Getting paid

[colin178]

Hi

What is the normal procedure when being paid by the customer?

Do they give you the cash / cheque as soon as you've finished the job, before you leave?

Or do you finish the job go home and wait for a cheque to be posted through your door?

Cheers

Col

[Bolter]

Thats something to discuss with each individual customers, preferably before you undertake any work.

[arthurdaley]

Yep, discuss at the beginning, l have several customers l do regular work for, they have my account details l send an email with the total due they then transfer the money, would only do this with reliable customers you can trust.
lf its new customers l ask for 25% deposit at the beginning and the remaining balance when the jobs finished, day before it is finished l politely bring it up in conversation, lm not too keen leaving a job and giving them the option of posting a cheque. If the job is a long one say 2-3 weeks l ask for part payment end of each week, remainder once finished.

[Colour Republic]

I very rarely work with cash anymore, it always seems a bit Delboy. Most people have internet banking so 90% of the time I work via bank transfer, the customer always feels easier if they have a 'paper' trail. If you have completed a job them give them an invoice and terms i.e payment now due, 7 days terms, 14 days... 30 days...

[doug boardley]

some customers, especially domestic, will give you a cheque as you finish the job. Commercial work is a different ball game, you can wait up to 2 months for it

[pjc]

some customers, especially domestic, will give you a cheque as you finish the job. Commercial work is a different ball game, you can wait up to 2 months for it

wish that was true Doug have been waiting for some over a year it aint always that easy to collect mate

[doug boardley]

wish that was true Doug have been waiting for some over a year it aint always that easy to collect mate

yep Pete, I know peeps sometimes struggle to get the coin in, esp on site work. My way is to bill contractor little and often, that way I'm never gonna have to take a big hit if payment is not forthcoming

[hillhead]

i finished site job last wednesday,got cheque thursday evening! if all was like that i'd be happier

[Fred]

I tell all my clients its pay day the moment I leave. Cheque, cash or on-line banking, they all get a proper receipt on payment. Got to pay the taxman.

[faithhealer]

Always paid before I leave the premises, always ask them If they neen a 'headed' receipt as well as the 'duplicate book', invoice. Cheques always made out to company name not my name. Only exception is complete bathroom refurbs where I allow them to keep a couple of hundred for a week to made sure workmanship is up to scratch etc

[psychowitch]

I tend to give my customers 7days to pay so they can check out my work..but most pay on the final day ...although just done some refurbishment for a hotel and its overdue by 30days so now chasing them...also found out I can charge interest on overdue payments ... they owe me another 87p...

[whitebeam]

My worst payer is a plumber I do work for, a phone call is imminent

[kameleon]

If i'm suppling the materials I get the money them on the day of starting, you shouldn't have to bankroll somebody else's job. Also if you do get stiffed it's only cost you time.

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

just read through all the post's,some interesting way's,I'm glad you all take care to get paid,and so you should !!! its very dangerous at the mo

[lucius]

Bangers and mash in the claw as you walk out the door, wouldnt take a cheque of a private customer nowadays unless i realy knew them.
Lucius

[edone]

I always tell the the day before I finish the amount owing and when I present them with the final invoice on the day I finish I ask for payment cash or cheque - never had a problem, no-one has ever had an issue.

On the rare occasion when I finish a job and the customer is at work i ask them to send a cheque asap, only ever had one person I had to chase, it took me three weeks to get someone to pay for a days works doing a kitchen splashback.

The important thing is to let them know before hand that you expect payment immediately after job if finished so they are not surprised

[Wingn]

If I'm doing private work through myself I'd expect payment at the end of that job. If I'm doing it through a builder, I'd expect payment that Friday. The builders are usually harder to get money off.

[CON5933]

I can't help it...I know it's wrong....almost fetishist.......but i just love walking out of a customers house with an envelope full of readies...

[hillhead]

I can't help it...I know it's wrong....almost fetishist.......but i just love walking out of a customers house with an envelope full of readies...

[mhtiler]

i get paid as soon as i have finished the work,cash or cheque im easy,if its an insurance job it can take up to a month unless the customer has been paid off the insurance company.