdraw £10000 in cash for a (nearly) complete stranger? I wouldn’t withdraw £10000 cash for anyone, including myself.
For the rest of us, drawing on a cheque that eventually bounces is not dramatic - the money we withdrew, thinking the cheque was good, would have had to have been spent anyway:we would have had to pay the gas bill (or Harrods, or the plumber) with or without that cheque and it’s no more than bad luck that that client turns out to be rotten....... we don’t lose anything (except small bank charges and interest).
This is why a bank won’t give you the money you have prematurely spent - you spent it freely (even if you gambled it all away - nobody held a gun to your head) - and if there were a banking error they would only refund their charges and the interest. They won’t pay the gas bill you spent their money on (and if the cheque bounces, it was the bank’s money).
If anyone is really concerned (last minute payment,for ex.), in the UK just get the client to pay in cash to be credited to your UK bank. This is easy and costs the client nothing.
In France, 3 working days (it’s something outrageous like 10 or 15 in the Poste) are deemed sufficient to clear funds: wait 6 if you’re nervous.
Wherever you are, specify that the cheque has to be payable in your country of residence. I once accepted a Wells Fargo cheque payable in the US that took 8 weeks to clear: never again. Try explaining to the clients at the end of their holiday that you can’t refund their security deposit because you haven’t received it yet!
Best,
Alexia.
Alexia.