Deltaville Marina Shady Dealings

[onestepcsy37]

friends of ours put their boat up in storage there five years ago then left the area to return home. they live in italy. been paying their slip rental regularly every month. two years ago they noticed that, in addition to the $156.00 slip rental, an additional FIFTEEN THOUSAND+ DOLLARS had been taken out of their checking account by the marina. when they contacted the marina they were given no reason. so they went to bank of america, which refunded them the whole amount.

last year the same thing happened. FIFTEEN THOUSAND+ DOLLARS withdrawn from their account. this time they went straight to bank of america. the bank denied any responsibility and told them to deal with the marina. when they confronted the marina they were told that yes, it was an error, and they would return the money; a few hundred dollars at a time. in the past year they've been refunded about $5000.00.

after much discussion with him i discovered the probable source of the problem. europeans (or at least italians) use the ',' in numbers where we americans would use the '.'. so when authorizing their payment they sometimes wrote 156.00 as 156,00 which was then translated, probably by bank of america, as 15,600.00.

not the marinas fault. but it is the marinas fault for accepting what was obviously an error as a windfall. they have had his money for the past year and are casually making small payments to him as a 'refund' of his error.

[model 10]

Good luck getting $15,000 from our checking account.

[snort]

It seems odd that this could happen. If there was a check written, you'd have in writing the correct amount.
An automatic withdrawal should take out the same amount each month, if they set that up.

[BandB]

It doesn't sound like it was an automatic withdrawal. I've always feared making mistakes when making payments so immediately double check to see the amount withdrawn. Most systems also require you first to enter the amount and then to confirm it. Just hope they get their money back and clearly they shouldn't have to wait. Also perhaps a reason to use credit card as opposed to ACH. And a reminder of all to double check and even triple check the following day.

One other feature I know BOA has is alerts. You set amounts and then anything over that sends you and email and/or a text message. I advise all to use those. Set them low too so you see things. Then you can just ignore if legitimate.

We watch bank accounts and credit cards very carefully in today's world with all the theft from cards and accounts running rampant. Everyone should use this event as a warning.

Meanwhile the person involved here should take strong action to get their money back.

[cheoah]

It's an odd story, and hard to imagine overlooking a $15,000 check at that boatyard. I'm sure they get them There are a lot of details missing here so i wont pass judgement.

Don't know the people, I anchored out and bought fuel and ice, but it was a nice stop. Seemed a little chaotic and scattered, dealing with the main guy I thought. I could see them botching it. What is an impossible oversight for you or me is well within spec for some people.

I'm guessing that the boatyard negotiated that situation and your friends were more or less accommodating?

[Badsanta]

Charge interest

[BandB]

Originally Posted by cheoah

It's an odd story, and hard to imagine overlooking a $15,000 check at that boatyard. I'm sure they get them There are a lot of details missing here so i wont pass judgement.

Don't know the people, I anchored out and bought fuel and ice, but it was a nice stop. Seemed a little chaotic and scattered, dealing with the main guy I thought. I could see them botching it. What is an impossible oversight for you or me is well within spec for some people.

I'm guessing that the boatyard negotiated that situation and your friends were more or less accommodating?

I once knew a business that made a direct deposit into an ex employee's bank account (on severance) for $40,000+ instead of $4,000 and they didn't catch it for months. They were apparently nine months behind in reconciling bank accounts. Then the guy claimed he didn't know about it, that his ex-wife managed the account, and she claimed she thought it was legitimate. We had actually acquired the company by that point. They obviously had moved the money out of that account. When informed of the severity of their action they said they were getting a lawyer. Took us one conversation with their lawyer, who then said he'd get back to us. Well, he didn't call the day he promised to and didn't return our call, but a check for the full overpayment showed up Fedex the next day.

Failure to return the funds isn't just a civil act but can actually be a criminal act. Claiming you didn't realize it had happened is hard to convince anyone of.

[markpierce]

Cut-off the marina's direct access to the bank account. Discontinue monthly marina fees until amount due has been repaid.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Cut-off the marina's direct access to the bank account. Discontinue monthly marina fees until amount due has been repaid.

You're talking over 8 years, which for most marinas means at least one or two changes of ownership.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by BandB

You're talking over 8 years, which for most marinas means at least one or two changes of ownership.

Why continue making payments to a marina that owes one money?

[colemj]

The fishy thing about this story is that the written word amount on the check is the legal amount of that check, and what the bank uses for processing - not the numerical amount. So unless he wrote "fifteen thousand six hundred dollars", BOA is on the hook for their error, not the marina (although is it unethical and bad form for the marina to not cough up the entire amount at once).

Mark

[stevensc]

First year money back, no problem
second year money back, after a hassel
are they going to give the same place another try?
Steve W

[BandB]

Originally Posted by markpierce

Why continue making payments to a marina that owes one money?

Obviously you shouldn't, but you shouldn't wait 8 years either

[BandB]

Originally Posted by colemj

The fishy thing about this story is that the written word amount on the check is the legal amount of that check, and what the bank uses for processing - not the numerical amount. So unless he wrote "fifteen thousand six hundred dollars", BOA is on the hook for their error, not the marina (although is it unethical and bad form for the marina to not cough up the entire amount at once).

Mark

This isn't a check...it's an online payment where he keyed in the comma instead of period. Not the bank's fault. Clearly the marina being unethical.

One more warning. Don't keep excess money in your checking account and DO NOT HAVE OVERDRAFT PROTECTION. Assuming you'd never overdraft your account then the fact there is an overdraft warns you. But if it's linked to your savings then it get's cleared.

Oh and not relevant to this case, but all bank processing is on the numeric amount as it's all scan and computer. The written is only used for verification in the event of an error or forged alteration. But in today's world, the processing is numeric. In fact, the only parts of the check used to process are the codes at the bottom and the numeric dollar amount.

[colemj]

OK, I somehow assumed a check.

But the numerical amount in the box is just a courtesy amount. The only legal amount is that written on the line. Doesn't matter how the checks are processed, the bank is legally liable for the amount written on the line.

Mark