Your check accepting procedures/policies

[Pompal 09.]

Hi everyone! I graduated last September. Another grad and I have partnered up for our own business. We are going to focus on the elderly. For now, we are going to concentrate on nursing homes, and give 20 minute hand and foot massages. We will be marketing to the families of the nursing home residents. When they call expressing interest, we send them a "packet" which includes essential forms (health form, doctor's consent, etc). And a billing slip. Then they can send the info back to us and pay by check or money order.

My partner is worried about getting bad checks. She suggested we go to the families homes to verify their address and get the DL # to be on the safe side. I understand her fears, but I believe there must be a better way. All this time going to see the families etc, is alot of unpaid time. IMO, I'd rather get a bad check! LOL

So my question is...What would be the best way for us to accept checks and minimize our risk (w/o minimizing our profits!)? Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Callie :)]

Off the top of my head, rather than hunting people down at their homes... :shock:

If they are mailing the materials (or dropping them off prior to the appointment) I would simply call their bank (the phone number is often on the checks) and ask for bookkeeping. Tell them you got a check for $XX.XX off of account number 123456789, and you'd like to know if there are sufficient funds to accept payment with this check. It's been a few years, but the owner of a place I used to work for did this all the time with questionable/ first time bounced checks. After a check is submitted and rejected NSF a second time, I believe it's practically worthless as far as the banks are concerned, so she'd clear it with the bank before submitting.

 

[Gtrgtrvtr]

JaeMarie is correct, you can just call the bank to ask if a check is good before putting it through. If you live in a small town, like I do, you can just cash their checks at their bank - if it's no good, they give it back to you, and you can keep trying til it's good. Honestly, though, I've never had a client give me a bad check in three years.

I am wondering why you are requiring the medical intake and doctor's permission to do hand and foot massages, though. If there is some sort of infection, it will be obvious to you not to massage - and obvious to the nursing home staff not to let you - otherwise, there are no medical contraindications to hand or foot massage. You might have a lot more interest if you keep it simple, or if you do more than hand/foot massages.

 

[hipHOPhead]

In nearly 3 years of business, I have had only one bad check.

That check was a $5 check I was paid with at a chair event from an out of towner. I had a feeling it was going to bounce... I mentioned it to my mother before I cashed it.

I do not ask for id when accepting checks nor do I have a sign up that says I will charge a fee for bounced checks.

If I would get a bounced check again, I would call the person tell them they own me for my bank fees and then not accept checks from that person again.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Thanks to you both. That idea seems like a very simple solution!

And Rose: As for the consent forms/health intake etc, well...maybe I should start a whole new topic about that to get everyone's opinion? LOL

I've spent a lot of time in nursing homes, and I've cared for my disabled mother for the past 7 years. It just seems that with the elderly, some things aren't always that obvious. As far as a nurse letting me do something or not, lol...well I can't imagine a nurse even knowing or caring that I'm there! They are usually way too busy for that. My partner and I just thought we'd "play it safe" and have these forms in place...just in case. Also, I don't want to get all the way to the nursing home, only to find I cannot massage, when I would have known before hand.

Also, there are the consent forms. Don't you think the nursing home resident should consent before we massage? Or how about the guardian? Or do you think that's unnecessary as well? Are we being overly cautious?

However....you DO have a point about keeping it simple (thus, why we are doing 20 min hand/foot massages in the first place!). If I could do this w/o these forms, of course, it would be a lot easier on everyone. So I'm wondering what the consensus is here about this? I'll have to post about it later, cuz I'm going shopping! But Rose, you do make me pause to think. But I hope you understand a bit more where I'm coming from. Thanks!

 

[Charma]

Thanks Gratelakes!