[Bill Paris]

UPDATE

OK guys…. i’ve heard back from my client regarding the lost check, but i need your insights into his response. Fist a little background.
He sent me the check for $3200 via UPS December 12, 2008….. I lost the check…… he says he switched banks 1/1/2009, but that the old bank paid out the $3200 on 1/26/2009 and has no cancelled check on record.

Here’s his latest response:

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. From what our accountant and our former bank have determined we likely have a case of fraud going on relative to your check. The bank has not been able to produce a cancelled check, yet shows your check as having been cashed and deducted from our account. None of this is adding up – and we’ve now had two other cases of checks drawn from this former bank that have shown to be cashed as well but neither vendor received these checks. Obviously yours we’re more concerned about because we know that it was received – yet it makes no sense how your check shows up as being cashed when you have not done so and so far our former bank cannot produce a cancelled check other than to report the amount of money we sent you has been deducted from our account. I have my attorney and accountant working with the fraud department of our former bank to see what is going on. I’ll be back in touch with you ASAP. I’m sorry for the confusion. Your patience is very much appreciated.

I wrote back:

Any word from your bank regarding the payment on the lost check? I really don’t understand how they can pay out on a check without a record of the transaction. I suppose the money could be taken from the account via a bank transfer…… either way there should be record of the transaction.

Please let me know what you find out.

Thanks!

Any thoughts from you guys would be appreciated. His explanation just doesn’t make sense to me.
1. Why would a bank he stopped using 1/1/2009 pay out the $3200 on 1/26/09?
2. Why would there be no record of any transaction taking place?

Thanks in advance!

Bill Paris

[Bill Paris]

[Chuck Pullen] “Any chance this was NewsProNet?”

No…. it wasn’t “News Pro Net”.

Update:
I heard from my client and he said they’re working on it. They switched banks so they no longer have web access to the checking records. I think what made me so worked up was the lack of communication. With the response I received today, it reduces most of the angst. If the client doesn’t end up paying, I’ll be back on to let you know the name of the company so others can be prepared.

I’ve been working in this business for 25 years and have only been “taken advantage of” once, so I usually don’t require deposits with my clients. Most of my business is with established production companies and networks based in New York and LA, so there’s a trust factor when the booking is made. That said, I’ve often wondered how far I would go to pressure a client to pay should they choose not to pay. If this client decides to not pay this bill, I will welcome your ideas about using a “velvet hammer” to change their minds.

Thank you all for your insights and guidance!

Bill Paris
Crew Hawaii Television

[Bill Paris]

Thanks Bruce and Mark for your Responses,

Good advice! I’ll keep you posted as this progresses.

Bill

[Bill Paris]

Ty,

Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll give them a call tomorrow. I did a little test today with both transmitters and receiver in Hybrid Mode. The IFB receiver was able to pick up the transmitters if set to the same frequency using the dials on the side, it would not scan and lock to the signal however.

Bill

[Bill Paris]

I own the Fuji 4.5 X 13 HD lens and love it. I used to be a Canon only guy, but have changed my tune. The new fujinon HD Lenses are great! The Canon lenses are also great…… I think at this point in time it comes down to price. Both lenses will get the job done extremely well.

Bill Paris
Director of Photography
Crew Hawaii Television

[Bill Paris]

Daniel,

Thanks for responding to my post……. yes I do have a few clips that I purchased from a stock footage site that were HDV and one 23.98 clip that may not be properly converted. I’ll play around with those clips, try again and let you know how it works out. Thanks again.

Bill Paris

[Bill Paris]

Rich,

As a matter of fact ….. after off loading 2.5 TB of data, we ran Disk Warrior and sure enough that seems to have solved the directory issues. I did have one crash after running it, so I’m still concerned there may be a problem with one of the drives in the raid. I’m going to try to run Disk Warrior on each slice of the raid if I can?

Thanks for the suggestion!

Bill Paris

[Bill Paris]

Walter,

I did get through to the “New and Improved” PROMAX. Their service department was very helpful and assured me they would help me solve the issue. Currently, I’m backing up all the data from the raid to other drives while I wait for a call back from the guys at Promax. I’ll keep you posted on further results.

Bill Paris

[Bill Paris]

Thanks Walter…… I’ll give them a call.

[Bill Paris]

Bob,

Thanks for the information. I was just reading your article on the Gen 10 and realized this is the box I should get. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me and everyone else on the forums!

Bill Paris