Question about Heritage Auction "NOTICE OF DISHONORED CHECK and FEE"

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by rg3, Feb 7, 2019.

  1. rg3

    rg3 Well-Known Member

    Just wondering if any of you get a random $25 fee tacked onto your Heritage Auction purchases on account of what they call a "Notice of Dishonored Check and Fee."
    This has happened to me twice over the past year with them, with plenty of money in my accounts, and never happens with other auction house or retailers.

    Is this some kind of a scam they are running? They send an email with notice and some kind of official Texas statue: "This request is made pursuant to Title 132, Occupations and Business Article 9022, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes for the processing fee of $25.00."

    I am a math guy, so I understand a little logic and tech and cannot for the life of me figure what is going on. I also use a major bank for my accounts. I complained about it many months ago, and they processed payment over the phone but refused to waive the fee. They hit me again, I complained via email, and they don't respond.

    Just wanted to check if this is a common occurrence for any of you. Sorry if this is considered spam; being from RI, initial thought considers it some kind of racket.
     
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  3. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    Never. Though only dealt with them twice...so, neither?
     
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  4. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    Did you pay with a check? Was it the proper amount, based on the final invoice?
     
  5. rg3

    rg3 Well-Known Member

    It was an e-check (comes right out of checking account). They claim to offer a small discount on auction fee, but turns out they hit me with an extra $25 fee. The transaction was for correct amount, but they do not send a confirmation email, and evidence of payment attempt is no longer present on my account page. There is some strange technicality; we could not determine the cause last time I dealt with them about this.

    Just wanted to see if this happened to other people, or if I am particularly "lucky." Per advice over PM will spend part of tomorrow morning at Chase bank on three way call with HA. SORRY FOR SPAM ALL!
     
  6. Carthago

    Carthago Does this look infected to you?

    It’s been some time so my recollection is not perfect, but I think this happened to me and it was due to an incorrect account or routing number. I don’t recall if it was my error or theirs. I’m pretty sure it got waived.

    Was the invoice money deducted from your account as expected? I would think that if the transaction went through and you didn’t get an overdraft notification from your bank, something is wrong at Heritage.
     
  7. rg3

    rg3 Well-Known Member

    Thank you for your reply, glad to hear you got yours waived. Money never deducted (overdraft not an issue in my cases), upon initial inquiry (many months ago) they wondered if I put in wrong routing number (gave them all info by phone, and they could not confirm anything I did was wrong, but still whacked me with fee). Assuming this is tech issue regarding e-check security issue, maybe HA does not have some data "certificate" to initialize e-check through Chase. Will go to Chase today and get all parties on the horn.
     
  8. mpcusa

    mpcusa "Official C.T. TROLL SWEEPER"

    Very strange, deal with several auction houses and never had that issue...
     
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  9. tartanhill

    tartanhill Well-Known Member

    I have just received a coin I won in their last auction which I paid for using an echeck as you did. I have bought several coins through their auctions, but this is the first where I have paid using an echeck. I had no problems and was not charged any extra fee for paying this way. If their bank posted the extra charge, perhaps you could contact them and request an explanation. It does seem to me, though, that Heritage should do a better job of explaining the charge to you.
     
    rg3 likes this.
  10. Ken Dorney

    Ken Dorney Yea, I'm Cool That Way...

    Seems odd. If there was a problem in their configuration it would have had problems with all your transactions not just two. I'd pursue it and see if you could get the charges reversed.
     
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  11. kanga

    kanga 65 Year Collector

    Maybe there is an extra fee for echecks as there is for credit cards.
    And maybe they just started that policy.

    Just guessing.
     
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  12. tartanhill

    tartanhill Well-Known Member

    There is no extra charge for using an echeck. In fact, they offered a discount for paying that way.
     
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  13. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Is there a daily limit to the dollar amount you can write when using echecks, or a limit for one check? I know there is with debit cards. If there is a limit and if the HA bill exceeded that limit, perhaps that would explain it?
     
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  14. rg3

    rg3 Well-Known Member

    Mystery solved, "feature or flaw" in algorithm found. Upon having a customer service representative fill in all the info to open new e-check account last year (after I incurred the first $25 fee) and process the payment over the phone, the old "bad" e-check account was still set as my default e-check account. It cost me another $25 + late fees to realize the onus is on me to switch the default, and is not automatically done by the customer service rep when correcting and processing.

    Arguing the $25 + late fee is no longer worth my time. My trade is problem solving and argument critique, so I now have peace of mind. SORRY TO SPAM YOU ALL WITH THIS, maybe it will help someone save $25 and late fees in the future.
     
  15. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    My thought is that maybe the transaction was after normal banking hours, or due to weekend or holiday, so when Heritage tried to deduct the amount, they couldn't, which would result in a failed transaction. Still, the fee should be waived, IMHO.
     
    rg3 likes this.
  16. Mountain Man

    Mountain Man Supporter! Supporter

    Glad you got it resolved and can sleep well tonight.
     
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  17. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I have done over 100K worth of coin/ banknote purchases from their auctions in past ten years, never had any issue with their service. I have recently decided to part with my banknote collection in order to concentrate wholly on coins. Their representative was very helpfull in directing me thru this new process. I only have positive things to say about Heritage. But, I have had times when i sent bank cheques to European auction houses, sometimes the banks on their end took a fee and I had to remit that extra cost.
     
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  18. Two Dogs

    Two Dogs Well-Known Member

    I have mixed feelings about Heritage. They certainly have a lot of coins to bid on, and I've been able to make a few bucks on flipping those coins. But it seems to be a hassle to deal with them. Their fees are high (compared with GC), it took four weeks to receive my last shipment (I had paid immediately with Paypal). So...I figure out what I'm willing to pay for a coin, deduct the 20% buyer fee, deduct $25 per coin just to allow for the high shipping expense and the hassle. If I get the coin...fine. If someone outbids me, I don't lose any sleep.
     
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