Rude store manager?! Take my money elsewhere

If you're a sole trader you can use a personal account for business transactions so I've no idea why you would choose to not use a tradesman for that reason

Where I live the 'cheap' carpet shop is a different business to the carpet fitter. You pay for the carpet in the shop, either take it away yourself once it's been cut or the shop arranges a fitter.

Fitter then charges for collecting it and fitting it.

As opposed to our decent quality shop that does all the organising for you, you do get what you pay for. I also fell out with the cheap shop years ago!!

Just so you know. Paying by bank transfer as you wanted to do is the same as paying cash and you have no protection once it's left your account. ( I work for a bank). So you have cost yourself more money for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Totally normal to pay cash to the fitter, they are usually sole traders, they don't work for the carpet store.

Whats wrong with a paper receipt?

So it’s fairly normal to pay the carpet fitters direct - I've done this in the past too - but not in cash. It’s been a bank transfer. More recently the money has just been taken by the carpet company and passed on to the fitter.

The manager you dealt with was very rude - if it’s part of a chain I’d complain. I also tend NOT to go with the cheapest quote anywhere. I get 3-5 quotes and go for a middling one, once I’ve compared reviews for the product and services. Often the cheapest will give the shoddiest service because that’s where they’re saving the most money - staff/labour.

I've bought lots of carpets and have always been told to pay some cash to the fitters on the day of completion. Perhaps this is why he is cheaper? Sometimes cheaper isn't better. Look at others from outside the area.

This was for a deposit on a plastering job. My spidey senses were tingling because of it so I pulled out. And I’m bloody glad I didn’t because I later found out a friend had used him and he’d been an utter nightmare, both during and after the job.

I'd go for the more expensive company so that you know that you have a record and then report Mr Grumpypants to the tax department, tbh. Bastards are going under the counter and not paying taxes. This is how dodgy blokes earn shitloads and get away with paying nothing in child maintenance.

If the carpets are very similar then go back to the expensive shop and ask can they price match or at least give you a discount as you've found similar elsewhere. That's how it works round here, you get quotes in the 3 main carpet stores and as long as they're very similar carpets then you choose whichever one you feel most comfortable with and ask them to match the cheapest one. They'll maybe not match the price but drop theirs a little to get the sale.

And we always have to pay the fitters in cash on the day.

No reason to get angry with a customer though. He could simply have explained that because most carpet fitters don’t want to pay their taxes they only accept cash, and unfortunately he can’t do anything about that.

But how did you know until the work was done? I’ve always had the job done, they’ve sent me their bank details for a bank transfer, and it’s only when I input the details that I notice it’s a personal, not business account. I don’t quiz tradespeople about what type of bank account they use before I hire them, and I don’t believe anyone else does either!

Yes, I have always paid the fitters in cash on the day of fitting but ONLY when I have inspected it and agreed that it is all ok...........had a bad experience years ago and it took ages to get them to come back.
Never had an issue with paying for the carpet though - maybe it's because the carpet retailer didn't employ their own fitters where I went.

Just had some decorating done. Didn’t even pay upfront for the materials. All invoices and paid after. This was for an independent self employed decorator.

OP I’ve had similar with our local independent carpet store (rude not about the money).I in the end chose to keep our existing carpet and will go elsewhere when we need to change them. Real shame as I’d prefer to support local.

Exactly - my cousins own their own carpet fitting business, they get business from carpet and flooring shops but they don't work for them.

They do have a card reader but that it rare as most prefer cash.

The man may have gotten angry but you were insisting on an option they don't provide. If the fitters they use say cash only then that is what they tell the customers.

They insist that they are paid in cash so they can understate or avoid paying tax.

This might already have been covered. What if you need to pay by credit card? How would that work?

Creepy sexism not 'admin' and also duh admin is a good reason

You were happy with the job but you're going elsewhere due to am admin error?

I'm self employed. I don't accept cash payments at all.

I've also never paid the fitters separately, I've always used the same independent shop over the years too.
And I have also paid independent traders via cards as a lot of them our way now have the small sum-up card readers they keep with them.

I’ve refused to use a trade person because of it being a personal account.

I’ve had so many bad experiences with tradespeople I’m ultra cautious with who I use. And I probably do end up paying more.

Why do people assume it's a tax fiddle?
Just ask for a receipt!

I’ve never paid fitters separately.

The cheapest quote isn’t always the best choice. There is a lot of truth in the saying You Get What You Pay For. Cheap prices are the only way some firms can get jobs because their work and customer service is so poor.

People demand cash payments because they don’t want to pay tax or their staff are illegal in some way, or maybe in the business is in such financial difficulty that payments into their bank account will be swallowed up by an overdraft.

It's 2025, they will have other means. Cash is preferred, but should only be your form of payment if they provide an invoice.

Lots of posts assuming cash payments are requested for tax evasion purposes. I’m sure that is the case sometimes. However I have also noticed that many tradesmen ask for a BACS transfer but it’s to a personal account, not a business account, so I’m pretty sure it’s possible to fiddle the books that way too.

And on a less cynical note, many self-employed trades work on a very tight cash flow, and really need to make sure they are paid straightaway, rather than chasing customers/tracking payments. And we all know that lots of customers conveniently don’t prioritise paying bills once they’ve had the service…