AIBU to feel annoyed by a payment reminder after 36 hours?

[SixtySomething]

We have a weekly service at our house. The company sends us a bill a few hours after finishing the work and we pay by bank transfer. The cost can vary so we don't pay by direct debit.
Recently, we received the regular bill but didn't pay immediately. The bill was followed up with a reminder 36 hours later. We are longstanding customers.This left me feeling really narked. AIBU?
YABU: They did the work, so you should pay them straight away.
YANBU: They should give you a week to pay. This is pushy behaviour.

Quite!!

But we're all replying to things you've written, so where are we going wrong?

I know you think that everyone has it wrong, but we're just responding to the things that you are writing, that's all we have to go on, people are responding to your posts, but then you'll say we have it wrong and that wasn't the real question, but it was what you asked us! That's why people are getting frustrated, people mostly don't think the reminder came too soon (regardless of when they used to send their reminders) because you did forget to pay (you said), and people mostly do think you should just pay straight after the service for any small business service but you still think that everyone else is wrong!

The average trade payment terms for the majority of businesses in the UK is either 30 days from date of invoice; 30 days from the end of month following invoice date; and with far fewer using 60 days or 60 days EOM. AI will have extracted that '51 days' information from commercial credit rating data, which would be extremely unlikely to include the self-employed or very small businesses in it, because it is not available to be harvested.

If invoices are due from anywhere between 30 days straight and 90 days (for an invoice raised on the 1st Jan which isn't due for payment until the end of March, for instance), an average settlement date of 51 days from invoice date is well within the expected range.

Most very small businesses working by the hour for private customers cannot offer anything even remotely approaching those payment terms. They need paying straight away.

Incidentally @SixtySomething chances are that although you normally pay quickly, some of their other customers probably don't. So they are used to chasing people for money and since you unexpectedly paid late, they included you when chasing. No biggie. 🙂

where are we going wrong?

For a start, @AuntieCorruption by telling me that, as I had a reminder from a company, I was due to 'binned off by this couple ASAP'.
That hasn't happened and isn't going to happen as we're such good customers, good payers and they like us.Your comment isn't sensible or nice, so that's one way you're going wrong.
You can't have a sensible discussion if you can't show some basic decency and respect for the other person.

It's a waste of time trying to reason with someone so unreasonable

A payment reminder (which you needed because you had forgotten) for a weekly service seems reasonable to me. They won’t want you to have another service without having paid for the week before.

Just as well they reminded you then surely?

Yes, I do rather have that impression! 😁

Here we go again!

I’m just wondering what date schools go back after Easter !!

I think you’re just here for a bunfight. It’s Easter - haven’t you anything better to do. Like ironing your school uniform ready for term time ?

Good one! Just scroll on if not interested.😆

Why did you start the thread if you didn't want people's opinion? Get off here and go pay some bills jeez

I thought I would be able to have a sensible discussion. I have learned there are too many people who are here to look for opportunities to stick a knife in when they can.

Oh I’m interested. But from the point of view that a mature and sensible adult would know that if someone has rendered a service they should be paid in a timely manner. Things are tight for a lot of people at the moment and your post displays a shocking level of disregard for that. If you received a payment reminder then clearly they needed the payment. That’s really all there is to it.

f someone has rendered a service they should be paid in a timely manner.
I agree and that's just what I do.
Things are tight for a lot of people at the moment and your post displays a shocking level of disregard for that. As it so happens, as I've written several times, things are far from tight for this business, although of course they still deserve to be paid in a timely manner, as I do. So no shocking level of disregard You received a payment reminder then clearly they needed the payment.Yes and I paid them. That wasn't what the question was about FGS.
Okay? Hopefully your interest is now satisfied.

The question was whether it was reasonable for them to send a payment request after 36 hours. You said there was an ‘expectation’ of something different. I asked whether this was your expectation or theirs, and didn’t get a reply so I went on the information you’ve given. No, it was not unreasonable for them to send a payment reminder after thirty six hours, especially if you usually pay before this amount of time has elapsed. You forgot. What were you going to do if they hadn’t reminded you ?

You may or may not not get ‘binned off’ but a lot of service providers do do that in the circumstances of having a client with your attitude, so I’m not ‘going wrong’ with that, it’s a fact!

There’s no point debating the point with you, you’re never going to even slightly listen to any of us or think that you might have been wrong in any way. I don’t know why you posted if you didn’t genuinely want people’s opinions, it’s getting clear you just came to have a pointless scrap which isn't very adult in my opinion. I’ll leave you to it.

The expectation was that we would pay within 3-4 days. That was an expectation on both sides that they've always been happy with and how things happen round here.
Without warning, they suddenly sent a reminder after 36 hours.
My question was whether it was reasonable to do this without explanation or warning.
As it happened, I was going to pay them on the day but forgot; I now see that isn't relevant to the situation.

If you usually pay before the 36 hours mark, then yes a reminder is not unreasonable, because it’s out of character. They will have assumed that your forgot.

This unspoken 3-4 day rule is only relevant if that’s the timeframe you adopt. By consistently paying early you have brought that expectation forward.

Was this reminder sent only to you, specifically, or was it a generic message sent to all their clients?

a client with your attitude,
My attitude is polite, helpful and regular in my poayments. That'd a fact, so no, they're keen to have us as clients.
I do want opinions but only sensible, respectful ones. Otherwise there can be no discussion and that's why this post has gone wrong.
As a pp poster said, almost no one has replied to the question I asked.
There are people here interested in a sensible, constructive discussion. But it's difficult when many just come on for a bit of sport at the end of the day and I guess that's why there have been more 'sillies' just now.

Hells teeth!

LET IT GO!! 😆😆😆

Off you go, then.

This. Thank you. This is what I was trying to say but you put it better than me.