<font color='black' size='2' face='arial'> <div>Wally</div> <div> </div> <div>I had that happen to me a year or so ago. I know I got a check, because I put the check number of the receipt. But when I got home, there was no check. I asked the customer to write me another one, presuming it flew away, or something. She said she would stop payment on the check, and she would deduct that from the amount she owed me. I asked if she wouldn't mind waiting a month to see if her check cleared. After a month, I wrote her a very nice letter, and a couple of days later, I received another check fom her, for the full amount.</div> <div> </div> <div>The big difference here is that she and I communicated. It seems that this lady doesn't want to pay you. I would suggest you write her a nice letter, asking to please send another check, and even offer to deduct the stop payment amount. Be sure she understands that it's your fault for loosing the check. Unfortunately, if she doesn't write you another check, there really isn't much you can do about it. She can show that she paid the bill. What you do with the check after she gives it to you is your responsibly/fault, and she isn't responsible for your "sloppiness". </div> <div> </div> <div>Wim  <br> </div> <div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 3px"><PRE><TT><TT></TT></PRE></TT></BLOCKQUOTE></div> <br> <br> <div style="CLEAR: both"></div> <br> <br> <div style="FONT-FAMILY: arial,helvetica; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">-----Original Message-----<br> From: Wally Scherer <afinetune@yahoo.com><br> To: pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Fri, Jun 17, 2011 9:59 am<br> Subject: [pianotech] Customer dilemma<br> <br> <div style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; MARGIN: 0px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12px" id=AOLMsgPart_0_00d88391-e536-436d-ab03-d729d6ca1a92><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT>When I give my customer a receipt, I always mark it "paid" when they pay me. If it is cash I also write the word "cash". When I make a deposit, I always keep a log of the check information. Checking on one customer's records a few weeks ago I noticed that my deposit record did NOT show a check from them, even though my copy of their receipt was marked "paid". (No indication of cash.) I called the lady and left a recorded message asking if she would let me know if the check cleared her bank, explaining that I could have misplaced it. After a week or so, when I didn't hear from her, I left another message, very politely, explaining that I might have misplaced the check, and to let me know if it had cleared her bank. No response. Then I stopped by the house when I was in the area and spoke to the husband, who said he thought it was his wife's checking account, and that he would check with her later and let me know. I left my card with him. No response. (He had assisted me in moving the piano to another room before I tuned it that day, so he was aware that I had been there and did the work.) The bill was under $200, but I could use the money. I have searched all over my desk area in case I might have misplaced it, but nothing. What would you do in a case like this? Keep leaving phone messages? Or, is there some other way I could get the information I need. I don't know what their bank is. A FINE TUNE - Piano Tuning & Repairs Wallace T. Scherer, piano technician, music educator 5020 Canal Drive, Lake Worth, Florida, 33463-8014 Telephone: 561-432-4121 Web page: <A href="http://aftune.angelfire.com/" target=_blank>http://aftune.angelfire.com</A> ------------------------------------------------ FREE TICKETS: <A href="http://aftune.angelfire.com/freetics.html" target=_blank>http://aftune.angelfire.com/freetics.html</A> </TT></PRE></div> </div> </font>