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?

Just pay him. He might have a mortgage to pay, bills to come out etc etc. This is a bug bear of mine. If you're happy with the job pay straight away before they leave, that's what I do. Its done and out the way then.

I once had a subcontractor ask the customer for a sub on his first day of the job.😂
Mortified.
I sacked him after he'd finished.

Just pay he did the work.

Chasing you five times over the weekend is unreasonable YANBU.
I would pay now asap and not use again.

My DP is a tradesman (plumbing & heating engineer).

He’ll always give payment terms and would never chase people this soon, but admittedly if they hadn’t paid after a couple of days he starts to get antsy.

Remember they’ve forked out for the cost of the materials etc from their own pocket and are essentially trusting you and relying on your goodwill for payment. Until you pay they are essentially out of pocket for the work they’ve done for you.

And with the current climate, they can’t afford to be out of pocket for long. So he may have appeared a little over eager, but he wasn’t really wrong to chase payment to ensure he got it.

Personally, if someone did a job for me, I’d have paid them straight away. No reason to wait. Takes 2 minutes to transfer the money online.

Why wouldn't you pay him immediately ? I always pay tradespeople before they even leave the house. They have to pay out for stuff, they are entitled to be paid .

Just a note, the credit accounts are to benefit the business, not the customer.

It’s normal to pay on completion. I usually pay before they leave unless it’s building work that requires an inspection or something.

Pay him
he has done the work
you are happy with it
do you have your hair cut and then leave without payment?
people who are self employed need to manage their cash flow
you are being massively selfish by making him wait. Just pay the man and stop moaning

Yes you are being unreasonable , being the wife of a tradesman alot of the out put for materials comes from our own pockets ,we still have to pay staff and fuel bills ect even if you don't pay which leaves us out of pocket . If you have the money why not just pay it and if you dont why have the work done in the first place ? We've nearly lost everything before because someone decided not to pay .we send debt collectors if not paid and there is no valid reason given . So yes pay your tradesman

Where I live in Scotland you get a few weeks to pay at least 2 weeks normally 28 days but you hun I lived in England most trades expect payment on the day .

Payment on presentation of the invoice is the norm with trades people unless you've agreed different terms beforehand.
I would have paid it on Friday and been done with it tbh.

Yeah the first time I used a tradesman I was shocked by this too. In the field I work in payment is due in 30 days from the date of the invoice, sometimes longer depending on the company. I thought this was standard but not for tradesmen. Sometimes they want paying at the end of the day in cash , which caught me out once. They were surprised I didn’t just have £600 lying around the house!! I hardly ever have cash on me.

That is out of order. I run payrolls and once in 30 years I did it a day late, due to a banking error. I was mortified. Has anyone come to you to cover bank charges if they have incurred them because of your late payment?

I always transfer on completion of job straight away by online banking.

In the last few weeks I've had a plumber in for a dripping tap and a chap for a small oven fix and they both had card readers which was really convenient for all parties.

Don't drag your feet, it's not fair on him. Imagine leaving a high street shop or most anywhere really without paying.

If you buy something you should pay when asked.
Why should he wait for his money?

Never understand this.

When you go to Tesco to buy your weekly food shop you pay before you leave with your groceries.
When you order clothes online you pay before you’ve even received them.
When you go to a gig, you pay for the ticket months before the event.
When you buy a house, funds are transferred before you move in (either from your own cash or a mortgage).

But a builder does work and you are this reluctant to just pay him? It’s such a shitty attitude. Someone has spent hours doing work for you, fronted costs of materials and labour and you’re just going to sit on your arse and whine about him wanting paid? And even worse still, spend time writing a post to complain about it rather than just paying him?

Grow up.

It’s not you…but so many tradesmen are having a mare of a time…and a fair whack of customers keep them waiting for weeks or months…so many go out of business. Banks are leaning on tradesmen to get payment ASAP….he is just doing what he needs to stay afloat.

I run a service business. I chase only after the 14 day payment terms are up. I suspect this guy didn’t put terms on the invoice. If that’s the case I think Monday payment is fine. He is rude to chase over the weekend.

Yes I am well aware of that. My point was if they have a credit account they don't have to charge the customer upfront for materials (eg in my case for the gas boiler). As it seems to becoming a more regular thing, they're obviously not benefiting from the credit accounts like they did in the past.

Payment on presentation of the invoice is the norm with trades people unless you've agreed different terms beforehand no it isn't, the norm is whatever it says on the invoice, which could be anything from "on receipt" (for which I would still expect 48 hours or so) up to 7 days and beyond.

A one-off domestic invoice is not the same as a professionally run payroll!

so many tradesmen are having a mare of a time are they? I thought they were overwhelmed with work due to everyone WFH and noticing loads of jobs, both big and small, they need doing.

If you're happy with the work and he invoiced you then I would say it's polite to pay him within a reasonable time, say 24hrs.

He has bills like us all and it's courteous to pay.

My other half is a tradesman and wishes people would just pay rather than having to chase them. Tbf he doesn't chase for at least a few weeks but I think he's too soft!

So you can come on here to question whether he should ask for payment for work he’s clearly carried out but you can’t pay him immediately??

YABU beyond words.

With the price of fuel and materials like timber rising I don't think they are having the easiest of time. I suspect that problems with the supply chain are probably extended to parts that tradesmen may use.