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So my company allows post dated checks as a form of payment. For those who don't know how that works, basically we can take a check payment and hold it for up to 7 days before posting it to the account. It used to be only our Collections department could do them as a last resort for someone in a jam, but it was decided that ALL of customer service should be able to do them as well. The reasoning we were told was it's more convenient for the customer, my theory is that the Collections department just didn't want to be responsible for all the bullshit that goes with them.
Like I said, it's a good option for people in a jam to be able to avoid getting their services cut off, but in reality all it does is train the chronically late customers to call in every month to set up a post-date while their balance gets larger and larger from the remaining balance that carries over to the next month (from just paying the bare minimum every time). It gets abused horribly, and what should be a "in case of emergency, break glass" option becomes the only way some people make their payments.
What's worse is there's pretty much zero enforcement anymore of the three strikes policy for bounced checks. When Collections ran post dates, there was no post dates for 3 months after 2 bouncers, and no more checks accepted after 3. Exceptions were made for legitimate bank errors and nothing else. Now that they don't run the post date process, it's not unusual to see people with 3 or more returned checks calling in and getting post dated check payments done. A co worker got a call from a customer who's account had been set up about 8 months ago and had seven post dated checks get returned for "not able to locate" which is bank code for someone using a check from a closed out account. This guy had service from us or over half a year and had a balance of over $1,000 and NEVER PAID US ONCE. For those playing along at home, it's not only theft of service it's also grand theft as well. I'd go as far to say that bad checks are a bigger source of theft from my company than people stealing cable with illegal hookups. The people with hookups usually try to keep it on the downlow to avoid attention, but the people who pay with bad checks tend to order tons of movies and PPV (porn, mostly) so by the time someone brings it to the attention of Collections to get their accounts shut down, they get us for thousands. Something to keep in mind the next time your cable rates go up. You're subsidizing the deadbeats who knowingly write bad checks.
What burns me the most about this is that my company recently started getting super strict on what we charge for installs. I guess too many people were giving away freebies, and now we pretty much can't give any discounts on installs anymore. Now they will tie in our "compliance" of these install directives to our bi-weekly bonus. While that was certainly an area that needed addressed, they bring the hammer down on one area but continue to ignore another that loses tons more money for the company.
Like I said, it's a good option for people in a jam to be able to avoid getting their services cut off, but in reality all it does is train the chronically late customers to call in every month to set up a post-date while their balance gets larger and larger from the remaining balance that carries over to the next month (from just paying the bare minimum every time). It gets abused horribly, and what should be a "in case of emergency, break glass" option becomes the only way some people make their payments.
What's worse is there's pretty much zero enforcement anymore of the three strikes policy for bounced checks. When Collections ran post dates, there was no post dates for 3 months after 2 bouncers, and no more checks accepted after 3. Exceptions were made for legitimate bank errors and nothing else. Now that they don't run the post date process, it's not unusual to see people with 3 or more returned checks calling in and getting post dated check payments done. A co worker got a call from a customer who's account had been set up about 8 months ago and had seven post dated checks get returned for "not able to locate" which is bank code for someone using a check from a closed out account. This guy had service from us or over half a year and had a balance of over $1,000 and NEVER PAID US ONCE. For those playing along at home, it's not only theft of service it's also grand theft as well. I'd go as far to say that bad checks are a bigger source of theft from my company than people stealing cable with illegal hookups. The people with hookups usually try to keep it on the downlow to avoid attention, but the people who pay with bad checks tend to order tons of movies and PPV (porn, mostly) so by the time someone brings it to the attention of Collections to get their accounts shut down, they get us for thousands. Something to keep in mind the next time your cable rates go up. You're subsidizing the deadbeats who knowingly write bad checks.
What burns me the most about this is that my company recently started getting super strict on what we charge for installs. I guess too many people were giving away freebies, and now we pretty much can't give any discounts on installs anymore. Now they will tie in our "compliance" of these install directives to our bi-weekly bonus. While that was certainly an area that needed addressed, they bring the hammer down on one area but continue to ignore another that loses tons more money for the company.
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