School represented cheque

[icecreamcrackers]

My daughter is going on a school residential trip and I gave the school a cheque for the deposit but then since realised I could pay it on parent pay.

I called the school straight away and asked them to return the cheque as I had paid by other means which both happened on the same day. The school asked me if I wanted them to rip it up or return it to my daughter and I told them to do what was easiest for them. Fast forward and they tried to cash the cheque which then bounced, they offered me a £10 refund but have since found out they tried to present the cheque twice resulting in £40 worth of charges.

My husband wants me to get the school to refund all the charges as they said they would destroy the cheque. Is he being unreasonable or would you want them to refund the cost too? I really don't want to be that parent!

[Justabadwife]

You asked them not to cash it - they tried twice therefore the charges are their fault imho. :)

[Nikephorus]

I think they should refund the charges because neither of the options they offered you involved trying to bank it even once!

[LoudestRoar]

This is why you should always cancel the cheque yourself, directly with your bank. I'm not sure where you'll stand getting the charges back from the school, to be honest

[Glumglowworm]

I'm normally very sympathetic to schools

But yanbu, they were told not to present the cheque, you had already paid (so not a case of "please don't bank my cheque til Tuesday cause I don't have enough money til then" where they school is still waiting for payment), and they didn't just do it once, they did it twice!

They shouldn't have done it at all, but when it bounced the first time they should've checked their records and contacted you rather than just trying again with the same cheque.

I work in financial services and we would definitely pay your bank charges if we did this (would need evidence such as letter advising you of the charges or transaction statement showing them) and in the private sector we'd probably give you some distress and inconvenience money as well. While I wouldn't expect the latter from a school, I would expect them to refund your charges.

[Moanyoldcow]

I work for a school in the Finance dept. We'd refund you no problem at all and apologise for being stuipid at the same time.

[HoHoHoHo]

Cancel the cheque!

[KeepItAsItIs]

I would want the charges back! They shouldn't have tried to cash it once, let alone twice, they absolutely should refund you.

[blackteasplease]

I wanted to say cancel the cheque! Not quick enough.

But I think yanbu OP.

[VioletCharlotte]

HoHoHo

Came on to say the same!

[Hillarious]

It's an error on the school's part, but why would you want to do ParentPay when you'd already sent in a cheque? Could have just noted it for next time and saved the confusion.

[SomethingNewToday]

How long did you leave it before advising them you had paid by other means?

Could they already have taken it to the bank and it was too late? And sometimes a bank will decide to automatically re-present a cheque, it doesn't necessarily mean they've intentionally tried to bank it twice.

[BitOutOfPractice]

Doesn't the bank present it twice before returning it to the payee?

[lunar1]

Give the bank a ring, in the circumstances they might just refund the fees. If they won’t though I’d expect the School to pay.

[ElephantsandTigers]

It needs explaining why whoever you spoke to didn't just tear the cheque up there and then or why they didn't ring you when it was first refused. School are morally liable for the charges.

[Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar]

They offered to return the cheque to you. Why didn't you just say yes?

[BalloonSlayer]

I would suggest you cancel the cheque.

[CorbynsBumFlannel]

I'd suck it up tbh. It's possible it had already been taken to be banked when you called. I think it's your error for paying twice tbh.

[sinceyouask]

They offered to return the cheque to you. Why didn't you just say yes?

Strange interpretation, Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar, as they also offered to rip it up.

The school asked me if I wanted them to rip it up or return it to my daughter and I told them to do what was easiest for them.

[Topseyt]

I think that the lesson here is to always either cancel the cheque yourself asap, or actually get it back from the school so that mistakes like this cannot be made.

Also, use Parentpay. In my experience many schools no longer much like dealing with cheques and cash. They prefer the online payment directly into their bank accounts for many reasons including this sort of thing.

I like Parentpay as it is immediate and you know that the job is done.

Back in the days before Parentpay, I used to have to send cheques into my DDs' primary school. They were chaotic about when they paid them in, sometimes not presenting them for weeks.

I suppose you could mention the charges to the school, as they had indicated that they would not present the cheque. Put them on the spot.

You might get more of a chance of getting the charges refunded from your bank though if this is a one-off event. I have before when there has been a definite error somewhere along the line.

[Chapterandverse]

My husband wants me to get the school to refund all the charges as they said they would destroy the cheque. Is he being unreasonable or would you want them to refund the cost too?

If he wants it cancelled let him deal with it. He can be that parent then!

[Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar]

What did I interpret?

[melj1213]

I'd definitely go into school and speak to someone in the office or the finance department and ask them to reimburse you for the charges. Under the circumstances I cannot imagine why they wouldn't be more than happy to do so.

[Julie8008]

Why would you deliberately pay twice for the same trip? Unless you think they have deliberately tried to defraud you its your fault. The cheque was probably already in the system and the person you spoke to at the school was unable to get it ripped up before it was sent to be processed.

The fact that it bounced was not the schools fault. You should arrange an overdraft with the bank to stop this sort of thing happening. So your going to have to suck it up and not write cheques you can't afford.

[Ttbb]

Get them to pay for the charges.

[Fluffywhitecloud]

Why didn't you just cancel the cheque?