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Ok so during our popcorn sales I require all popcorn orders to be payed up front. This year I had a parent give me a check for $482. It turned out to be a bad check. It was a month before we knew the check was bad (the bank still sending correspondance to the wrong address). Anyway I found out, pulled the parent aside and told him. Kept getting excuses.. " I forgot to bring the money.." " My g/f's in the hospital and has the checkbook.." ect. So sent him a certified letter. Finally last week .. He calls and against my better judgement I say ok I'll take another check but this time instead of depositing it in the scouts account I take it to the bank its written on. Bad check again! New excuses. So tomorrow it goes to the prosecuting attornies office.

 

Now to why I need suggestions. During this whole time .. he has still been attending meetings. I have explained to him his son will recieve no awards, advancements, participation in our derby, recharted, ect. until this is payed. My problem comes in with how to tell this 7 yr old child he cant participate as his father seems to not understand. How would you handle this situation?

 

What makes the situation bad is what money we have left is just going to cover our recharter fees so with out this $482 we have no money left for the things the other boys are earning. I figured I'll pay for the awards for the derby and they can reimburse me at a later time when they have another fundraiser and can afford to.

 

This is my second yr in cub scouting so this hasnt happened before .. even the years I was a gs leader I never had a returned check although I did have issues with cookie money not being turned in(but I would eventually get it) which is why I require the popcorn money up front. I just find it sad that someone would do this to a group of young kids.

 

 

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Did every boy in the Pack sell popcorn? Since it seems that the $482 from this one boy is your entire budget, it does not sound like they did. Are you withholding all awards from the other Scouts who did not sell anything?

 

I realize that this boys father stole from the Pack, but it was the father, not the Scout.

 

I think that this Scout should get everything that any other Scout who did not sell popcorn gets, until the end of the charter year. At which time, since his registration was not paid, he will no longer be a member of your Pack, or of BSA.

 

I know that you said you have spoken to this parent, has the Pack talked to him about a repayment plan over a period of time? Have he been told you are taking the matter to the police? What does your Charter Organization say about this whole thing?

 

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I agree that this is a key time to include your CO, because any actions that will be taken, would likely be taken in the CO's name (since they own your pack). At a minimum, the CO should not be in the dark when it comes to a point where the pack wants legal actions taken against somebody.

 

As for the dad in question - I'm sure he does have a million "reasons" why, and it could either be that he's a cheat and a liar, or that he actually cannot pay you and doesn't know what to do about it. The latter sounds like something that could be worked out (payment plan, very quietly dealt with by the pack leadership) to the benefit of all. In the current economic climate, it isn't impossible to imagine people who never thought they'd be in such straits, not knowing what to do about it.

 

 

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Yes, all of our boys sold popcorn but the majority of them sell on average $100 or less so thats about a $30 earning per each of these boys. All of the steps I am taking were the reccomendations from who I spoke to at our council. I have told him he could make payments. He just doesnt seem to be making an effort to correct the situation. I'd like to say that it was just a mistake and that he'll pay when he can but its hard to when in the last month he's been buying cars, ect. And ,yes, he has been told that the matter would go to the police.

 

All of the parents have been very good about buying stuff when their boy needs it. I try to keep all of our activities at a very low cost or no cost so that all can paticipate.

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I'd guess that you are legally in a strong position since he wrote you a check, which is pretty much an admission that he owes you the money.

 

In an earlier thread like this I've supported the idea of calling the cops. Last fall several youth groups had problems with adults stealing from them, and the cops and prosecutors came down like a ton of bricks on those people.

 

So I'd be interested in how that works out for you. I think I'd start by talking to the police ----having a cop offer someone the choice to pay up or be prosecuted for a bad check might offer a pretty powerful incentive.

 

Others in that thread suggested contacting your Chartered Organization before calling the cops to inform them and get their agreement to support that. That's probably a good idea.

 

 

 

 

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I am surprised that your council got involved in this at all. I am also surprised that your council recommended that you, as Cubmaster, take this to the police.

 

Your Pack is "owned" by your Charter Organization, not by your local council. Any police action should be initiated by your Charter Organization.

 

What does your Charter Organization Representative, or the head of your Charter Organization have to say about this? This is THEIR call.

 

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My thoughts:

 

- Don't punish the 7 y/o because his Dad is a deadbeat. He should get whatever he earns until the end of the charter year, then he rolls off.

- I commend you for planning on stepping up with regards to paying out of pocket for the PWD awards, etc.

- Our Pack doesn't accept ANY checks from anyone for fundraisers. Parents are expected to pay in cash or m/o. If they want to accept a personal check for popcorn orders, it's on them, but all funds are to be paid to the Pack via cash or m/o. Eliminates the situation you described.

 

Hope it works out.

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That's a curious problem. Our pack accepts checks from the people who buy the popcorn, but I don't think we've ever had a parent roll up the purchases into one check. However, we do every year have a couple of people who buy popcorn with bad checks.

 

dmillar71's suggestion of not having the pack take checks is an interesting one. I don't know if we could get away with that or not. It would be a pain - either for some of our customers, or for our parents. But it would certainly get rid of the problem. You can see why many businesses have decided not to accept checks any more.

 

I'm thinking maybe we should start taking credit cards. The 2.75% fee probably evens out with the bad check fee.

 

For now, all I can suggest is that you can proceed either legally or just with societal pressure. Does the dad still want his son to participate? Is he willing to work out a payment plan? Did the dad actually pay the boy's registration fees at the beginning of the year?

 

I'd suggest that someone sit down with him and work out a plan.

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Don't punish the child, but send the check through the court system. You've certainly given them enough warning. Truth be told, you'll probably lose the Scout anyway. Kind of awkward to go to meetings when everybody knows you're a worthless check writer.

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