deposit
- Thread starter henry
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essexandy
The Lake Governor
Good luck with that, most firms don't want to pay you for 30-90 days after you're finished or not at all.
s.p.t plastering
Active Member
I think he means on domestic, no chance with the big site firms...
I've never had to ask for deposit yet, not had a job big enough yet, but i guess if i had a big house to board and skim or the materials or more than £500 i would ask for one, i always thought it was a bit cheeky, unless your supplying stuff like kitchens,windows,bathrooms....
I priced up 6 new build flats last week to board and skim, and wouldn't have asked for a deposit, i just put in the quote that i would want a payment after 2 flats are complete or a floor complete.
I wouldn't like to go longer than 2-3 weeks with out a payment domestic or commercial...
I've never had to ask for deposit yet, not had a job big enough yet, but i guess if i had a big house to board and skim or the materials or more than £500 i would ask for one, i always thought it was a bit cheeky, unless your supplying stuff like kitchens,windows,bathrooms....
I priced up 6 new build flats last week to board and skim, and wouldn't have asked for a deposit, i just put in the quote that i would want a payment after 2 flats are complete or a floor complete.
I wouldn't like to go longer than 2-3 weeks with out a payment domestic or commercial...
nickelarse
Private Member
im still waiting for a cheque on a 30 day period that i invoiced and emailed on 4th september. i called the office, spoke to the md and got a bit arsey, and said well where is it, and he said, oh, have you sent me an invoice? ill have to look. yeah, 7 ******* weeks ago you cun.t!!
kebab king
Private Member
I just ask for payment after the 1st room,Thats more reasonable then asking for money up front, and your not spending out much, and getting payed after a day or 2.
i wouldnt bother asking for deposits for plastering work to be honest, your materials are very little to labour ratio, even when i take on render projects domesticly i dont bother and materials and scaff can easy be 4 grand before you start, but its all relative i suppose.
commercially your looking at frequent terms such as 90 days for some firms these days
commercially your looking at frequent terms such as 90 days for some firms these days
bodplasterer
Active Member
We usually ask for a draw at certain point of a job it seems a bit cheeky asking upfront, it all depends who we are working for as well, most of them wont pay for 2 weeks but some pay right after we finish. Its funny as i used to work with a bloke who always said you wouldnt go to tescos and do your shopping and say i will pay you in a few weeks time would you I suppose he had a point.
niceandflat
New Member
I'm not trying to tell anyone how to run their business or affairs, but the following might be useful to some of you. When I was sparkying, I were sometimes stung one way or another from commercial and domestic customers. So I got to the stage on a rewire or on biger jobs I was asking for 30% deposit on the first day I turned up with the materials. Then they belonged to the customer 100%, then if the got nicked or damaged it wasn't my problem. Then the full remainder on completion after they were satisfied there were no snags.
If the job was going to be two weeks or more, I would ask for interim payments on a percentage completion until the job was complete. I didn't agree to any retainers as they are another way of withholding payment, I just offered a 12 month guarantee on everything, a 3 year guarantee on accessories, then a 10 year guarantee on wiring not deteriorating in the environment it was originally installed in. The terms of the policy were offered before I agreed to do the work, where they weren't agreed, I walked away from the job.
Whenever a company phoned up who I didn't know or had dealt with before for sub contract work to be carried out. I would offer them my terms and conditions over the phone, and ask for their permission to do a credit check on their trading name and or holding name. And or arrange a meeting and offer them my terms and conditions, one of them being paid on the same day of job completion as an act of good faith. Where they turned my policies and terms down, I didn't bother with them, I just told them if they want interest free credit, then they needed to find a bank that offers it, but they will still have to agree to their terms and conditions, and I'm no different form that bank! Most of the time they say no thankyou we"ll phone someone else, or I would get them to fax a works order number on letter headed paper, then phone up their accounts dept ad quote the order number. This was in the case of a larger well known company such as BT or a bank that couldn't get in touch with their usual contractors or just performing an exercise. If the order didn't exist then I wouldn't do the work. The amount of times I spoke to other business owners who had trusted these kind of firms over the phone and got stung by them were unbeleivable.
It took me quite some time to learn my lesson I can tell you. I once did a job for for an Art Stone company near Bingley. I provided about £5000.00 in materials mainly in lighting and some cabling, all carried out in good faith and nothing written or agreed on paper. When they didn't pay the invoice that had been submitted for 4 months, they lied and denied to a court order ever ordering the work and they had purchased their own materials and installed them themselves. And they had never heard of me ever before. So the courts could do nothing. This is when I decided to get a written order form anyone ordering goods and servicies from my company. Sometimes it was in the form of a method statement agreed and signed before the work commenced. This was in the case of a new customer phoning for emergency repair work, at least this way they couldn't deny ever phoning me or knowing me.
Any new customer who demands credit is a cheeky basturd, and should be charged interest in some kind of stealth. Where you have dealt with that customer on other occasions and both parties are satisfied and payment has been met in full. Then you can agree to some form of credit agreement, but its best in ink on paper. Where they don't agree to deposits and interim payments or signing a basic contract, then obviously they have a problem paying people in general and should be avoided. After all there not paying for anything their not going to get or haven't got yet are they.
After a few years I started to pick up on body language especially if they wanted a ball park sum there and then, and my instinct was a nervous one. I would give them an over the top price and see there reaction, that was always a good indicator. Another instance I had a guy who I met on at the Moorhouses jam factory in Leeds, where the owner of the building nad called me in to disconnect some circuits so they were safe for internal demolition purposes. The guy was going to rent the building and turn it into a super snooker centre, and have the world championships held there with Sky, BBC and all the other billy hoo televising it. nd wanted to know how much it would cost to do all the wiring for lighting and the rest. And he also asked me if I could wait for my payment at least 3 month after the work was completed!?!
I said absolutely no way, and why did he want me to wait so long? He told me he had cash flow problems, I said so have I and I don't want a share of yours aswell. He then offered me a 10% share of a 1000000.00 investment, I told him to get back in the real world as I was beginning too want to walk away. I told him just for the fire alarm alone with a price of £35.00 a point, he was looking at over £100000.00, then the price for the lighting would be on top of that. He almost sh!t himself, the materials that were qouted from the wholesalers just for the fire alarm were actually more than that. Anyway I declined the job for obvious reasons, and plus the fact the basturd owner didn't pay me for my £60.00 invoice. The company that he had ordered the work under had gone bankrupt, whilst he was still sat in his office deceitfully ordering more goods and services from other firms.
Anyway gents sorry if I've babbled on a bit:RpS_bored:, :RpS_sleep:, but that is why you should ask for a deposit and demand regular interim payments. And cover your arse for payment, especially with strangers.
R's niceandflat
If the job was going to be two weeks or more, I would ask for interim payments on a percentage completion until the job was complete. I didn't agree to any retainers as they are another way of withholding payment, I just offered a 12 month guarantee on everything, a 3 year guarantee on accessories, then a 10 year guarantee on wiring not deteriorating in the environment it was originally installed in. The terms of the policy were offered before I agreed to do the work, where they weren't agreed, I walked away from the job.
Whenever a company phoned up who I didn't know or had dealt with before for sub contract work to be carried out. I would offer them my terms and conditions over the phone, and ask for their permission to do a credit check on their trading name and or holding name. And or arrange a meeting and offer them my terms and conditions, one of them being paid on the same day of job completion as an act of good faith. Where they turned my policies and terms down, I didn't bother with them, I just told them if they want interest free credit, then they needed to find a bank that offers it, but they will still have to agree to their terms and conditions, and I'm no different form that bank! Most of the time they say no thankyou we"ll phone someone else, or I would get them to fax a works order number on letter headed paper, then phone up their accounts dept ad quote the order number. This was in the case of a larger well known company such as BT or a bank that couldn't get in touch with their usual contractors or just performing an exercise. If the order didn't exist then I wouldn't do the work. The amount of times I spoke to other business owners who had trusted these kind of firms over the phone and got stung by them were unbeleivable.
It took me quite some time to learn my lesson I can tell you. I once did a job for for an Art Stone company near Bingley. I provided about £5000.00 in materials mainly in lighting and some cabling, all carried out in good faith and nothing written or agreed on paper. When they didn't pay the invoice that had been submitted for 4 months, they lied and denied to a court order ever ordering the work and they had purchased their own materials and installed them themselves. And they had never heard of me ever before. So the courts could do nothing. This is when I decided to get a written order form anyone ordering goods and servicies from my company. Sometimes it was in the form of a method statement agreed and signed before the work commenced. This was in the case of a new customer phoning for emergency repair work, at least this way they couldn't deny ever phoning me or knowing me.
Any new customer who demands credit is a cheeky basturd, and should be charged interest in some kind of stealth. Where you have dealt with that customer on other occasions and both parties are satisfied and payment has been met in full. Then you can agree to some form of credit agreement, but its best in ink on paper. Where they don't agree to deposits and interim payments or signing a basic contract, then obviously they have a problem paying people in general and should be avoided. After all there not paying for anything their not going to get or haven't got yet are they.
After a few years I started to pick up on body language especially if they wanted a ball park sum there and then, and my instinct was a nervous one. I would give them an over the top price and see there reaction, that was always a good indicator. Another instance I had a guy who I met on at the Moorhouses jam factory in Leeds, where the owner of the building nad called me in to disconnect some circuits so they were safe for internal demolition purposes. The guy was going to rent the building and turn it into a super snooker centre, and have the world championships held there with Sky, BBC and all the other billy hoo televising it. nd wanted to know how much it would cost to do all the wiring for lighting and the rest. And he also asked me if I could wait for my payment at least 3 month after the work was completed!?!
I said absolutely no way, and why did he want me to wait so long? He told me he had cash flow problems, I said so have I and I don't want a share of yours aswell. He then offered me a 10% share of a 1000000.00 investment, I told him to get back in the real world as I was beginning too want to walk away. I told him just for the fire alarm alone with a price of £35.00 a point, he was looking at over £100000.00, then the price for the lighting would be on top of that. He almost sh!t himself, the materials that were qouted from the wholesalers just for the fire alarm were actually more than that. Anyway I declined the job for obvious reasons, and plus the fact the basturd owner didn't pay me for my £60.00 invoice. The company that he had ordered the work under had gone bankrupt, whilst he was still sat in his office deceitfully ordering more goods and services from other firms.
Anyway gents sorry if I've babbled on a bit:RpS_bored:, :RpS_sleep:, but that is why you should ask for a deposit and demand regular interim payments. And cover your arse for payment, especially with strangers.
R's niceandflat
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