How soon do you expect payment.

[Bosswhite]

To me, up front means before work starts.

To me Paying "Up Front" means paying when the account is handed over immediately the work has been carried out.

Payment in "advance" means before the work has started.

Both of which do not convey confidence in the type of workmanship carried out to the customer,
My opinion is that the customer should be able to ensure over a reasonable period of time all work has been carried out satisfactorily before payment.

 

[dilly]

This goes back to the old problem ,you buy a tv they will not let you leave the premises without paying ,whether they have the product on terms of thirty days it totally irrelevant,I like to be paid on completion of works,why should I spend my time chasing payments if there is a problem I go back and sort it.

 

[noseall]

My opinion is that the customer should be able to ensure over a reasonable period of time all work has been carried out satisfactorily before payment.

Mine too that's why I said "when the customer is satisfied".
Are you sure you can read properly?
How much time do you think is reasonable fir a customer to become satisfied with your work?

 

[gregers]

ive had a customer running up the road to pay me when i finished for the day,he said sorry heres the dosh.i said you couldve paid me tomorrow when i come back to continue more work.his reply was no! youve done the job heres the payment.
if only they were all like that.

 

[noseall]

To me, up front means before work starts.

To me Paying "Up Front" means paying when the account is handed over immediately the work has been carried out.

At one stage you almost formed an argument, although a flawed one.
Now your embarrassing back peddling not only stinks of B.S. but makes absolutely no sense what so ever.
Give it up before you totally humiliate yourself.

 

[Norcon]

Some might want a few years in case any cracks develop if its a structure. lol

Brother did a job back in 1986 and made a mistake on the foundation which led to a crack in the wall which manifested itself after a few weeks. He was inexperienced at the time and would have needed an SE to advise on the correct method.
Bison slabs were on the next level so the tons were adding up!

He was owed about £30k which was about half of what the entire project cost.
Never seen it. He had about eight guys working for him back then.
The same project today would cost about £170k.

It's still standing today with the same crack as it was then. If the rebar fails though it might all come tumbling down yet.
He should driven a bulldozer through it and given him something proper to complain about.

 

[stuart45]

Why should builders have to wait for their money. Put your car in the garage and you won't get it back till you have settled the bill. Go on holiday and you pay in full before you even start it.

 

[Bosswhite]

To me, up front means before work starts.

To me Paying "Up Front" means paying when the account is handed over immediately the work has been carried out.

At one stage you almost formed an argument, although a flawed one.
Now your embarrassing back peddling not only stinks of B.S. but makes absolutely no sense what so ever.
Give it up before you totally humiliate yourself.

I am not "Back Peddling" the OP asked what is a reasonable time limit for payment of work, I assumed he was talking about a reasonable long term job over several days/weeks or longer,
if its a "ten minute change a tap washer job" it would not be viable to expect to wait weeks for payment, one would expect payment on completion.
For a job that costs several hundreds or thousands of pounds one has to expect that the customer cannot conjure up the finances immediately the job is finished and may have to make arrangements to have the finances available
, so as I said previously a ten working day " breathing Space" between completion of works and payment would be considered reasonable IMO,
A further reminder period of another ten working days to allow for postal delays or other problems would then be the next stage,
As you admit even your Suppliers allow you a thirty day time limit before they expect you to pay your account.

 

[noseall]

I am not "Back Peddling" the OP asked what is a reasonable time limit for payment of work, I assumed he was talking about a reasonable long term job over several days/weeks or longer,
if its a "ten minute change a tap washer job" it would not be viable to expect to wait weeks for payment, one would expect payment on completion.

More back peddling.

For a job that costs several hundreds or thousands of pounds one has to expect that the customer cannot conjure up the finances immediately the job is finished and may have to make arrangements to have the finances available

Why is it unreasonable to expect the customer to have the money available? They will have planned a large job for several weeks or even months, the last thing I would expect is for them to have no money available. Very odd argument. Irrespective of the customers financial status I still expect to be paid once the job is complete and the customer is satisfied.

,As you admit even your Suppliers allow you a thirty day time limit before they expect you to pay your account.

Completely irrelevant. My arrangements with my suppliers has nothing to do with a customer settling his bill. How does this ridiculous argument fit in with jobs that are labour only, eh?

 

[Bosswhite]

,As you admit even your Suppliers allow you a thirty day time limit before they expect you to pay your account.

Completely irrelevant. My arrangements with my suppliers has nothing to do with a customer settling his bill. How does this ridiculous argument fit in with jobs that are labour only, eh?

Do you not get materials from your suppliers for your customers when you work for them ?

You expect a time delay between purchase and payment of account from your suppliers, but expect your customers to pay their account immediately after you have completed the works.

If they do not produce the money before you leave the job, do you bundle them into the van and take them down to the Cash Point Machine or Bank and stand over them whilst they withdraw the cash ??

 

[noseall]

Do you not get materials from your suppliers for your customers when you work for them ?

On some jobs there are no materials. On some jobs the customer has bought the stuff and they want us to fix/fit/install. On some jobs (like the lofty I have just done) the client is an account holder at a builders merchants.

You expect a time delay between purchase and payment of account from your suppliers, but expect your customers to pay their account immediately after you have completed the works.

No, I don't expect a time delay regards settling my account, rather it is imposed upon me. I expect the customer to pay when the job is complete and they are satisfied with the work. This can mean before I jump in the van or once it has rained or once something has dried or whatever.

If they do not produce the money before you leave the job, do you bundle them into the van and take them down to the Cash Point Machine or Bank and stand over them whilst they withdraw the cash ??

No. But I am seriously considering having chip 'n' pin in the van.

 

[Bosswhite]

If they do not produce the money before you leave the job, do you bundle them into the van and take them down to the Cash Point Machine or Bank and stand over them whilst they withdraw the cash ??

No. But I am seriously considering having chip 'n' pin in the van.

I as a customer at times am concerned about the reliability and safety of wireless "chip n pin" machines, obviously it depends on the circumstances.

The business has to be a well known established organisation before I would let my cards details be divulged at this present time as wireless "Chip n Pin" are a fairly new innovation.
Its not unknown for a Radio "Geek" to be able to download the details onto a radio transceiver
As for a builder who I really did not know a lot about producing one from his van for payment of a " one Off" account, that would be a definite No.

 

[noseall]

As for a builder who I really did not know a lot about producing one from his van for payment of a " one Off" account, that would be a definite No.

It's the future I'm tellin' you.
Watch this space......

 

[Bosswhite]

As for a builder who I really did not know a lot about producing one from his van for payment of a " one Off" account, that would be a definite No.

It's the future I'm tellin' you.
Watch this space......

Got to go someway yet, to convince people its safe.
I gather one can pick up the electronic kit needed for "skimming" wireless "Chip N Pin" on Electronic Internet sites for about £50. which can be built into a mobile phone .

http://contactless.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/eavesdropping-attacks-on-high-frequency-rfid-tokens/

 

[cajar]

Yet restaurants use them all the time?