Advice needed please
 

I purchased Maddie on with a credit card check back in November from a local breeder. They took that check to their bestfriends petstore and ran it through the electronic machine, told me everything was good to go, gave me a receipt, gave me the check back with void written acrossed it, and sent me on my way with Maddie.

Today I was informed that on December 21 the check came back as insufficient funds. That was over a month after we wrote it. The sheriff who called says he has a copy of the check from the bank proving it.

First, the bank that returned it as insufficient funds had never tried to get the funds from our Credit Card and they are NOT the same bank our card is through.

Criminal charges are pending against me because of the amount of the check. I have until Wednesday to decide what I am going to do or they are going to issue the charges.

My choice is to pay it, so I can keep Maddie, but we don't have the money now. All our money is going into paying bills now and I don't have the spare $ which is why we used the credit card to begin with.

We had made other purchases with the card and we just called and checked the balance on it today and they said it is maxed out. So pulling the money offa there is no longer an option.

Now my credit card company has froze both the check and the card because they said it doesn't add up to them because I am here with a receipt and they have no records of anyone trying to make a purchase for the amount of the receipt.

The girl who ran the check didn't let me fill anything on it. She wrote void on the check after she ran it and handed it back to me with a receipt.

So come Wednesday at this point, we are returning Maddie. They want to give me my cash deposit back. The officer said he will talk to them and see if they will hold her and let me make payments and I explained that wasn't really an option because I don't have the spare money to make payments.

So I guess what I am asking is what do you suggest I do? I am willing to pretty much sell my left kidney to keep my girl!

oh and our cc company has opened an investigation into because they have nothing in their records regarding the check. We also made copies of the check and receipt and mailed them to the cc company.

I don't understand...they ran this through a different company other than your credit card company? Of course it would come back if you don't have an account with that company...right?...or am I missing something here? :scratchhe If you wrote a CC check and they took it to their friend's store to run it through why didn't they just let you use your card? Can you request an immediate credit limit increase with your CC company to cover the amount of the check?

So did the money never get deducted from your credit card account?

So they money was never charged, did you not notice this?
Can you give them at least 100 bucks to show good will? Maybe borrow it from someone? This is awful, call them or go there and be very polite, tell them you will pay as soon as you get paid or something. Can you maybe take out a loan? Or apply for another credit card somewhere else? I would all this to keep my baby. Good luck.

I don't think this is an option right now, since the card is frozen :(

I would apply for another credit card or a loan.

I am sorry this has happened to you. I dont know what I would do if it were me. Maybe sell a bunch of stuff on Ebay to get the money. Good luck

I would call the breeder and talk to him/her. Maybe you can work something out.
How upsetting this must be,good luck!

If they ran it through and gave you a receipt what's the problem? Obviously it went through or they wouldn't have given you a receipt. If they ran it through telechek then telechek or someone like it would cover it if they authorized it.

I guess I'm a bit confused too. The only reason to give your check back and write void is if she ran it through as credit and it cleared?????
Again, you have the receipt and voided check I assume. How can the check come back NSF if they gave it to you? How could the cop have a copy of it from the bank if it was a credit card check? Also why did it take so long to come back? Somethings weird. sound like those people maybe identity thefted you. I'd ask to meet with the cop and ask to see the check and take your receipt and voided check.

It sounds very confusing to me. If the card had funds enough at the time to purchase Maddie and the purchase was cleared by the cc co. and now there are no records of her purchase, other than your receipt, where is the money?
Did you unknowing spend it after the purchase. Don't you keep count of the money you spend on the card?
I hope things work out for you and Maddie. What a horrible thing to happen.


Carol & Buddy

I'm SO hoping you can keep her and make small payments - They must be able to tell you love her.

Is it a small pet store ?? Can you go in there with ALL your paperwork and go thru things step by step - and get the breeder involved too ??? I wish I could help financially - I really do ...this sounds like such a strange thing to happen but I sure couldn't return a dog after bonding:( :( :( ......

HUGS and I really hope someone has ideas for you here - people are so good about helping ...Can't they keep the deposit money and put it towards her purchase without returning her ?

I am confused by it all too. We don't know how they have a copy of a check with NSF and neither does the cc company. We talked them about upping the credit limit, but we have to wait until they unfreeze the account. The cc company thinks someone was trying to scam us.

I have asked them if I can make payments on Maddie but they want me to return her and let them hold her until the payments are complete.

That's the part I don't get. They had their money, they cleared your check, gave you a receipt and the voided check. Not your problem. I'd contact an attorney or someone for some help. I understand no money for atty, so call the attorney generals office and explain the situation, or the court house and ask them for if they can refer you to an attorney. Especially if there are possible pending charges against you. Find out what your rights are.

I agree...you should find some legal help with this.

We called a local attorney here and explained the situation and their response was "You knew you owed the money".

I am just going to sell what I can, give that to them, and hope I can get enough later to pay the difference.

Oh Alycia-
I am so sorry this is all happening. It certainly does sound as if someone was trying to scam you. I don't understand how the check could have been run through, cleared, a receipt given to you and then NSF show up this much later.

And just how did the Sheriff get involved in all this? You are certainly not guilty of check fraud if you have a hand-voided check and a receipt from the facility.

If I remember correctly, the breeder runs a local grooming or pet salon? Business do not hold checks for this length of time. They are required to have regular deposits because they need to pay quarterly taxes and such. Something sounds really fishy to me....

I wouldn't want to return Maddie either. Why can't they just let you keep her and make payments. Do you have any jewelry of value that they could hold and then return once you are paid in full???

Gosh, I just don't know what else to say. I'm praying for you guys...

What exactly does that mean?? You thought you paid the money!

I agree - she was under the impression that it was paid - and this comes up 3 months later ! It just sucks :( I can' believe these peopel won't work better with you Alycia

It was only 2 months ago, my mistake. This transaction was on November 19, 2006 and I have a reciept plus the voided check.


It is a huge mess. I have done nothing but cry most of the day. I am going to take everyones suggestions and sell EVERYTHING! I have furkid clothes, jackets, a crate...etc etc...so tomorrow I am going to work on getting pictures and sell everything.

If I donate my eggs they will pay me up to $1500...but that could take several weeks because I have to go for exams and then get hormone injections etc etc.

Willow ~ Pick up your PM!!!!!!!!

Confused. I might have missed something, but if you paid by cc, why did you give a check?

I will try to explain this.

It was like a starter check? Hubby had just applied for the card and while we were waiting for the card to arrive in the mail they sent us checks to use against the card until it arrived. We asked the breeder if she would accept one of those checks for the balance on Maddie and she said yes, if it cleared when ran through the machine.
So I called the cc company to make sure the check would be valid and they said yes it would and we told them the amount and what it would be for.

I am so sorry to hear about this situation. Very confusing. Have you personally verified that nothing has been charged to you? Do you have an authorization code. You should, if the check was run through a verification company.
If not this doesn't make a lot of sense but with that being said...have you talked personally to the breeder?
I would not give her back...this sounds fishy...I would call an attorney..there are a lot of attorneys that will give you a free consult.
Do you have a copy of the police report? Why did the breeder not call you?

Something does not feel right...

I have an authorization number on the receipt. The sheriff said he had the returned check right infront of him. I haven't seen it myself. I have mailed copies of everything to my cc company. The only things on the check are my husbands signature and the word VOID in the store owners handwriting. No endorsement on the back or anything.

Why don't you make copies of front & back of check and receipt and take it to the sheriff's office along with the originals to show them if necessary, just don't hand those over to them. To show you paid in full and have authorization for credit card check. I would talk to them in person...something is not right with this at all...

have you seen the Sheriff in person? If not I would call the sheriifs department and verify this. What a mess.

I plan to do that. I am also going to demand a copy of their NSF check they supposedly have so I can have a copy and send a copy to the CC company.

I agree this doesnt sound right

I have called and spoke with the Deputy Sheriff who called me. I haven't talked to anyone in person. The store owner claims she has called me and left several messages. I told the sheriff I had no messages from her. I even said think about it, you called me last night and I called back immediately this morning to clear it all up. If she has been calling me for a month, why would I be ignoring her messages? Simple, she hasn't left any. We have had someone calling and then hanging up when we answer tho.