# Help needed - unbelievable problems cashing USPS money order at CIBC



## djem (Sep 14, 2006)

The story.

Sold an amp to a guy in the US. He sends me a USPS money order.

I deposit to my account with CIBC. No questions asked at the teller.

Cheque my online account & find out that the cheque is being returned as the US funds are not negotiable with CIBC and I get debited the amount of the cheque PLUS an extra amount for the difference in the exchange.

WTF is going on here?

Can anyone give me some advice. I'm freaking out here.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

djem said:


> The story.
> 
> Sold an amp to a guy in the US. He sends me a USPS money order.
> 
> ...


\

I don't get what you mean when you say US funds are not negotiable. Was the money order fraudulent?


----------



## Beatles (Feb 7, 2006)

I've heard before that USPS money orders are difficult to cash in Canada. Hope you can get things cleared up.


----------



## djem (Sep 14, 2006)

No, the MO was not fraudulent, it's 100% legit and I double checked with USPS. I think what the unreasonable folks at CIBC are saying is that you can't cash a USPS MO with them.

This completely pisses me off.


----------



## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

djem said:


> No, the MO was not fraudulent, it's 100% legit and I double checked with USPS. I think what the unreasonable folks at CIBC are saying is that you can't cash a USPS MO with them.
> 
> This completely pisses me off.


I deal with MoneyMart for my Credit Card. Having cleared 150K in raw debit a few years ago, I don't do the "traditional" CC any more. So, I am there mildly often. About 3 weeks or so back, had a very long and good conversation with the lady that works the office that I deal with.

The skinny is this: Non-Canadian money orders are not cashable in Canada. 

For this reason Money Mart will not touch non-Canadian money orders.


----------



## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

I have never had that problem. I deposit them through the ATM at the face value and get the exchange difference about 10 days later when it clears. That seems a little strange. A money order is the same as cash.


----------



## djem (Sep 14, 2006)

J S Moore said:


> I have never had that problem. I deposit them through the ATM at the face value and get the exchange difference about 10 days later when it clears. That seems a little strange. A money order is the same as cash.


Was the MO a normal USPS MO?


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Was it an "international" money order? If it was the green variety (a domestic money order) they are not cashable in Canada. He should have gotten the International one which I beleive is pink in color. Whenever you are accepting money orders from the US make sure to specify "International Money Order" only. They cost more but its the only kind that are really accepted outside of the US


----------



## djem (Sep 14, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Was it an "international" money order? If it was the green variety (a domestic money order) they are not cashable in Canada. He should have gotten the International one which I beleive is pink in color. Whenever you are accepting money orders from the US make sure to specify "International Money Order" only. They cost more but its the only kind that are really accepted outside of the US


It was the green, domestic MO. Shouldn't the bank have stopped it then and there at the teller level?

What bothers me most is that the bank is nailing me for an additional chunk of $$ for the exchange rate change IE: my acc't is debited more now than I deposited a few weeks ago.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

djem said:


> It was the green, domestic MO. Shouldn't the bank have stopped it then and there at the teller level?
> 
> What bothers me most is that the bank is nailing me for an additional chunk of $$ for the exchange rate change IE: my acc't is debited more now than I deposited a few weeks ago.


Yes, the teller screwed up. They should have told you right there and then. I would go back to them ad tell them you are not accepting the fee as that was an error on the tellers part and not yours.


----------



## djem (Sep 14, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Yes, the teller screwed up. They should have told you right there and then. I would go back to them ad tell them you are not accepting the fee as that was an error on the tellers part and not yours.


That's what I'm going to do. It's their job to screen stuff like that.

The only upside to all of this is that my buyer is understanding and he'll send me a cheque or whatever CIBC requires.

Man, oh man, does this ever piss me off!


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Just make sure that when you go to the bank, you explain in a clear and *calm* manner that you were unaware of the difference between money order types. Obviously the teller involved was underinformed about the same matter, and would have likely drawn the matter to your attention had they known, avoiding the mixup and fee charge. Just as you would have drawn the matter to the buyer's attention had YOU known, and they would have drawn it to the post office's attention had THEY known. There were a number of underinformed parties here, and you should not be charged a fee for that. Convey your understanding that the teller likely acted in good faith, and simply didn't know the difference, just like you. Whatever you do, don't come down hard on them or convey that they are incompetent, if you want to get their cooperation.

Do that, and I'm sure this will all work out nicely.

Still, royal P.I.T.A.


----------



## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

djem said:


> Was the MO a normal USPS MO?


You know, now that I think about it they were probably from US banks rather than USPS. But that's a good thing to keep in mind for the future.


----------



## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

The USPS International Money Orders can also be cashed at Canada Post provided they have the funds on hand.

I have never had a problem with TD Bank-CIBC is the worst of the bunch.


----------



## bobb (Jan 4, 2007)

The green domestic USPS MO is good only within the USA. Unfortunately, many American buyers seem to think that their money orders are good anywhere...no matter how many times you tell them to get the correct one. This is often followed by them doing a lot of whining and complaining about how hard it is to deal across the border.

On the other hand, I have seen a number of instances where banks in the southern US would either refuse to take any foreign MO or they would charge a ridiculous fee to process it.


----------



## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

I have received a lot of the pink USPS money orders. They are 100% compl;etely fine to be cashed within Canada... they say International on them!

Likewise, the standard green USPS money order says right on it "negotiable only in the USA or its possessions" or something to that extent. When I used to do a lot of ebay'ing... I had to return MANY people's payments because even though I clearly would state a USPS money order to Canada had to be an international pink one, they would still send the green ones - and get this, more than one person told me that the postal employee at the USPS told them it would be OK!!! I used to tell them... well, last time I checked Canada wasn't yet a part of the USA 

AJC


----------



## nitehawk55 (Sep 19, 2007)

Does CIBC have US accounts ? I have a US$ account at RBC and they will accept both the pink as well as the green ( yes that's right the green ones ) USPS money orders with absolutely no problems .

I found it real handy to have the US account to keep my US$ money in when buying as it was on hand or I could just go to my online banking and transfer into one on my CDN$ accounts . Gave you some flexability with the exchange rates if you wanted to buy some USD$ when ours was at a good rate .


----------



## six-string (Oct 7, 2009)

be aware you may have just as many problems trying to cash or deposit a cheque from a US bank drawn in US funds into a Canadian Bank and converted to Canadian funds. 
what is probably the most straightfoward method that is guaranteed to get you the money quickly and with least amount of trouble, is to have the funds "wire transferred" from your buyers US bank directly to your Canadian bank. in order to do this you must provide banking details to your buyer that include your bank name, address, phone number, branch transit number and account number and of course your name. your buyer can go to his bank with that info and they can process an immediate electronic transaction to your bank which can be verified and is completely secure and traceable. 
good luck.


----------



## mansfield (Dec 23, 2009)

ya, you will VERY likely have issues with an out of country cheque or Check (for the benefit of American members...lol) I lived in the USA for nearly 4 years and the easiest way I found to transfer money between Canada and the USA was to use Western Union Money transfers. It was quick, easy, and you could get your money almost immediately. Just my 2 cents.


----------



## nitehawk55 (Sep 19, 2007)

Again , with a US account at RBC ( not sure if other CDN banks offer the same service but I'm sure some do ) there was never a problem cashing any type of USPS money orders or any other types from the USA .


----------



## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

nitehawk55 said:


> Again , with a US account at RBC ( not sure if other CDN banks offer the same service but I'm sure some do ) there was never a problem cashing any type of USPS money orders or any other types from the USA .


I bank at Royal Bank. I have US account. They will most definitely NOT accept the green US money orders at our branch. I have tried, no way. They had to be the pink ones.

AJC


----------



## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

I always specify the pink ones, and _always_ cash them at Canada Post.
If it's a large amount (which isn't uncommon when dealing with guitars/amps, etc.) they likely won't have enough cash on hand.
What they'll do in that case is to issue you a Canada Post money order for the amount which you can then cash at any bank.


----------



## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

i regularly send postal money orders to the states to make c.c. payments. the lack of cooperation between our 2 countries is so retarded it makes me want to scream, on the 17th of every month. it takes a few months to get visa to cash my payments because they have to be taken to the post office by hand and cashed. they like to wait till they have a big pile of them. that means my account frequently is frozen and shows as delinquent when it's not and then i have to call and deal with their customer service to get it corrected. money coming in the other direction is just as bad. 
i used to just deposit the money orders in my account in the states and let visa draw it from there. then my bank in the states started charging me $40 to cash the money order. it didn't make much sense to do that when my monthly payment is only $50.


----------



## djem (Sep 14, 2006)

ajcoholic said:


> I bank at Royal Bank. I have US account. They will most definitely NOT accept the green US money orders at our branch. I have tried, no way. They had to be the pink ones.
> 
> AJC


AJC,

Same thing here, but I'm with CIBC and also have a USD account.

Update: CIBC will reverse the exchange charges. My buyer will send me a pink USPS MO and it seems as if everything has worked out. Still a major PITA, but at least I haven't lost any $$ in the process.

MORAL OF THE STORY - only accept pink USPS International MO's when depositing funds in Canadian institutions.


----------



## nitehawk55 (Sep 19, 2007)

ajcoholic said:


> I bank at Royal Bank. I have US account. They will most definitely NOT accept the green US money orders at our branch. I have tried, no way. They had to be the pink ones.
> 
> AJC


Well mine does/did a couple years ago but I haven't done any recently so I may be blowing smoke here....sorry . It may vary from RBC branches too , it's a funny business with them making the rules .


----------

