Certegy Payment Recovery Services ripoff,fraud St. Petersburg Florida

Certegy is, among other things, a collection agency, and they have business relationships with some of the largest retailers in the US.

First question: did the check originally bounce? You say you have the checks paid by your bank. Is there a stamp on it that says "NSF" or "Unpaid", etc.? If so, here is what happened. The check was bounced by your bank for whatever reason and returned to Certegy - not the retailer you wrote the check to. They would then resubmit the check for payment and try to time to a likely "payday" date. If the check was then honored, Certegy would then pay the retailer the face value of the check. Now comes the fees you are talking about.

Every state, for lack of better termanology, has an applicable bad check fee. Some states have a flat fee, others have a flat fee and/or "X" number times the face value of the check. That is what Certegy will collect on, and that is how they make their money.

Another question: was there a sign at the cash register where you wrote this check saying something about bounced check fees? Check with you bank about what the state policies are for bounced checks.