A customer complains about the impact a bounced cheque had on his business

Banking Cheques

We look at Josh's complaint when his bank wrongly "bounced" a cheque he sent to one of his main suppliers. 

What happened

Josh ran a small industrial unit that was well known in his town. The bank wrongly "bounced" a cheque he’d sent to one of his main suppliers. The supplier cancelled a credit line to Josh’s business, affecting its cash flow and its day-to-day operation.

The bank eventually paid the cheque several weeks later, and the credit line was restored. But by then, Josh had been caused a great deal of difficulty, including the loss of some business. He’d also spent a significant amount of time contacting his suppliers and customers to try to stop the adverse effects of a whispering campaign within the local community.

What we said 

We told the bank to compensate Josh for some of the business loss that had arisen directly from its failure to pay the cheque. We didn’t think the bank was responsible for reputational damage; it hadn’t said anything to any other party about the reasons for bouncing the cheque. But we felt it was important that the bank recognise the embarrassment and inconvenience its actions had caused Josh.