MY CHECK FROM SINCLAIR BOUNCED--BUT MY BANK, NOT SINCLAIR, WAS AT FAULT!

I got a letter from my bank yesterday informing me that my latest check from Sinclair Customer Metrics bounced. I was charged over $12 by my bank for that bounced check. I was unable to reach a human being at the company yesterday, but left a message on their voicemail. The voicemail box for mystery shoppers was full, so I left my message elsewhere. Has anyone else gotten a bounced check from Sinclair?

As you can imagine, I'm very concerned. This has never happened before, with Sinclair or any other MSC.

Robinv

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2015 12:50PM by robinv.

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Robinv -

You seem to be a seasoned shopper, but when I hear about a check from an MSC bouncing, I immediately think of the scams that are out there which involve sending fake checks for $1000 or more to people so that they can deposit it and then send a Western Union moneygram for $950 (more or less) to someone. Then the original check bounces, and the poor recipient is out the $1000 plus various fees and the next stop is the police department.

In your case, I assume that the check from Sinclair was for an amount which corresponded to fees and reimbursements owed to you? If so, I personally have faith in Sinclair after doing shops for them for years, and expect that they will reimburse you any fees you incur. Please keep us updated.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
I have never had a cheque from a MSC bounce but I did have a refund cheque bounce from a major producer of multiple retail goods (think companies like Kraft, Proctor&Gamble, etc). It turned out that they had changed bank accounts and my cheque had accidentally been written on the old account. I ended up getting a new cheque which covered the refund, the charges from my bank plus an 'inconvience amount'.
Hopefully it is something just as simple in your case, though I would be hesitant to complete any new assignments until I got some kind of explanation.
x

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2015 11:17PM by MDavisnowell.
I will, of course, keep all of you updated on what happens with this incident. It concerns me that no one else is reporting a bounced check from Sinclair. I prefer to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, especially since I have done shops for Sinclair for three years now without a problem, but the fact that their voicemail box is full has me concerned. Hopefully, I will hear something tomorrow, since Monday is the start of a new work week.

Fingers crossed, hopes up.

Robinv
I hope all goes well. I do little but some work for sinclair each year. I did a shop in march or feb for them. Waiting for an update so I can be on guard.

Shopping Western NY, Northeast and Central PA, and parts of Ohio and West Virginia. Have car will travel anywhere if the monies right.
Thanks for the heads up. I have a small check coming from them this month and if it bounces the fee would be more than the shop pay. Now I do not know if I should cash it or not?
Have you tried emailing one of the schedulers? May I suggest Emmett Godley. He is a great scheduler and he should be able to help you, if he is still there. smiling smiley

egodley@scmcontact.com

I've never had even one check bounce but if by chance, they are having problems, it should come out soon....
Sean Barna is the VP 210-979-6000. Good luck. They seem to have lost a lot of their shops to other sources.
Any bouncing checks by a legit company is NOT a good thing. And NOT excusable.
They should be open now. Please keep us updated. On another note, is it me or has a lot of there regular shops disappeared?
I see all the same companies in my area, just less of them.

I too am interested in the outcome of this.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
@audrialyn30 wrote:

They should be open now. Please keep us updated. On another note, is it me or has a lot of there regular shops disappeared?

I'm still seeing the usual shops for the major clients in my area. Some of their shops have disappeared but they are still recruiting shoppers for a new client so their continued solvency is at least plausible.
There are two phone numbers and one fax number at the bottom of their home page at [sinclaircustomermetrics.com] - maybe that will help. Plus, they're a member of the MSPA, so if all else fails (and hopefully it won't), you can always contact them to find out what to do. But I'm guessing that this is just some weird screw-up that will work out okay. Will be interested to hear how this gets resolved.
I have had a check bounce from a reputable MSC. (This was several years ago.) I contacted my scheduler, who knew nothing about it. Even sent her a copy of the bounced check and the story the corporate office provided to me to explain the bounced check. She simply didn't believe me. Until...

A year later, the same thing happened to her (yep, her paycheck bounced) and her regular MS'ers. Yep.

The MSC *DID* make good on the check AND paid my bank fees AND offered an apology for what happened.

Please let us know what happens.

ps - the company was not Sinclair.
SO Sinclair did you make good on that check? hmm.... What baffles me is a they portray themselves as a LARGE shopping company and yet they bounce what a $10-$20 check? Yes multiple that times many shoppers but even still.
They do not have that extra $20 or so in the checking account? And IF they pay out the shopper bank fees.... they now have a bigger debt. Poor management.....IMO.
Canadamommy - Where did the OP say that they had been reimbursed? As far as I can tell, robinv has yet to talk to anyone at Sinclair. The post immediately before yours was from a different person, writing about an experience with a different MSC.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
There can be innocent reasons for a check bouncing. Changing bank accounts, and loading the wrong check stock into the printer. Someone failing to make a deposit after it had already been entered into the bookkeeping system. Someone posting a deposit twice, artificially inflating the balance. A client check they received and deposited bouncing. Someone having an accident on the way to the bank and the deposit being forgotten or lost in the resulting car fire. Someone hacking into the account and stealing the money while checks were in the mail. A debit card transaction going through with too many zeroes and wiping out the balance.

Things do happen.

But if something happened, they should have immediately emailed all shoppers as soon as they learned of the error to please hold the checks while they fix the problem. That is what is troubling, the lack of communication.

Time to build a bigger bridge.
myst4au ...I NEVER said they were reimbursed.... I asked.....SO Sinclair did you make good on that check?

@myst4au wrote:

Canadamommy - Where did the OP say that they had been reimbursed? As far as I can tell, robinv has yet to talk to anyone at Sinclair. The post immediately before yours was from a different person, writing about an experience with a different MSC.
Yes and there can the another reason. No funds in the bank.....

@dspeakes wrote:

There can be innocent reasons for a check bouncing. Changing bank accounts, and loading the wrong check stock into the printer. Someone failing to make a deposit after it had already been entered into the bookkeeping system. Someone posting a deposit twice, artificially inflating the balance. A client check they received and deposited bouncing. Someone having an accident on the way to the bank and the deposit being forgotten or lost in the resulting car fire. Someone hacking into the account and stealing the money while checks were in the mail. A debit card transaction going through with too many zeroes and wiping out the balance.

Things do happen.

But if something happened, they should have immediately emailed all shoppers as soon as they learned of the error to please hold the checks while they fix the problem. That is what is troubling, the lack of communication.
I apologize. You were addressing your question directly to Sinclair via this Forum, and I missed that.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
I'll admit to not being so concerned when it happened over a weekend. There are too many legitimate reasons a check could occasionally be returned. It's now Tuesday and the longer we go without explanation the more disconcerting it becomes.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.
Has anyone found out the status of Sinclair? Are they solid?

I never had a problem with them and this concerns me. I don't see a lot of shops on their boards....
They DO read this board. My two cents... they are not commenting to confirm or deny anything. In my mind it is not a good thing.
@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

Yes and there can the another reason. No funds in the bank.....

@dspeakes wrote:

There can be innocent reasons for a check bouncing. Changing bank accounts, and loading the wrong check stock into the printer. Someone failing to make a deposit after it had already been entered into the bookkeeping system. Someone posting a deposit twice, artificially inflating the balance. A client check they received and deposited bouncing. Someone having an accident on the way to the bank and the deposit being forgotten or lost in the resulting car fire. Someone hacking into the account and stealing the money while checks were in the mail. A debit card transaction going through with too many zeroes and wiping out the balance.

Things do happen.

But if something happened, they should have immediately emailed all shoppers as soon as they learned of the error to please hold the checks while they fix the problem. That is what is troubling, the lack of communication.


Absolutely, but writing checks where there are no funds in the bank is not an "innocent" reason for the check bouncing. In fact if done knowingly I think it's a felony in most states.

Time to build a bigger bridge.
@CANADAMOMMY wrote:

They DO read this board. My two cents... they are not commenting to confirm or deny anything. In my mind it is not a good thing.

And one of their schedulers has listed jobs on the job board AFTER this thread was created. Does not bode well. Perhaps she doesn't read the rest of the board.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
It's interesting that the OP hasn't been back to this thread since Sunday. If they didn't have so many posts on the forum I'd have to wonder if they had something against Sinclair?

.
Have PV-500 & willing to travel.
"Answers are easy. It's asking the right questions which is hard." (The Fourth Doctor, The Face of Evil, 1977)

"Somedays you're the pigeon, somedays you're the statue.” J. Andrew Taylor

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." Galileo Galilei
x

Mary Davis Nowell. Based close to Fort Worth. Shopping Interstate 20 east and west, Interstate 35 north and south.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2015 11:13PM by MDavisnowell.
Hopefully, the original poster will come back and give us an update. I have always been fond of the company, but have not shopped for them for a while now.
I've never had an issue with Sinclair.

I'm signed up for a few pretzel shops in the upcoming weeks, and they are still posting jobs. At this point I'm not worried.
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