team tractor Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 You mean he threatened you? Yep . Had 2 like this . Our decorator had his leg broken over asking for his money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie&bezza Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 What! What did he threaten you with? I must admit and I would be wrong, but I would struggle to keep my cool in that situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 What! What did he threaten you with? I must admit and I would be wrong, but I would struggle to keep my cool in that situation. He bragged about getting another guys wife kidnapped and hung over a furnace. As said he also had the decorators leg broken . They pay into these small army's who do the dirty for them. Only last week another customer told us their mates house was broken into and they punched the kids and threatened to rape the wife. All over money . It's a scary world trust me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 He bragged about getting another guys wife kidnapped and hung over a furnace. As said he also had the decorators leg broken . They pay into these small army's who do the dirty for them. Only last week another customer told us their mates house was broken into and they punched the kids and threatened to rape the wife. All over money . It's a scary world trust me. Scary stuff indeed! Like the Wild West It's all good saying phone the Police, they can come out and record it after a crime is committed! Would their serious organised crime unit be handling stuff like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie&bezza Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 He bragged about getting another guys wife kidnapped and hung over a furnace. As said he also had the decorators leg broken . They pay into these small army's who do the dirty for them. Only last week another customer told us their mates house was broken into and they punched the kids and threatened to rape the wife. All over money . It's a scary world trust me. That Literally makes my blood boil! So why was the customer broken into and threatened? If someone did that to my kids and treatended my wife, I don't think I could control myself. Horrible situation to be in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 That Literally makes my blood boil! So why was the customer broken into and threatened? If someone did that to my kids and treatended my wife, I don't think I could control myself. Horrible situation to be in! I won't write the other things that happen as it scares me to talk about them. The gangs are organised trust me. My mates motorbikes were stolen and after £500 a call was made and the bike returned. They all know each other and the police if you know what I mean. All we can do is hold our heads high and be proud we're honest. I know I am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mice! Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 We'll I certainly understand why you want money up front after reading that lot, sounds like something from the Krays, it may be grim up north but it's quiet. Stay safe guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cookoff013 Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 As a consumer it is a purchase contract. I would never stiff anyone. Decent builders are hard enough to find, without any hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett1985 Posted July 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 Cheers for all of the advice guys, I went round yesterday at 9 a.m. and asked for the money. Said she'd forgotten all about it and hadn't received any messages... lol Said I'd go back and collect it before work today, she paid via bank transfer last night. At least I can pay myself this week now eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampire Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 Brett,glad you got paid mate,if its any help i have been trading 17 years now,never been caught for large amounts,just the occasional tryer, but i am wiery of most and take deposits or get them to pay direct for it,always written fixed quote and acceptance thats the minimum you need. Be aware of em all,more tradesmen get stitched than customers regardless of what you see on tv. It does get better,after 17 years i have a loyal trusted following of customers,so only have to vet the new ones i want. Welldone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie to this Posted July 3, 2017 Report Share Posted July 3, 2017 Cheers for all of the advice guys, I went round yesterday at 9 a.m. and asked for the money. Said she'd forgotten all about it and hadn't received any messages... lol Said I'd go back and collect it before work today, she paid via bank transfer last night. At least I can pay myself this week now eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedsanity Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 (edited) I had trade accounts , and asked for deposit and was no cowboy are mortgage people cowboys or sales people Mortgage people are bound by strict laws and regulatory bodies and must be qualified and registered to practice , builders and tradesmen are not. I'm.sure there are many good competent tradespeople out there but as someone who crossed all the t's and dotted all the I's before employing my builder I still had to take him to court last month after he walked out half way through a bodged job, if I had paid him 5k upfront I might not ever have seen him again! If a builder gave me a list of materials for the job and an order reference number and asked me to pay that in advance and get it delivered to my home I wouldn't have a problem with that, but they don't, they expect a customer to hand over thousands of pounds to a virtual stranger and hope they come back, as tradesman you have to see there are two sides to the coin and for every honest decent tradesmen there are probably several cowboys, glad the op got his money sorted out! Edited July 4, 2017 by Twistedsanity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 Good news payment at last. Nothing stranger than the human race. Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampire Posted July 4, 2017 Report Share Posted July 4, 2017 If a builder gave me a list of materials for the job and an order reference number and asked me to pay that in advance and get it delivered to my home I wouldn't have a problem with that, but they don't, they expect a customer to hand over thousands of pounds to a virtual stranger and hope they come back, as tradesman you have to see there are two sides to the coin and for every honest decent tradesmen there are probably several cowboys, glad the op got his money sorted out! Have done this for customers for years,saves me being vat reg,they get my trade discount and i have better labour rate,also means i do not have any come backs on kitchens/bathrooms etc as they gone direct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie&bezza Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Have done this for customers for years,saves me being vat reg,they get my trade discount and i have better labour rate,also means i do not have any come backs on kitchens/bathrooms etc as they gone direct. If it's a small amount of materials then I'll just pay for it myself but anything over £150 then I ask for a 50% deposit. Maybe I'll reassess my way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Your a business your meant to make money on materials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie&bezza Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Your a business your meant to make money on materials. Yeah I'll add 10%. I've got a couple of jobs to do replacing front doors and have ordered them from Travis Perkins. Showed the customer the premdor catalogue that Travis use and they picked a door that was £460. Chap I use for getting prices in the office done the door for £260! Crazy. I didn't charge them the full £460 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilts#Dave Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Yeah I'll add 10%. I've got a couple of jobs to do replacing front doors and have ordered them from Travis Perkins. Showed the customer the premdor catalogue that Travis use and they picked a door that was £460. Chap I use for getting prices in the office done the door for £260! Crazy. I didn't charge them the full £460 though. The prices in wholesaler catalogues are verging on ridiculous sometimes aren't they.....good for pricing against though obviously! I'll always just put my % markup on the price I pay, fair to both sides then and you'll never get caught out for if anyone needs to know/finds out what you paid etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twistedsanity Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 If you brought your land rover to my garage for a repair and I demanded £2000 up front you would laugh and go to a different garage, why do builders believe they have exemptions from this behaviour and the right to demand upfront cash? At least with the garage you have somewhere to go and scream if you aren't satisfied unlike a builder who usually operates from home or a lockup somewhere. it'll all end in tears when the industry dynamics change and there are more builders than work. To be honest I'm not surprised some builders get stitched up by customers gives their attitude. The first one was paid as requested when requested and walked out leaving the job unfinished and as soon as I got someone else in to finish the job I was made aware of the complete cockup he made of several things which is why I got a quote to sort the roof out he had bodged for £7000 (currently waiting for the bailiffs go into him next week for the 10.5k judgement I got awarded) the next guy demanded 2k upfront from a 5k job for materials (I'm.not an idiot and the total materials cost was under a grand as we had all the fittings and tiles already) to finish off my.wetroom that the other one failed to complete which I reluctantly paid just to get the work completed and get my home back then spent 2 weeks moaning and bitching continualy about how he wasn't making enough money and asking if I minded paying him more than the original quote we agreed on, He must have thought I was a mug for paying him upfront and had more money than sense to keep behaving that way in front of a paying customer ,in my recent personal experience builders seem have little respect for customers if they are paid in advance or not regardless or how they are treated , when they are paid or how many cups of tea they get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 No way would I ask a client to pay upfront and neither would I pay up front for work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie&bezza Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 No way would I ask a client to pay upfront and neither would I pay up front for work. Labour definitely not but materials? The trust factor works both ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Labour definitely not but materials? The trust factor works both ways. Fare comment, your right materials maybe 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnie&bezza Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 (edited) If you brought your land rover to my garage for a repair and I demanded £2000 up front you would laugh and go to a different garage, why do builders believe they have exemptions from this behaviour and the right to demand upfront cash? At least with the garage you have somewhere to go and scream if you aren't satisfied unlike a builder who usually operates from home or a lockup somewhere. it'll all end in tears when the industry dynamics change and there are more builders than work. To be honest I'm not surprised some builders get stitched up by customers gives their attitude. The first one was paid as requested when requested and walked out leaving the job unfinished and as soon as I got someone else in to finish the job I was made aware of the complete cockup he made of several things which is why I got a quote to sort the roof out he had bodged for £7000 (currently waiting for the bailiffs go into him next week for the 10.5k judgement I got awarded) the next guy demanded 2k upfront from a 5k job for materials (I'm.not an idiot and the total materials cost was under a grand as we had all the fittings and tiles already) to finish off my.wetroom that the other one failed to complete which I reluctantly paid just to get the work completed and get my home back then spent 2 weeks moaning and bitching continualy about how he wasn't making enough money and asking if I minded paying him more than the original quote we agreed on, He must have thought I was a mug for paying him upfront and had more money than sense to keep behaving that way in front of a paying customer ,in my recent personal experience builders seem have little respect for customers if they are paid in advance or not regardless or how they are treated , when they are paid or how many cups of tea they getAs carpenter who works alone if I paid for materials of say £800+ and the client decided not to pay then I'd be stuffed. At least with a garage you can keep the car until they paid. If you build up a good name with good recommendations then the customer will trust you and if a client didn't want to pay upfront for 50% of materials then I'd be suspicious as to why not and wouldn't mind not getting the job. If they've got the money and want the job done then what's the problem. Edited July 5, 2017 by winnie&bezza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 (edited) Its scary stuff, for the last 8 years i have been permanently owed 20-30k at any one time, most is from regular corporate customers and local authority contracts, they are slow but reliable, the private work is a nightmare, even the scammers want a top job these days. I am moving away from it all, Developing land and building new homes main buyers are currently landlords, no prestige but no messing about either in not so great areas but its a step to my retirement. Glad to hear you got the best outcome, never be afraid to ask for the money, upfront or otherwise. Edited July 5, 2017 by Rupert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaymo Posted July 5, 2017 Report Share Posted July 5, 2017 Winnie and twisted, It's like comparing Apples and Bananas Where goods/services are provided on a business premises it usual for Payment on collection to be applied-- no payment, no takey However the very nature of the building game dictates this is not really possible. I do believe to be fair to both sides that 'staged' Payment should be made with an upfront ' get you going' amount. Not all builders have the cash flow for outlay on initial phases which are quite often the most expensive. Just my tuppence worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.