Ive been waiting for a cheque from 2checkout for a few weeks now after $286.00 was placed into the payment cycle. Normally, in over 2 years, I have never, NOT received my cheque.

I looked at my account and noticed a $4.00 cheque fee - which I thought was strange because Ive never been charged a fee before ( its bad enough having to pay my bank $18+ to convert the money to uk £ )

I placed a ticket very early sunday - and have only just received a response 3 days later. The response I got was:

"I apologize for the delay in response to your inquiry. The $4.00 fee is a fee that we have began to charge for payment to you by check. I do apologize for any confusion in this matter. Please reference URL:

http://support.2co.com/deskpro/faq.php?do=article&articleid=30

As for your check. Our records indicate that the check should have gone out on 10/01/04. Please make sure that this check never arrived and that your address information is correct in our system. If you are unable to locate this check, 2Checkout.com's lost check policy provides you with two options:

1) The check will "void" itself after 60 days have elapsed from the original date of issue. After these 60 days has passed, the amount paid can be credited back to the account balance and reissued on the next payment cycle.

2) A stop payment can be done upon your authorization. This will immediately void and invalidate the original check payment issued. The fee for this service is $12.00 USD. Checks will be reissued on the next payment cycle, or funds immediately credited to the account balance.

I do apologize for any inconvenience that these issues may have caused you."

-----------------------

This, in my opinion, absolutely ridiculous. Firstly, I have to wait 60 days for a cheque to become void while they are earning interest on the balance - OR - I have to pay them $12.00 to stop the cheque which again earns them money - win win for them either way - and thats AFTER a new fee that is introduced on customers without emailing them about this $4.00 fee :(

Companies can easily see if a cheque has been cashed, if not, and it hasnt`t arrived ( if sent? ) - they can simply re-issue.

Has any other 2checkout customer been emailed about this $4.00 cheque fee?

Many people are too busy running their businesses to keep a contant check on any changes at a specific site, so as a business customer when a policy has change, you would think you`d be notified about the changes by email???

Im afraid even though this is only one bad experience to date, Im now moving all our paying 2CO customers to PayPal, as it seems 2checkout seem to think they can "move the goalposts" by not informing customers of changes to policies :(

Originally posted by xMTBMARKx

This, in my opinion, absolutely ridiculous. Firstly, I have to wait 60 days for a cheque to become void while they are earning interest on the balance - OR - I have to pay them $12.00 to stop the cheque which again earns them money - win win for them either way - and thats AFTER a new fee that is introduced on customers without emailing them about this $4.00 fee :(

Actually, most banks charge a "stop payment" fee. I know mine does ($10). It seems they are simply passing that fee on to you. Checks also cost money to be issued, printed, shipped and cashed. I'm sure the $4 fee covers all that.

IMHO, I don’t see why charging a fee is so ridiculous. You have two options, wait the 60 days and simply pay $4.00 for a new check, or request they place a stop payment on the current check, and get issued a new one. It depends on how fast you want your money. It sounds like you're from the UK, and such has to be expected with the current mail system (lost international mail).

If you want to avoid issues like this, I would consider getting an actual merchant account.

Hello xMTBMARKx,

A couple months ago, we used 2CO, only for a week however. We realized that if this is how they operate, (2 withdraws to your bank account per month, with high rates), then we should just get a merchant account. Which is what we did. 2CO was a major disappointment from what I expected. A buddy of mine, well, a few buddies of mine, stop using 2CO all together because it sucks so much money out of each sale.

I'd suggest getting a merchant account with CDG Commerce. That's who we use.

Thanks for the mention, Kenneth. :)

And regarding the 2CO fees mentioned in this thread, a $4 check issuance fee and a $12 stop-check fee - while somewhat annoying - aren't really unreasonable... especially when you compare that to what PaySystems and some others have done.

The $4 check one could certainly add up over time but it does cost money to mail out a check especially if it is done internationally.

The $12 stop check fee sounds about right... I've seen a lot of banks charge $10-15 for stop checks so this is probably a pass-through cost for the most part.

Also, 2CO can now wire in GBP, and only chagre $5 for this. This may be a better option for you.

http://support.2co.com/deskpro/faq.php?do=article&articleid=86

Some interesting comments / views - thank you. very good advice about a merchant account, but as only a small business ( 5 years but still small ) a merchant account is not yet a financially affordable option as opposed to PayPal, and similar companies like 2checkout at present.

As people have gathered, yes I am from UK - and I notice that this seems to be ( now you have mentioned ) a common practice in the US with banks and financial companies and whilst Im not stating that the fees are preposterous or high, its just something that Ive never come accross these five years and came as quite a shock. In the Uk a company paying you a cheque, if it "got lost" in the mail - which can happen, - find it alot easier to simply do a check to see if the cheque has been cashed / banked - if not - 1 phone call stops the cheque and a new one is sent. No hassle.

Whats more annoyed me about this, is that 2checkout seem, by charging a fee for stoppage, or making you wait 60 days, to care less that Its not actually the receivers fault if a cheque does not arrive. There is what looks to be a total lack of customer consideration in matters like these, also considering the fact that this is a new charge they have introduced without thoroughly contacting their customers of the changes. It also looks like cheques getting "lost in the post" - which with the amount sent out, is bound to happen quite often, is just another avenue of extra income gained from the faultless party, the non receiver.
As I mentioned to "customer care" - small businesses like us need to pay our fee`s out of the little income earned.

If I add eg: fantastico to a server and then adjusted customers fee`s to reflect any added cost to us, without emailing them, we`d lose customers very quickly indeed

merchant account is great option but I didn't still get merchant account that support to our country :(

2checkout only option for us. it working great but some time get small problems. but 2co working guys are always mad. they don't know what they doing :angry:

Originally posted by xMTBMARKx
Some interesting comments / views - thank you. very good advice about a merchant account, but as only a small business ( 5 years but still small ) a merchant account is not yet a financially affordable option as opposed to PayPal, and similar companies like 2checkout at present.

A Merchant Account with Barclays Merchant services are far cheaper than USA accounts like a 2CO one.It is £250 up front then £20 a month, and you know you feel far safer using a GB bank.The process to getting merchant account is easy, you don't have to send your books in but don't tell them that!! Don't fool around with 3PP's anymore phone Barclays up.Yes I am in the UK too.

As people have gathered, yes I am from UK - and I notice that this seems to be ( now you have mentioned ) a common practice in the US with banks and financial companies and whilst Im not stating that the fees are preposterous or high, its just something that Ive never come accross these five years and came as quite a shock. In the Uk a company paying you a cheque, if it "got lost" in the mail - which can happen, - find it alot easier to simply do a check to see if the cheque has been cashed / banked - if not - 1 phone call stops the cheque and a new one is sent. No hassle.

Whats more annoyed me about this, is that 2checkout seem, by charging a fee for stoppage, or making you wait 60 days, to care less that Its not actually the receivers fault if a cheque does not arrive. There is what looks to be a total lack of customer consideration in matters like these, also considering the fact that this is a new charge they have introduced without thoroughly contacting their customers of the changes. It also looks like cheques getting "lost in the post" - which with the amount sent out, is bound to happen quite often, is just another avenue of extra income gained from the faultless party, the non receiver.
As I mentioned to "customer care" - small businesses like us need to pay our fee`s out of the little income earned.

If I add eg: fantastico to a server and then adjusted customers fee`s to reflect any added cost to us, without emailing them, we`d lose customers very quickly indeed

2nd Paragraph in previous post only is the reply.sorry.

$4.00 dollars and $12.00 for canceled check is still not that bad of a price for third party. If that is too expensive, I would then suggest for you to acquire a direct international merchant account.

I can't imagine why there are not good competitors for 2CO.

Because it's very difficult to acquire an IPSP merchant account. More an more third party companies have been closing up shop. The phase started back in 2003 with Ginix, PSW, glo-bill, among many others.