My dad's US banking problem...

My dad in the US has sold an item on eBay to a buyer in France.
She sent him a cheque, drawn in US dollars ($825), for which she paid a fee of 45 euros on her end.

My dad received the cheque, deposited it into his account, but 5 weeks later, when the cheque finally cleared, the amount that was credited to his account was only $730... so he lost $95 along the way somewhere.

He has told his customer in France that she owes him $95 and she is (quite rightly, in my opinion) refusing to pay... I've told him a hundred times that this $95 must be a fee that HIS bank has charged for handling this cheque, but he will not believe me, and is badgering this poor woman in France for the money!

He is asking me for advice, and i have told him that i know NOTHING about American banking or foreign exchange transactions, but that i'd try to find out... and that's why im asking you lot! 

The more i think about it, though... the more im wondering what really did happen.
The French woman sent a cheque in US dollars... so, WHY did it have to go through a collections process, and why did he get charged this huge fee?

Any ideas i can pass along to my dad?

Another reason I'll never sell on Ebay again . . .

Your poor dad.  Hope he gets it sorted soon.

That does seem a rather high fee.  Has he spoken with his bank and asked them why the original value was not funded to his account?

Well, i asked him that, and he said he did ask the bank... but when i asked him what did they say, he couldnt tell me.   He is completely ignorant of anything financial.  Whatever they told him, he probably didnt understand, and was too embarrassed to ask again. 

Well, i asked him that, and he said he did ask the bank... but when i asked him what did they say, he couldnt tell me.   He is completely ignorant of anything financial.  Whatever they told him, he probably didnt understand, and was too embarrassed to ask again. 

Can you email someone at his bank for him and get an answer? Even the main office may have a contact email. Parents. Oy.

I've just told him he MUST sit down with someone at the bank and get them to go step-by-step through the process and tell him exactly what happened.  He also needs to ask to see a list of their fees, in writing, for doing this type of transaction.

Dont know what more i can do, since i dont fully understand it myself. 

I've just told him he MUST sit down with someone at the bank and get them to go step-by-step through the process and tell him exactly what happened.  He also needs to ask to see a list of their fees, in writing, for doing this type of transaction.

Dont know what more i can do, since i dont fully understand it myself. 

It is so hard when you are not there.

It does seem daft that a $$cheque would incur a charge but I have not used a US bank for a long time so I don't know what their rules are now.

<cynical hat on> probably a Homeland Security charge...<cynical hat off

Hope ya get it sorted. It is so hard when you can't help them and they are in a bind.

yeah sorry to say but I am siding with you and AGAINST your father on this issue. In the future, he should use paypal so the customer can pay with a credit card; the fee charged by paypal would be a lot less than the amount he was charged to change a foreign check.  Take it as a lesson learned and stop badgering the French customer!

yeah, that's what i've been telling him.

i have no idea how this saga ended... im afraid to ask!