Tradesman chasing for payment

[CharlesIsQueensHorcrux]

Hi - I had a tradesman in last week, finished Friday & invoiced Friday night with email and message. Since then has messaged another five times chasing me! By the way I wasn’t ignoring him I messaged back saying I was out but would deal. Is it me or is he unreasonable to chase me all weekend for an invoice issued on Friday night? I was happy with the work but not sure now I would use him again as I feel a bit ick like there’s a suggestion I wouldn’t pay or something. Aibu?

I would usually pay within 24 hours but I don’t think it’s necessary for them to chase until 7 days

Pay him. Do you walk out of Tesco with shopping because you’re busy and will deal with paying later? Pay.
This! People take the absolute piss with self employed people. They have bills to pay too you know.

@LoudingVoice online banking doesn’t turn off over the weekend.

*I will harrasss you if you don't pay within 5 minutes."

I think that pulling up on the hard shoulder so you can pay immediately, all so a childish adult who can't handle fast payments, only instantaneous ones, is dangerous, stupid and unnecessary.
*
So you'd pay someone immediately even if you were driving on a motorway or asleep when the email came in. STOP LYING.

@GCRich again, not what happened. He completed a job, expected the payment within a day, 2 days later he was still waiting. Why do you feel the need to continuously make up bizarre scenarios which aren't relevant to the OP? Really weird behaviour.

The OP said the invoice should've been paid within 1 day - which is why nearly everything you've written on this thread is irrelevant really 🤷🏻‍♀️

The two-way street is that he does the work and the customer pays. It's irrelevant to this particular case that you had a very different experience of a tradesman messing about with delays and whatnot.
That doesn't apply here.

Large companies are terrible at paying their bills, they expect to wait three months, my brother was owed £250,000 by a very famous company, they didn't pay and he went bust. GLad to see that they went bust a few years later.

People like you are really annoying. Pay the invoice as soon as you get it. You can’t pay the supermarket once you get home.

I run a business in a related industry, its payment on receipt of invoice, most pay same day some a few days later. The system is completely digital, the quotes explicitly state payment terms and deposits. Yet some dawdle with payment.

www.gov.uk/invoicing-and-taking-payment-from-customers/payment-obligations
'You can set your own payment terms, such as discounts for early payment and payment upfront.
Unless you agree on a payment date, the customer must pay you within 30 days of getting your invoice or the goods or service'.

One of the issues is not working capital, it's the speed of the work, by the end of the week this can add up. I audit every week, paying the same day cuts the accounting work. I don't want to be chasing monies the week after, same day means updating the sale, cost, and the overall finances, that day is closed once all monies are in.
Profits are usually £7-10 thousand per month, so money is NOT the issue.
Incidentally whilst managing at a £10 million turnover company, £350,000 was outstanding at any one time due to slow payers, that was a purely domestic company.
What's annoying is this work is quoted, and booked in, so the customer knows you're coming yet they've not prepared payment. So the upshot of this is these customers despite being on friendly terms, refuse to work for them again.

On another note, I've just had to pay upfront for dental work. In another industry, I worked, when we booked DJs we had to pay thousands upfront or pay when they'd finished the set, so they could move on to their next booking.

"My banking app is offline this weekend"

well that's a shame. Which bank is it?

You can also bank through the website though.

See, in my experience it's the complete opposite - I always pay the quoted amount on the day of completion. I've never even had an invoice, I get a quote (if relevant) then a receipt!

My DH used to be a self-employed gas engineer and was always paid on completion; the only exception to this was with landlords who were regular customers so were sent invoices to be paid within 14 days.

Do people just really say bye to a tradesman once they've finished without paying? Maybe it depends on the type of job - I've never had major building work done so don't know what the expectation is but I would always pay immediately and am really surprised other people don't. If a customer I didn't know owed me £500 say, id be twitchy until it was paid - you wouldn't lend a stranger £500 and be totally chilled about it being repaid, it's the same principle. The man has probably been stung too many times to accept 'I'll deal' as fact.

This really annoys me, as my DH is self employed and some people are inconsiderate about making the payment.
If the work is done, as agreed, and you are happy, then pay on receipt of invoice!! People have bills to pay, materials etc to pay for. If the job is done to your satisfaction then pay promptly- workers shouldn't have to chase for payments!

This thread is doing nothing to counter my belief that the majority of tradesmen are unprofessional and entitled.

I've been a freelancer for years and years. For a long time, it was my sole source of income. The idea that I would ever expect an invoice to be paid upon receipt is laughable. Normal payment terms in the industry are 30 days after the issue of the invoice. I would never expect to be paid before clients had had ample time to check the quality of my work.

Why do tradesmen think they're so very special that their clients need to pay them immediately, regardless of their own cash flow issues?

I agree.

I don’t think you were unreasonable at all to assume you’d have a few days to pay. It’s well known that some businesses have to wait up to 28 days for payment so my assumption is that with the cost of living crisis he wants all invoices paid immediately. Potentially because yes skint but more likely because he’s aware everyone’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, and he wants to ensure he’s Paul!!

it would definitely put me off using him again.

I feel exactly the same @pixie5121 .

And I do pay for work promptly because I** rely on invoicing for my income.

But Fri to Mon is no time.

Potentially because yes skint but more likely because he’s aware everyone’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, and he wants to ensure he’s Paul!!

@RudsyFarmer I like that! 

I don't think trades do think they're special.
Once a quote is accepted the Tand C's are agreed to which may mean payment on receipt.
Just pay for it as agreed.
I've just bought some meal replacement shakes, shall I pay next week.😂

What are your costs on a daily basis?

Once a quote is accepted the Tand C's are agreed to which may mean payment on receipt.

Don't think there were any T&Cs till OP saw the Invoice.

But yes IF you agree beforehand. Which OP didn't.

YANBU. HIBU.

Some people here don't seem to understand the difference between payment in cash and payment by invoice. No of course you can't pay the supermarket after you get home because they don't operate an invoicing system. For businesses and individuals that do, the usual assumption I've always seen is payment within 28 days. OK, times are hard and some people might need to make that 14, or even 7. MAYBE it's even OK to say 1 day - but surely anyone who does that on an invoice (NOT a cash transaction on the spot) when there was no notification of that intention in advance, is going to understand that people have lives and may not be on hand to pay them IMMEDIATELY. Also, surely it would be presumed that that means one business day, and invoice on Friday means payment by Monday.

At any rate, for him to badger you over the weekend for it is just out of order and unprofessional. Of course you paid him, you never suggested that you wouldn't. But I wouldn't use him again, personally. I wonder how he intends to get repeat business this way.

I would expect payment to be made Fri eve when my husband invoiced, it is due on receipt of the invoice,

No presumption if the invoice says payment on receipt. Some even have card machines, so a third party handles the payment and then releases the monies.
Who cares about your life, excuses, pay the bloody bill on time as agreed.

My quotes specifically state payment terms, account details, etc.
The worse payers are other trades, unfortunately.
Anyhow, I only really have this problem once a month or so anyway.

I don't think any money transferred online on Friday evening would go anywhere until Monday anyway.

One is a service, another is a product. I'm surprised so many grown adults can't see the difference.

What do my costs have to do with anything?