To change my mind when he asked for payment in cash?

[Wardrobefred]

I wanted some work done in my garden. I know I should get 3 quotes, but I just wanted it done. Price was £1200 and he could start the following week so I accepted it.

Then he asked for a deposit to "secure the date" which seemed a bit much when he clearly wasn't turning down other work! I was going to agree, just to get the job done, it was £50 by bank tf. Then he said he'd want the rest in cash on the day of completion "so he could pay the men". TBH it never occurred to me anyone would want that much in cash and it certainly wasn't mentioned when we were discussing price.

I said I'm not comfortable getting out £1200 in cash, which I'm not. It's a faff because you have to go to the bank and then walk across town carrying it. So he said pay half in cash, which still presents the same issues. By this time I was thinking my quick decision to give him the work was a bit rash, so I said I'd decided to take more time to think about it.

I'm now on the local FB page as a timewaster...

YANBU to not want to pay in cash but I pay cash all the time. We have lots of family and friends in the trades and it makes the work more affordable for us.

Do or don’t, it’s completely up to you. I understand the tax dodging concerns though.

I wouldn't want to take that much out in cash either and makes me think he is just avoiding tax. I don't blame you.

The tax is his affair afaic. I just felt cash cash insecure. The risk of being mugged whilst carrying it and no "audit trial" to prove I'd paid it. Plus he didn't offer a reduction for cash so there was no benefit to me anyway.

You’ve probably dodged a bullet there he sounds like a total cowboy. Any decent tradesman would have work weeks ahead

bave you been mugged before? If you’ve never been mugged before it’s unusual to think you’d get mugged now?
if he dodges the tax and takes cash, that means you dodge the tax too! So it’s not all bad

OP, at the most, he asks for payment for materials upfront, but produces an invoice for this and his own bank account details so you can do a transfer.
You then pay the balance of completion of work, again by bank transfer.
Sorry, but unless you know them or they've been highly recommended then don't go there. Them bad mouthing you on SM is only doing them harm.

I think you did the right thing, it would be a real hassle for you and it's pretty unusual these days for someone to want to - or expect to - be paid that much in cash. I find it pretty unusual nowadays for tradesmen to quote for cash if its for more than a hundred or so. Whenever we've had the odd tradesman that does prefer cash, they normally tell you upfront before you've shook hands on it. The fact that he's slating you online for changing your mind at discussion stage shows you've had a lucky escape! I'd get in touch with mods on any pages where he's said anything about you, our local groups take a dim view of this sort of thing and will delete posts like this.

Contact group mods - or respond publicly that you prefer to hire people who are honest about being cash only before taking any money. Then shop to HMRC 😎🔥

Is him dodging tax just his affair though? When you complain about schools not being good enough or the NHS not being good enough or pot holes in the road or kids living in poverty or your bins not being collected or older people not being cared for or normal people having to care for the vulnerable because there's nobody else to do it or kids being murdered because social services didn't have enough resources to notice is it still OK for us all to stand by and watch people not pay tax? When he screws over the government by not paying tax, he is screwing you too. Your services are screwed because he doesn't pay tax. And whilst he's screwing you over, he's living his best life because he can afford to. You really think it's just his affair and not yours too?

The risk of being mugged is quite low tbh, the no audit trial, surely you’d ask for a receipt?.

And why would he offer a reduction for cash?
if the job is worth £1200 and you accept that, why would it be lower because of how it’s paid, unless you’re suggesting he isn’t paying his taxes on his income?

Paying someone in cash doesn't mean they don't pay tax. That's another mumsnet myth.

I wouldn't bother with him and would get someone else. I have on occasion had people offer me a lower price for something to pay in cash and I have gone with it, but these were people I'd already used and generally paid via card. However, I wouldn't go to the bank to get out over a thousand pounds. Also I wouldn't pay a deposit - I'd want to see the work done first.

It's blatantly obvious that he's dodging paying tax, which infuriates me!

It's literally why they ask for cash, always has been - I find people tend to tiptoe around this this these days, they used to be more blunt!
Sure you get kids doing carwashes or nail art for friends and neighbours and the like asking for cash - but this is a tradesman with a team of men working for him, who will all be be working casually, cash in hand. 😁

what possible reason could there be for asking for cash payment, if not to avoid taxes? It's not the olden days where you had to actually go into a bank; with a bank transfer, the money is available and accessible immediately, so there's absolutely no advantage to cash, if not for tax avoidance.

No it isn't. There is no reason to ask for cash unless for tax dodging purposes. OP, you did nothing wrong and I would report him to the FB group admins (and also possibly tip off HMRC)

YANBU. It's purely to dodge tax, and I would never pay that much in cash.

Well it’s not unusual to ask to be paid in cash - it can of course be a tax dodge, but if he’s paying labourers they are traditionally paid in cash. As long as he provides you with an invoice before payment and you take a walk round the garden with him to check everything is done right, there’s nothing odd or not above board about it.

None of which is to say you have to do it. We aren’t used to handling cash the way we were.

It would be perfectly reasonable to leave a temperate response to his Facebook message, saying - ‘ as I explained I was happy to hire you, but not to make such a large payment in cash. That does not make me a time waster.’

If you can reply to the FB post, I just respond politely saying "I think your comment is rather unfair. You refused to accept a bank transfer for payment and wanted cash in hand only. You should have made your payment terms clear before quoting".

To be honest, demanding cash in hand then writing rude FB posts about a customer speaks volumes and I'd call it a lucky escape. I never employ ANYONE who slags off a customer online!

This.

This sounds just like a company I used a few years ago. Dodgy!

It’s not unusual to ask to be paid in cash if the guy is paying casual labourers, who have always traditionally been paid daily or weekly in cash.

If he provides an invoice - which the OP should insist on - that would indicate the money is going through the system.

Of course she shouldn’t pay in cash if she doesn’t want to and she can report him to HMRC to check it out, but she shouldn’t make accusations to the admins of her local Facebook group - she can just answer him pointing out she isn’t a timewaster she just didn’t want to pay cash.

I would be concerned that he is available to do the job so soon, I think you have had a lucky escape

Cash is legal tender and doesn’t involve transfer fees. Paying labourers on the day in cash is perfectly normal. You can go to a hole-in-the-wall, get out a few hundred quid at a time. It’s two or three visits. Really not that inconvenient. Otherwise offer pay him half the total amount in advance so he can get the cash out beforehand.

With tap payments it’s really no riskier than carrying a card.