Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Tradesman requesting money without invoice - AIBU to not want to pay?

66 replies

Rockstones · 22/10/2026 12:28

I had a strange encounter today. We have an issue with a wall and I scheduled a meeting with someone to come see the wall. He said he will need £30 for call out. Which I agreed to.

He came and gave his opinion on what needs done. Having good knowledge of property, I wasn't to keen on what he was proposing. As he was leaving, he requested the £30 and I asked whether we were getting an invoice? As I was hesitant to just transfer £30 without any trail? Normally in such cases you get sent a link to an invoice and you pay through that.

He then got defensive and said other surveyors would have charged more than double. I then said possibly, but they would have also provided survey reports etc. He then said keep it and stormed off.

My husband thinks I was being difficult and that it wasn't worth this friction with a tradesman but it just felt off paying £30 for someone's advice which I didn't find particularly sound and had absolutely no trail for reasons for payment.

DH made me feel like a horrible person so I texted the tradey, apologising, and said I didn't mean it the wrong way and I am willing to pay....

OP posts:
chirrupybird · 22/10/2026 15:42

RumPidgeon · 22/10/2026 15:22

He quoted you £30 and came to do what you agreed him to do. He incurred costs such as petrol, his time and knowledge. YABU not paying him. Why do you bother with an invoice if you don’t want to give him the work - it’s up to him how he runs his business but he provided the service you agreed to pay for.

It's not up to him it's the law, you can't take cash in hand and not put it through the books, he has to provide an invoice for the work done, ie, the inspection. If he won't he's obviously not paying tax on the money.

chirrupybird · 22/10/2026 15:38

mamaof4losingmymind · 22/10/2026 12:34

Hes charging for his time, petrol and knowledge. You should off paid him and been thrilled it was only £30

The op didn't think he knew what he was talking about, just a chancer wanting to be paid cash in hand for doing nothing really. He was obviously scared off because he thought the op might report him.

arethereanyleftatall · 22/10/2026 15:32
  1. loads of people on this thread can’t read
  2. you were not being unreasonable to ask for an invoice. Why should anyone support someone not paying their taxes
  3. your husband was wrong and I’m surprised you second guessed yourself to keep him happy. I hope he’s not normally an arsehole.
RumPidgeon · 22/10/2026 15:22

He quoted you £30 and came to do what you agreed him to do. He incurred costs such as petrol, his time and knowledge. YABU not paying him. Why do you bother with an invoice if you don’t want to give him the work - it’s up to him how he runs his business but he provided the service you agreed to pay for.

nomas · 22/10/2026 15:11

Pay him his money, don’t be tight.

Treehorns · 22/10/2026 15:06

I would be extremely irritated by your husbands reaction too.
Yanbu.

Gobbledegoo · 22/10/2026 14:56

Cowboy. He came to give an estimate, you don't pay for estimates.

MandemChickenShop · 22/10/2026 14:53

what's it to do with your husband. the transaction ended when the chap huffed off, the end. nothing further to say

Walkerzoo · 22/10/2026 14:12

He could be a dodgy one (there was a feature today on BBC at 10 ISH). So you were lucky it was only £30 as there were horror stories

Or... It could be a tax dodger (as many companies are) but chap knows what he is doing and will give a good service.

But cash in hand work rarely involves an invoice.

caringcarer · 22/10/2026 14:07

Nicknacky · 22/10/2026 12:35

So you knew it was a £30 call out and agreed to that now you are refusing to pay? Pay the man for his time, for goodness sake

She's not refusing to pay. She just asked for an invoice to pay.

Elsvieta · 22/10/2026 13:58

Rockstones · 22/10/2026 13:56

Yep. Makes me rage. I suspect thatywhy he hurried away. Why would a request for an invoice make you storm off? Is it because it caught him out? I think so!

he should have just said, sure. I will send tonight!!

Edited
Show quote history

Exactly. Write a letter. I did it with some bloke who tried to get me to pay in a cafe without ringing it up on the till first and got abusive when I questioned it. Don't know if anything came of it.

Original poster
Rockstones · 22/10/2026 13:56

Elsvieta · 22/10/2026 13:50

He's fiddling his taxes; report him to the Inland Revenue. Can't understand why so many of us who pay the tax we owe don't get angrier about this crap.

Yep. Makes me rage. I suspect thatywhy he hurried away. Why would a request for an invoice make you storm off? Is it because it caught him out? I think so!

he should have just said, sure. I will send tonight!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Rockstones · 22/10/2026 13:54

@DeftGoldHedgehog that is what I thought but he stood there waiting for me to do a bank transfer. At which point I inquired about the invoice. Just felt odd.

@latetothefisting exactly. Him making it a big deal to issue an invoice raised suspicion in me.

OP posts:
Elsvieta · 22/10/2026 13:50

He's fiddling his taxes; report him to the Inland Revenue. Can't understand why so many of us who pay the tax we owe don't get angrier about this crap.

DeftGoldHedgehog · 22/10/2026 13:48

You usually don't have to pay straight away or in cash. They usually send an invoice and you pay it.

latetothefisting · 22/10/2026 13:47

Usually I'd do the same. Learned the hard way when I paid cash for my guttering, promised they'd send an invoice after and then they stopped responding, so when it came to selling the house a few years later I had absolutely no evidence of when the work had been done.

However for £30 call out and no actual physical work done I probably wouldnt have pushed it. Doesnt mean you should feel bad though, he acted really unprofessionally, I definitely wouldn't have messaged to apologise.

If he thought an invoice wasnt needed normal response would be to just say fine and send something over via email, would take less than a minute, then moan about it to his partner or mate for 5 mins after. Not sulk like a 5 year old because he's been found out for dodging tax!

I'd be telling your DH to pipe down, he can deal with tradies in the future if he thinks he knows it all. At the end of the day you aren't going to use this guy for anything in the future if he didnt know what he was on about with the actual job and was unprofessional to boot, so it's not like you've damaged a good working relationship.

Nktes · 22/10/2026 13:45

Rockstones · 22/10/2026 13:40

Because I would like to believe there are genuine people out there. But he wasn’t. And he knew he wasn’t. And he stormed off when he knew that I knew he wasn’t 😊

Show quote history

Yes, but wasn't the fact that he was prepared to do it for £30 already a good indicator of that? If a thing seems too good to be true.....

Ohhelpwhatnow · 22/10/2026 13:42

It's not so much whether you are a horrible person (asking for an invoice doesn't make you one) but who this guy is and what he's up to. Why did you choose him to look at the wall, what is his experience and training? Is he refusing to invoice to avoid paying tax or is he actually not qualified to offer this kind of advice?
I wouldn't be paying someone who refuses to provide an invoice. It doesn't have to be much, just an email with his contact details, date of the visit and the amount.

Original poster
Rockstones · 22/10/2026 13:40

Nktes · 22/10/2026 13:39

But why did you expect to get proper knowledge and paperwork for £30?

Show quote history

Because I would like to believe there are genuine people out there. But he wasn’t. And he knew he wasn’t. And he stormed off when he knew that I knew he wasn’t 😊

OP posts:
Nktes · 22/10/2026 13:39

Rockstones · 22/10/2026 13:37

More than going on the books my concern is more about this guy going round pretending to know stuff (he doesn’t, wasn’t telling me anything new or offering a solution) and requesting easy money for a call out where he makes a theatrical scene of pretend knowledge and nothing else. Our money is hard earned. I d expect the same

Show quote history

But why did you expect to get proper knowledge and paperwork for £30?

Original poster
Rockstones · 22/10/2026 13:37

Nktes · 22/10/2026 13:33

He wasn't a surveyor though was he, he's right a surveyor would have charged a lot more.

I wouldn't have agreed to pay a builder just to come and have a look, but as you did, I think you should have expected be meant £30 cash in hand. It doesn't make it right but it was too cheap to expect that it would be going through the books!

More than going on the books my concern is more about this guy going round pretending to know stuff (he doesn’t, wasn’t telling me anything new or offering a solution) and requesting easy money for a call out where he makes a theatrical scene of pretend knowledge and nothing else. Our money is hard earned. I d expect the same

OP posts:
Nktes · 22/10/2026 13:33

He wasn't a surveyor though was he, he's right a surveyor would have charged a lot more.

I wouldn't have agreed to pay a builder just to come and have a look, but as you did, I think you should have expected be meant £30 cash in hand. It doesn't make it right but it was too cheap to expect that it would be going through the books!

Megifer · 22/10/2026 13:26

Totally normal to ask for an invoice or receipt or similar. His tough luck op youve done absolutely nothing wrong.

OutOfTheOtherSide · 22/10/2026 13:17

Nicknacky · 22/10/2026 12:40

I have read it. The man hasn’t been paid. She has text saying she is “willing” to pay. That’s good of her!

Show quote history

She tried to pay, he refused. That's 100% his fault, not hers.

Namenamchange · 22/10/2026 12:51

Did he do the job you asked for, you should pay him and ask for a receipt, you have no idea if he pays tax or not.
Were you expecting a report? if not you shouldn't really be expecting one, so its irrelevant.