Returned check - Refer to Maker/ Not our Item

[Anonymous]

We have a strange situation with our daycare and a check. For some reason a check we wrote a few weeks ago was returned. The reason given was "refer to maker" and also written at the bottom was "not our item". I've called my bank twice and they have no record of a returned check. They see no record of that check number at all, so it wasn't withdrawn from our account.

Looking online I see that refer to maker has no standard meaning. It basically means call your bank and inquire why it was refused. But my bank (Navy Federal) says they have no idea. The daycares bank says our bank refused it.

We've examined the PDF of the returned check and can see nothing wrong with it. Date is correct. Numerical vs written amount matches. Signature is his. Check isn't ripped and the account number and routing number appear on the bottom. It looks like every check he writes every week.

Anyone have any insight into this? The daycare considers it a bounced check and wants us to pay them the $20 fee they are being charged by their bank. I can understand their side, but I'd like to get NFCU to reimburse me for the fee. But then if they have no record of a returned check, not sure how successful we'll be with that.

[Anonymous]

Why don't you find out who your daycare banks with and take it to them and ask them to explain it. If they did it in error, all penalties/fees should be waived.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to try that. I guess I'll have to call the local branch they bank with - they use a stamp to endorse it for deposit. So I can see its a local Falls Church Citibank branch.

Not sure how helpful they'll be with me since I'm not their customer.

I'd normally just eat the $20, but the daycare owner's husband was rude to my husband about it, so now I really don't feel like paying his $20 fee if it's their bank's fault.

[Anonymous]

What bank stamped the check with "Return to Maker"? That is the bank that refused the item. Most likely, one of several things occurred: 1. You are using old checks, with a routing number that Navy Fed no longer uses. This is especially likely if your account was originally with a bank that merged with NFCU. 2. The depositing bank, Citibank, mis-encoded the check when processing. All those numbers at the bottom of the check are scanned in through a computer to route the check to the proper bank. An encoding error could very well result in the "Not Our Item" message you saw. If Citi routed the check to let's say, Bofa, it would be returned by Bofa. If this is the case, it is an error on the part of Citibank.

[Anonymous]

All my bets are on the fact that Citibank F-ed up. We have accounts with both and they can really, really suck. NFCU, on the other hand, is nothing but super-awesome.

[Anonymous]

21:24 is correct. The check likely never made it to Navy Federal.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm thinking 21:24 is right too. They must have routed it to the wrong bank which is why NFCU has no record of a returned check.