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?

@Comefromaway if you’re not on a pc now I’m guessing you’re on a phone or iPad. You can set up new payees from a banking app. I never use internet banking from a browser, I do it all from the apps!

It's true; smaller companies and the few individuals I freelance for are much quicker. Big companies get bogged down by bureaucracy.

Im on an iPhone.

I can only set up a new payee from my banking app if I’m paying them less than £1000 (recently increased from £500). I did say that in a previous post.

He finished the job Friday I take it, so therefore he should have been paid on Friday too. You couldn't do a food shop at Tesco's and tell them you'll sort out payment over the weekend! Maybe he's living hand to mouth like so many people and needs the money immediately for food/bills/fuel.

weve tried from Safari several times but it doesn’t seem to work.

In that case, you speak to the tradesman in advance about the situation an either pay them in advance from your work PC, or do it via your phone, pay the maximum amount of 1k, and pay the remainder ASAP.

Blimey I’m actually a bit surprised as some of these comments. I would expect to pay within a couple of days of completion but not the second the job was done. It’s actually quite difficult to have a good look to see if the job is well done if someone is hanging over you and what if a fault only becomes apparent after use? Eg I had some taps fitted and realised there was a tiny drip after a few times of usage.
Don’t tradesmen ask for part payment up front if they have to pay out for lots of materials?
If I start an office job in 1st June I won’t get paid until 30th so have done 20 days work before they pay me.

My husband always has to chase people for money after he's done work

It's degrading and it affects his families cash flow

Seriously my husband has 4 or 5 people who need to pay him
The arrogance of witholding money is horrible

If you've had it and it's been done they pay.

You have to pay for everything else at the point of purchase so pay him qnd don't go on a power trip

He's got the ick from you because you're not paying him thinking it's your right to take your time

Don't be like that

It's literally been the reason why I can't take my children for a day out sometimes when my husband is owed thousands and thousands by people like you.

Maybe if the tradesman had provided the OP with a pro forma invoice BEFORE Friday night they’d have done that.

Wow!

Pay him ASAP if you haven’t already,.

Maybe he desperately needs the money for food, or maybe he doesn’t. That’s none of your business. He did the work and deserves to be paid promptly.

I doubt very much he will do work for you again, and probably warn other trades.
Just pay him, not a difficult concept

When I've had big jobs done recently I've always made a bank transfer before the tradesman, mechanic etc left, too many are ripped off by non-paying or slow paying customers.

We did this in last house with major job few years ago, so possibly more usual, and tradesman was delighted he got the money there are then.

We had some very minor issue with items he's not touched but in his area in next few years - despite them being small jobs he came very quickly as he knew we'd pay there and then.

If there's an issue with the work, then you address that separately imo.

An employee working for x days before payday isn't in the same boat as someone who is self-employed.

I can only say that there is a message saying hat any payment made after 6pm on a Friday evening wil not be paid until the next working day. Maybe it's the account setting? I do think a message goes through to the payee though so they know it's not been ignored.

Yep - if you pay your tradesmen/cleaners/dog walkers promptly and don't make them chase you, it will benefit you ten-fold if you have issues down the line and need to use them in the future.

People here are full of shit.

I used to be freelance and normal payment terms were within 30 days. Issuing an invoice and expecting immediate payment is unreasonable. If you do, for some reason, need immediate payment, you need to make that clear.

So then surely knowing this, you'd make the first payment on the Friday so you could complete the full transaction within the time stated on invoice?

RTFT.

He did make it clear. Payment was due within a day.

He did - the invoice stated payment within a day

Small one day jobs are paid in cash as they leave. Bigger multiple day jobs are online transfers, which means card reader and laptop, and there's no way I'd be paying until I'd had a chance to check I was happy with the work. I think chasing multiple times before one business day had elapsed is taking the piss. Fair enough if he needed money urgently but he should've told OP that on Thursday at the latest.

I can just imagine the response OP would've had if she had messaged him five times over the weekend about a problem with the work.

Then your husband needs a better system eg have a card machine and take payment there and then. Or 50% upfront etc.

Sounds a bit much chasing several
times like that, but he’s probably been messed around in the past.

I got a new boiler fitted recently, I paid with online banking whilst he was still in my house (he wasnt pushing me to do this, but ti was easier so he could see I had sent payment there and then), I don't understand why it'd take all weekend to do an online payment, takes about 3minutes. He's done the job satisfactorily why would you not pay immediately, do you pay for your haircut 3 days later or on the spot?

You should pay as soon as he sent the invoice. He is probably worrying you are going to mess him around, he could also need the money to pay for materials for the next job.

Well, if I'd screwed up on a job I'd already been paid for, I would fully expect to contacted over the weekend - and I would go round and take a look as soon as possible, not leave the customer hanging until Monday.