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.

You forgot so they were correct to remind you.

I do a mix of monthly projects and little one-off jobs, but yes, that makes sense; they may not be able to wait quite as long. I don't know because the only service I use weekly also lets me pay monthly, but that might be quite unusual?

I was going to say Yanbu as we have a couple of business customers/service providers that are particularly aggressive with their billing and it does really annoy me. Issuing a (high) annual or whatever payment via post and following up with fairly arsey email reminders within a couple of days is not really great practice. It’s not our fault you posted it out so slowly. Email it to us in the first place! And I’m not talking about small businesses here. 28 days payment is the norm is our industry.

But a weekly service is different. Presumably 24 hours for payment is usual and I’d just suck it up and pay asap!

I think if you offer a month to pay then a weeks grace is reasonable but if payment terms are same day or with 24 hours then a reminder withing 36 is reasonable. I imagine it is also easier for them to keep track of late payers within this time frame than wait a week. Also in their shoes I wouldn't be coming back for the following week if payment hadn't been made.

Would you like it if your employer forgot to pay you on time?

So surely the reminder was handy then?

Presumably if you hadn’t remembered you would have been happy for them not to come the week after?

I have absolutely no issue with paying. I believe the reason I feel narked is that expectations seem to have changed, maybe since bank transfers became commonplace.
For most of my life, payments have been in cash. You either paid the person on the day or if you missed them, you paid them the following week or the one after, without anyone thinking anything about it. Maybe you didn't pay them if neither of you had change and left it till the next week.
I think that's the reason I'm narked. It's as though I've done something wrong, whereas I think I'm always a prompt payer and 36 hours seems ridiculous to me.
It's just not what I've always been used to.

Haha could you imagine.

Payroll being like chill man it’s only 36hours after you finished the months work 🥱 stop nagging us. Pfft.

If you forgot, then surely the reminder was welcomed. How many days would it have taken for you to remember to pay? And if you know, then how do you know this, if you’d forgotten altogether?!

threads are getting weirder and weirder

Surely if you had genuinely forgotten then a reminder would be helpful?

I usually pay my cleaner as soon as she’s finished. One time I completely forgot and she politely reminded me just before she was due to come again 2 weeks later. I felt awful and told her that if I ever forget again to please remind me sooner!

I don’t think it was rude to send a reminder. Personally I’d of given it 2-3 days before I sent a reminder but realistically it’s a weekly service so YABU if you expected a week to pay.

You seem to have taken this personally like its put you on a blacklist or somehow questions your character but a reminder is just that a reminder. Plus you admit that you forgot, so it’s probably a good job they reminded you.

Have you paid now?

But you have done something wrong even if inadvertently.

Many businesses are running on tight margins at the moment, people not paying makes those margins even tighter.

Er, yes!

Must be. They have every right to chase up slack payers like you.

How can you forget if it happens every week?

If they use an app for invoicing/ accounting the reminder would be automatic - it’s nothing personal

Yeah it's not 1982 anymore so best to move with the times really! No many people work cash in hand these days and those that did in the past were probably a bit more free and easy with what they declared to the tax man. People steam line their book keeping with software and often set automated reminders for payment. It's business not a personal slight and if they are a younger generation then they may never have known your cash only as and when casual payment history!

Before we had the ability to pay people online, people providing a service would be paid then and there, either by cash or cheque. Now no one has cash or doesn't like to pay tradespeople in it, in case they're tax dodgers. So they are expected to repeatedly request what they are owed from people who cant be arsed to find 30 seconds to do an online payment.

How would you feel if your employer "forgot' to pay you?

It didn't use to be every week. It used to be more irregular.

I’m not sure it is a cash vs bank transfer issue as I think its even more unacceptable if paying by cash to accept a service and not have the money ready.

What are the payment terms? That’s your starting point.
then check that the reminder was sent correctly and within those terms. It may well have been automated.

Would you accept your wages being paid late as someone “forgot” i think not.

You should be paying on the day the service is delivered. 36h for a reminder is very reasonable imo. Just set up a direct debit if you have trouble remembering to pay.

Definitely no payment terms, all very casual. No paperwork I'm aware of. Just a text at some point after doing the work.