Cheque Clearance

<p>Hi Guys<br /><br />I was sent a salary payment via Cheque that was successfully deposited into my account by my employer (I'm a freelancer so i get payed per hour)<br /><br />I went to FNB branch to request an immediate clearance of which they explained to me that because the depositor didnt request an instant clearance (Which takes 3 to 4 days) the cheque could not be cleared instantly.Though i was exhausted to the thought of waiting 10 days,i unnderstood and moved on.<br /><br />About an hour later,my employer calls to let me know that FNB called him and told him that to do the clearance he will be charged R104 so he wanted to let me know that everything should be fine in 24 hours (The money will be available to spend in my account) though i told him the same thing they told me,that the instant clearance take 4 days max.<br /><br />That day everything was fine,and i was able to even purchase an airtime from my account.The next day,which was Saturday,as i was about to buy food at a retai outlet my card declined and after few trials it stil declined.I went to the ATM to check what the problem was...<br /><br />Bare in mind the cheque was for R500,000.00<br /><br />When i got there i was amazed to find -498,405.37 in my available balance and 2,428.55 in my unavailable balance.I checked the transaction details to see why it was debited from my account and it had "Unpaid" status.Even so why do they Debit it from my account if it bounced or was unpaid,its not like it was available and i spent it all before it was paid so i owe the bank.The money was never available and mind you they did this a day later after the cheque was deposited.<br /><br />Now it means i owe the bank -498,405.37 of the money that has been paid to me by my employer.What kind of service is this.By the looks of things FNB has ****ed me.<br /><br />I need the money to cover my personal expenses and pay the people who helped me complete this project.<br /><br />Please help guys,any advice will be appreciated.</p>