POSTED: Monday, December 20, 2010 - 7:55pm
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - 1:14pm
EL PASO - A window company paid a woman $100 for doing a demonstration. But when the check bounced, she was left in the red.
"I checked, and I had money," said Sally Reyes. "Had their check not come back, none of this would've happened."
With hail damage on her windows, Sally Rey wanted to know how much it would cost to replace them. Her friend referred her to Desert King Windows because of their referral program, and someone came out to do a demonstration.
"He's like, 'For allowing me to do the demonstration, the company's going to give you a check for $100,'" she said. The check came in the mail and Rey cashed it. She also checked her bank account before she went to do some holiday shopping.
"I checked to make sure I had money in the account," she said. "I had money, so we went to get pictures with Santa, we went to the mall."
She made sure she didn't spend more than she had.
"In my mind I'm thinking I have $34 still in the bank after all my transactions."
A few days later, the bank sent Desert King's check back, saying it had bounced. They took the $100 out of her account, plus a $25 return fee. They also charged her a $25 overdraft fee for every transaction she made the day after the check bounced. But because she didn't know the check bounced, she says Desert King should pay.
"Because your check came back, they took that money, and everything else was returned and I was charged $25 on top of the original transactions," she said.
Desert King Windows says they had to close an account because of fraudulent charges. They've reimbursed Rey for the bounced check and the check's return fee. But the company says it is not responsible for the other overdraft fees. In a statement, a company spokesperson said, "I feel like I took care of my end of the deal. I'm sorry she didn't have more than $100 in her account but that's not my problem."
Rey disagrees.
"Who has the money right now to actually have more than what you should have?" she asked. "It's the holiday season, you have extra spending that you have to do."