diff --git a/lib/tipbot.js b/lib/tipbot.js
index 4f6798f..270556e 100644
--- a/lib/tipbot.js
+++ b/lib/tipbot.js
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ TipBot.prototype.onMessage = function(channel, member, message) {
      */
     if (message.match(/balance/i)) {
         if (channel.is_channel) {
-            channel.send("I don't think you really want me to tell your balance public channel, " + user.handle + " :/");
+            channel.send(tellBalance(self.slack.getDMByUserId(user.id););
         }
 
         user.tellBalance(self.slack.getDMByUserId(user.id));