Well, I just sold an item recently @ this site and my bank was not very helpful in confirming that the funds were good (the clerks quoted the usual 7-10 working days). This is not quite accurate as an NSF notice can take up to 14 days via interstate banks (I once worked for both a major clearings bank and the Federal Reserve Bank). Most banks (even large ones) farm out these processing services nowadays and I have run across officers and even managers who do not have a firm grasp as to how the banking system actually works. My bank attempted to process a check from Greece (drawn on a major NYC bank) without even applying routing numbers to it (which is the same as mailing a letter without an address) and had the nerve to tell me that the check was no good when it came back. Don't know if this is what is happening with your transaction, but believe me it/this does happen. I have had to threaten my bank twice with a small claims court case (and exposure in the LA times) to have money credited to my account (which has been lost due to their errors). They recently racked up a $230 loss (in the past ten months) by being basically incompetent, which I had to fight to get back.
How long is too long to ship?
I bought a item by check. The check cleared 3Jan 02 today is the 15th. Sent email the 10th no reply. Sent nasty email today and responce was not shipped yet will check with bank. When you tell me it will clear on the 3rd and it clears on the 3rd i expect it to be shipped within 3 days. I am not sure but am i expecting too much?