...to have expected to be able to pay by bank transfer?

[Marigo]

Hired a professional to provide a service in my home. Discussed price in advance but not payment method and I assumed I’d be able to bank transfer. After consultation she asked if I wanted to pay cash or cheque but I don’t have a cheque book and I didn’t have cash so I asked for her bank details. She said she didn’t know them or keep a copy on her! I had to load 3 children into pushchair and walk to the cash point with her to get cash out.

I know I should have confirmed payment method in advance but WIBU to expect someone who provides services in clients’ homes to accept bank transfer payment?

Bank transfer is no use if your account is really overdrawn as the money she might need to buy food that evening will just get swallowed up by DD and overdraft fees.

Makes sense actually - I didn’t consider that.

What’s so wrong with a bank transfer exactly?

She is likely skint and needs the cash to buy food.

Not sure what’s so complicated about it to be honest

Perhaps she's been burnt by transfers that haven't materialised in the past and it was a polite way of saying she didn't want to take the risk.

Not all are instant enough to check there and then. And you'd be surprised how many people view small business invoices in a similar light to an amazon shopping basket, something to be paid when/ if they feel like it.

Charges for PayPal/ Apple Pay/ card readers are the reason not many one man band self employed people use them

Honestly the amount of time I waste chasing people for bank transfers!

I think it may seem weird from the outside looking in. But it's not when you are a one man band yourself. Getting money off people is not easy

Cross posted

I only pay online, either as a transfer or by Apple Pay/card. I make this perfectly clear up front and have been known to not proceed if they are not open to this.

When I pay by online transfer I actually do the transfer on the spot.

New hairdresser was initially not keen but now wishes she could persuade everyone to do the same. No trailing to bank to pay in cash. Limited possibilities for non- payment and it is on record that they have not paid.

What is not to like?

@FinallyHere people who don't pay when they say they will and you have to chase 😂

Going to the bank is a pain. But at least you have the money

So many people can't/won't do it there and then

I generally do it there and then with the app, unless it’s a new payment and I need to go on the PC, turn round three times, howl at the moon, summon the gods and sprinkle fairy dust to add a new payee to the account.

That's exactly it Yabbers....
It's not always simple!

I'm a freelance sports coach so people don't always have phone to hand/reception. That makes cash easier.

I do allow transfers though. But it has made life harder tracking who has and has not paid and chasing is a pain

Malmi the person being paid does not need the cheque book. It’s the person paying who writes the cheque—from their own cheque book.

I’m not sure...
I would usually ask first but to be on the safe side I would expect to pay cash.

Bank transfer is no use if your account is really overdrawn as the money she might need to buy food that evening will just get swallowed up by DD and overdraft fees

Then what use is a cheque?

Then what use is a cheque?

She knows no one will use a cheque. She gives it as an option, but since it’s not 1985 she is pretty safe in the knowledge no one will use one/even have a cheque book

Lol I have a cheque book, use it and although not very recently I have had clients in past few years that regularly paid by cheque.

But £120 is a lot. Very few people will have that with them and tbh, I wouldn’t want to pay these amounts by cash.

If she is self employed, she should have an account for the business itself rather than putting all the money directly on her normal bank account anyway. So it doesn’t matter if she is overdrawn or not.

If she is self employed, she should have an account for the business itself rather than putting all the money directly on her normal bank account anyway. So it doesn’t matter if she is overdrawn or not.

Haha

Lucky you. Clearly never been there.

If you are self employed then if one account is overdrawn the other probably is as well

@PrayingandHoping
Charges for PayPal/ Apple Pay/ card readers are the reason not many one man band self employed people use them

There are many systems now that are crap and accessible to one man band.
IZettle is one of them. 1.75% isn’t much (and I have just added that to my price to compensate anyway) and the reader is about £50 as a one off.
It IS totally accessible to very small businesses (which I am btw)

@Newsheet I am self employed. A small one ‘woman’ band working part time due to a chronic illness.

And yes I do have two separate accounts for my own sanity (and do the accounts at the end of the year). I’m not sure how hard it is to do.
As for being on overdraft on the business account, again that’s a choice?

She was unreasonable not to have told you that prior to the appointment, so you could have been prepared. I had the same with a lactation consultants (not a home visit) but she had told me payment methods before the appointment and the nearest cash machine if required.

I have looked into them. It really depends on your turnover, charge per session and client base whether or not they are worth it.

That and the fact I teach in the middle of
Nowhere so often people have reception issues it doesn't really help me.

Even 1.75%.... no thanks. Cash, cheque or bank transfer is the answer for me

I'm self-employed and I only very occasionally get cheques from elderly clients (and I only accept them as my banking app lets me scan them in, otherwise it's an annoyingly long trip to my bank as I live rurally). The rest of my clients pay via bank transfer or PayPal.

In terms of the people I pay on a regular basis, gardener, window cleaner, dog-walker, etc. all are bank transfer. I do think it's a bit odd to run a business and not have a bank account that people can pay into. It seems a bit... unprofessional nowadays for some reason. Particularly as you don't need a specific business bank account, so even if you're a small business (I'm a one-woman show), you can just use a current account. You don't even need a separate current account, although it makes it easier for doing your accounts if you do.

We use cheques often for this sort of thing, as I very rarely carry cash.

Don't really care about other people's tax affairs either tbh.

Cheques are a pain as there are so few suburban banks to pay them into now, and are best suited for times when you have a cluster to pay in in one go. Good for things like scout subs where payments come in en-masse. I'm most likely to use them for school as it's that or cash

Bank transfers can be a pain to monitor and check up on. Not all organisations have access to internet banking, so you may have to wait weeks for a statement to check (our Guides account can neither have internet banking nor its own bank card due to needing multiple signituries, so in the 21st century, we're stuck with the least skint leader paying up then being paid back as our chunky chequebook is of limited use) Bank transfer works best for repeat customers who are trusted.

Cash is still the simplest method to directly pay an individual or small organisation.

A service that costs £120, I would def expect them to be able to take card or bank transfer or even paypal. Window cleaner for £12 not so much....but like I said I convinced mine to get a card reader and he thanked me for it.

I say that because DH is self employed, he hates taking cash.

He also has an invoice app which doesn't cost very much that tells him when the invoices are paid and sends reminders to those who don't after a specified time.

In this day and age, I would question anyone self employed who doesn't have this flexibility..... Id also question why a some trader doesn't have a seperate acct...... Sounds like tax dodging to me. Even if she's skint in her own acct she can withdraw from the business acct as a wage, its really not that hard.

Depends on the sum of money. I leave cash every week for the cleaner. She's not dodging tax but just prefers to have the cash. Similarly when we had someone round to clear the gutters, £50 and he wanted cash or cheque. As does the window cleaner.

But if it's something like fixing the boiler or plastering or anything more than £150, most people will offer the option of bank transfer. But they don't have to.