Being hounded for payment

[JJPP1234]

I've had a guy in decorating my lounge. The job took a couple of days and he finished today at 4.30. When he was leaving he asked how I wanted to pay so I asked if bank transfer would be ok. He said fine and emailed his details immediately.
An hour later I've looked at my phone and I've had 5 text messages and a missed call plus voicemail asking where his money is.
AIBU to have not paid him (I've done it now - was going to wait for DH to get home and i was making dinner) within an hour of him leaving my house?

[Believeitornot]

@Geordie1944



Aren’t you a delight. I bet you’d never say that to someone in real life would you.

[Geordie1944]

For Christ's sake this is a non-problem. Whenever I hire tradesmen I ask them in advance how they would like to be paid, and I take care to make sure that they are accommodated. This bloke has probably been stung in the past by the kind of smug, over-entitled, greedy people who have time to waste posting on the internet all day [never ask me who they might be].

[IamtheDevilsAvocado]

Ummm years ago the terms were often 28 days to pay.

Cash jobs usually were people not processing money through books.... (not always..), but receipts were always promised by post.... That Strangely always were 'lost in post'.

Hassle within an hour would completely piss me off....

[Believeitornot]

No it’s not the principle as buying from a shop. First of all, a trades person is providing a service not a good.

I’ve just had a ton of building work done. I certainly did not pay on the spot, that’s ridiculous.

In the past I’ve had painters, carpet cleaning etc etc - sometimes I’ve paid there and then, other times by bank transfers. The key was agreeing payment terms before the job started.

I think that’s really the issue for me - the OP didn’t agree and I reckon the painter assumed it was cash.

[Badtimegirly]

I had to laugh at some of the comments from some posters on here. What some people forget is this, if a trades person has paid out for materials, it means he most probably has paid for them there and then. You think they can walk out the shop and say, when the customer pays me, your get your money? It doesn't work like that. Do you think you can walk into the supermarket and say, ill send a bank transfer through later? its the same principle. As for the comment regarding recommending the tradesman to your friends, time to get real. If a tradesman is good at his job, then he won't need your recommendation, get of your high horse. How about employing someone to decorate your lounge, who could be the loveliest person but their work falls short. Would you recommend them? ohh he's a lovely man...but his work is crap!

[KnittingOnEmpty]

Exactly what Scotland said. I mean are you now likely to recommend this guy to your friends with that attitude? I wouldn't be using him again .
I'm self employed too and it's up to me to organise myself in a professional manner. I invoice some regulars, some pay each time and I set out my 'terms' beforehand. I'm skint at the mo' too as my business is more seasonal, but you have to plan for that.
What a rude so and so.

[Scotland32]

I am self employed. I do the work, check the client is happy and then send a professional invoice by post or email. My terms are 14 days but some people pay within an hour and others take weeks. It's part of the risk you take when self employed. So, YANBU.
I would NEVER risk behaving like he did towards a client - it would ruin my relationship with them and probably also my reputation. You should take your business to someone who can behave professionally.

[venys]

Must be a thing amongst the tradies. Some of the subbies expect to be paid in cash at end of each day - but somehow it translates to asking the same of the customer. I had a neighbour ex decorator do some work for me more as a paid favour as he knew we were struggling to get things finished in the house. He knew me fairly well and knew my comings and goings and at certain times of the day are busy with my young family. He is retired so the job was an extra to him and not needed for his day to day living. We had agreed I would pay him on the Saturday as when he finished on the Friday I was still waiting for OH to come home with the cash. He came round on the Saturday as soon as I pulled in the drive after taking the kids out as we usually do. Baby was asleep and I was busy with the kids. He wondered why I was curt but gave him the cash. He came around with a lecture about how he had thought I was a better person than that and he was disappointed. Got short shrift from me explaining our arrangement and clearly he had forgotten!! Months later he told me he had a brain injury in case I was wondering if he was weird. But seriously, these guys are on drugs sometimes. We have got over our "incident" but I won't be asking him to do work again.

[GoBigOrange]

YANBU, the onus is on the trades-person to tell their customer when they want to be paid by, and what form they would prefer the payment to take. It doesn't matter if they want to witness a bank transfer before they leave the premises, or if they are content to send an invoice and wait the best part of a month for their customer to mail a check. They need to be upfront about what their practice is - and if they expect the money pretty much immediately then they need to explicitly say so!

Rapid-firing texts, calling and leaving a voicemail within an hour or two of the job being completed is not professional behavior. I absolutely loathe being hassled and pestered, especially when I've done nothing to deserve it. It would completely put me off using him again.

Even if he had expected OP to make payment immediately, it would have been a great deal more polite to wait longer and then limit himself to a single call or text inquiring about the payment.

[Bobbybobbins]

Yanbu OP and I would point out that 5 texts is excessive tbh.

[Purplealienpuke]

I'd really want to see the job in daylight before paying. Where's your recourse if you're not happy?
It does sound excessive, all those msgs!

[dustyparadeground]

You sound like a good customer OP and he seems a bit OTT. However maybe he's had problems with others so was chasing hard - trust me I've been there. Also just because the money has left your account doesn't mean he's got it in his IYSWIM

[Koala72]

PS I deal with this all the time as husband is Polish builder. So I understand it from all sides.

[Jamdoggers]

Sorry posted in the wrong place but don’t know how to remove

[Koala72]

The guy has done a 2-day job. A very short job. It's quick in, quick out. TBH usually would have been 'Finished? Done? Ok here's the cash' - but of course you've been fine as have paid straight away, and yes total bollocks that he texted you 5 times an hour after.

As with everything, important to set expectations.

Eg, 'Husband home after 6 and we'll do the transfer tonight before we go to bed'.

Bit mean to say you weren't leaving him starving.

[Jamdoggers]

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[iMogster]

If he had said in advance that he needs bank transfer immediately after he's finished and then an hour passed and he was messaging about where is the money, I would feel this was too soon as most transfers take about 2 hours. If it was pay by Paypal and instant, then different. However, if he hadn't mentioned a specific time frame, I would have thought by the end of the day should be fine.

btw I am self employed.

[JJPP1234]

I was going to pay the same evening once the dinner was done, not in 6 weeks time!

As I've said I will certainly clarify in future that transfer may take me a few hours but I'd no Intention of leaving the guy starving

[Theimpossiblegirl]

surely you knew the cost beforehand and had agreed to pay.

All of the people saying he was being pushy etc. are probably paid a regular salary and are not self-employed. He will have paid for materials and once a job is done, it should be paid for immediately unless discussed in advance. I've seen people go under because they have so much owed to them, it's not a nice way to live and I personally would hate to even feel partly responsible for that.

[SpiritedLondon]

I’m with Lloyd’s and they state payments take 2 hours ( to accounts in other banks) so clearly they are not all the same. If he needed payment within a particular time frame he should have included it among his terms and conditions prior to commencing work ( about the time of providing his written quote ) So if he chose to not do that then it’s his tough lookout and his calls are excessive and hounding. YANBU.

[Mivery]

I imagine he's had trouble with people paying him before and was getting anxious you were trying to stuff him.

[PattiStanger]

What baks are you using that don't do faster payments pretty much instantly?

I know it's not scientific but I make and receive quite a lot of transfers between family members and my own accounts with different banks and I've never had an occasion when there's been any kind of time delay. I know they say it may take a while but not for me in practice

[FaveNumberIs2]

In my experience, I’ve alwats either paid before the date of the job, on cash on the day of the job. I think it’s very unreasonable to pay later unless it’s in an agreed contract to pay within xx hours/days of the completion of the work.

Many small businesses like plumbers, decorators, builders, etc, don’t make as much as we think, and often work hand to mouth.

[NotReadyToMove]

£5k!,

Hold on I’m pretty sure that people talking about paying straight away, with cash or immediate transfer aren’t talking about that sort of amount of money.
For a few hundred pounds maybe. Not for that sort of money.

At that level, I’m expecting to have 48h to pay at the very least to check that the work is ok.

Next time, best to agree on a time frame for payments!
And ask for an invoice.

[TheSecondMrsAshwell]

Even transfers aren't always immediate though

Indeed they aren't - for my bank, "instant transfer" means "sort of today-ish" which was not a help when I was trying to rent a new flat. The agent kept ringing me to say that they hadn't had the money and in the end I had to say that there was nothing I could do - I'd been back to the bank and they said the transfer was done.