Biggest frustration for Tradespeople?
- Thread starter Simply Business
- Start date
Late payment is my personal biggest frustration. I just don't understand the need for it - if I buy something I pay for it straight away if I need a job doing I pay as soon as the job is completed but almost all our big customers (local authorities/large chains etc.) need at least 3 months to pay and even then generally wait until the very last moment or just pay late.
Upvote
0
- Original Poster
- #3
Think that echoes what a lot of business owners think @Copperwood. We've heard plenty of promises about strict rules being put in place, but do you see anything changing any time soon?
Upvote
0
I would obviously prefer it if things changed and payments were faster but I think if you want to deal with the bigger companies, you have to agree to their terms or they will just find someone else.
I suppose as long as they pay eventually i'm happy with that.
I do wonder how the smaller companies cope though with the cash flow issues it causes.
I suppose as long as they pay eventually i'm happy with that.
I do wonder how the smaller companies cope though with the cash flow issues it causes.
Upvote
0
My father's a tradesman who fits kitchens and bathrooms, and he gets frustrated with troublesome clients.
Not all clients, but the odd few who feel it's ok to give him a call months after a job has finished and expect him to pop round and change something.
His biggest recurring problem seems to be when a client has had a kitchen designed and planned, it's been delivered, and he's installed it, but there's one cupboard door or drawer that doesn't open all the way because nobody checked the clearance and he's forced to spend time sorting the issue to keep the client happy.
I'm not a tradesperson myself, but this is something I have to suffer with regularly. Some clients pay within a week, some I chase for weeks or months. An employee of one company in particular let slip that their payment policy is to hold off for as long as possible to improve their own cashflow.
I understand why they do it, but I've practically got their accountant on speed-dial!
Not all clients, but the odd few who feel it's ok to give him a call months after a job has finished and expect him to pop round and change something.
His biggest recurring problem seems to be when a client has had a kitchen designed and planned, it's been delivered, and he's installed it, but there's one cupboard door or drawer that doesn't open all the way because nobody checked the clearance and he's forced to spend time sorting the issue to keep the client happy.
I'm not a tradesperson myself, but this is something I have to suffer with regularly. Some clients pay within a week, some I chase for weeks or months. An employee of one company in particular let slip that their payment policy is to hold off for as long as possible to improve their own cashflow.
I understand why they do it, but I've practically got their accountant on speed-dial!
Upvote
0
ALL of the above! it really has been one of those days...
late payment stresses me out most on a regular basis. just never know where you are, big or small, one month they'll pay bang on time without even asking, another month it will be excuses all the way. just want a bit of honesty, really can't be doing with false promises or getting messed about.
late payment stresses me out most on a regular basis. just never know where you are, big or small, one month they'll pay bang on time without even asking, another month it will be excuses all the way. just want a bit of honesty, really can't be doing with false promises or getting messed about.
Upvote
0
people that email me asking for info, advice, rough estimates that I then email back to them promptly and hear nothing from them not even a thank you. I dont care that I dont get the work, I hate ignorant rude people that dont say thank you. Its a small thing but winds me up hugely but have to grit my teeth and keep firing the emails off or I'll end up that typical cynical tradesperson thats treats everyone with disdain.....
Upvote
0
Upvote
0
- Original Poster
- #14
I think a lot of the time late payment comes from the bigger companies @H_Martin. Invoicing etc and monthly payments not being met on time. Difficult for the small business owner to let big clients go over this matter, so it ends up lose/lose!
Good policy though! You wouldn't expect payment before you do the work, why should you not be paid immediately when it is?
Good policy though! You wouldn't expect payment before you do the work, why should you not be paid immediately when it is?
Upvote
0
i spent a week on "holiday" with a pal who does mainly B2B and he spent most mornings chasing for payments whilst i was doing other things like looking for sunbeds and what food was on. he said he much prefers to deal with b2c but a lot of his work comes from companies and they always have some excuse as to the payments being missed. personally, i would rather stay domestic and be in-and-out!
Upvote
0
B2C is always payment upon completion, no credit given at all. for our smaller/less frequent B2B we usually say pay on complete, but i'll give them up to 7 days max., our main clients are all B2B & they are on nett monthly accounts, take your pick on a pay day with those! most are usually ok actually & pay within approx 15 days of actual due date, some will push it to 30+ days late on the odd occasion, but you just have to accept it really due to the value of their orders per year.
Upvote
0
- Original Poster
- #18
Thanks for the insight @H_Martin and @Anonymouse72. It would be great if rules were put in place to make sure larger B2B clients had strict deadlines to follow in terms of payment. If there was a uniform maximum amount of time you were allowed to delay payment etc.
It can be really troublesome for some smaller businesses!
It can be really troublesome for some smaller businesses!
Upvote
0
agreed that it's us minnows at the end of the chain that suffer the majority of the time, but it's really down to the mega bucks giants right at the top that actually cause the issue.if they paid the 2 main contractors above us in the chain, there's every chance that we'd get paid on time too. when they're waiting for a couple of million to be be paid, probably on at least 90 days (& with a whopping retention off that too, usually paid months after the whole job is completed), it sort of limits how much they can pay to us little guys.
one main contractor we used to work for regularly had to send a member of staff to pick up a cheque from London head office from his main client, when you're chasing up to half a million, you'll do anything to get it!
one main contractor we used to work for regularly had to send a member of staff to pick up a cheque from London head office from his main client, when you're chasing up to half a million, you'll do anything to get it!
Upvote
0
depends who you bank with, seems to be about £20-£30 per payment.
but it's all about the 'power' really, hold on to that money until the very last minute. i can guarantee the cheque would only be ready late on a Friday afternoon (because the cleaner took her dog into work, the dog chased the office hamster who then ate the Chairman's goldfish, obviously this unfortunate chain of events meant that he'd been too upset to come into work to sign cheques ), & you wouldn't have time to get the cheque paid in to the bank until Monday.
but it's all about the 'power' really, hold on to that money until the very last minute. i can guarantee the cheque would only be ready late on a Friday afternoon (because the cleaner took her dog into work, the dog chased the office hamster who then ate the Chairman's goldfish, obviously this unfortunate chain of events meant that he'd been too upset to come into work to sign cheques
), & you wouldn't have time to get the cheque paid in to the bank until Monday.
Upvote
0
- Original Poster
- #27
It would be a start! Bringing in legislation to make it a punishable offence to late pay by over 30days perhaps?
Really good point @Anonymouse72 and that's probably why late payment is such an issue. No accountability, as like you say, everyone is paid late at some stage and the delay trickles down, causing a ripple effect which unfortunately hits hardest on your sole traders and microbusinesses.
Upvote
0
- Original Poster
- #28
Hi @avalanche - anything in particular about the HMRC that you think is particularly complicated? A lot of small business owners thoroughly dislike having to deal with them!
Upvote
0
don't get me started on HMRC, complete nightmare no matter what you're trying to get sorted! it took them 18 months to sort a simple issue on our PAYE account. their computer system had fudged up but it still took nearly 6 months to get them to actually admit that, then a further year to actually sort.
if you can get through on the phone (i've found early morning, late evening is best) you still end up speaking to more than one person in different departments as nobody will take responsibility for anything. i've had this scenario on more that 1 occasion - hmrc 1, ah, no that's xx dept. you need, i'll just transfer you, hmrc 2, after you've explained the whole issue again, no, that's xx you need. me, hang on, that's just who i was put through from as he said he couldn't deal with it!
if you can get through on the phone (i've found early morning, late evening is best) you still end up speaking to more than one person in different departments as nobody will take responsibility for anything. i've had this scenario on more that 1 occasion - hmrc 1, ah, no that's xx dept. you need, i'll just transfer you, hmrc 2, after you've explained the whole issue again, no, that's xx you need. me, hang on, that's just who i was put through from as he said he couldn't deal with it!
Upvote
0
In the last year we have had two customers who refuse to pay for a number of items, tell us that they are willing to meet in the middle because they are not happy with x and y. Even with contracts. Taken legal advise been told to let them go as the costs with court/QS/small claims is not worth the bother. Therefore the ball is always in the customers park and you are working on the 'possible' promise of being paid - of which is not acceptable. You are putting a lot of trust in customers paying.
Upvote
0
- Original Poster
- #33
Hi @farmerswife, this seems to be unfortunately common. A lot of threads in the legal section on this forum contain advice along similar lines which is a shame.
As you said, this circumstance is totally unfair and we need to find a way to make this sort of thing punishable. What do you think could be done? Or what would help at least?
As you said, this circumstance is totally unfair and we need to find a way to make this sort of thing punishable. What do you think could be done? Or what would help at least?
Upvote
0
Re late payment - do you advise of your payment terms? In my business I often find that my clients have been set up incorrectly on the accounts payable ledger. An example was a company had my client terms set to the default 60 days but my client had agreed terms of 30 days - got them changed and now no problem. That being said the construction sector is known for poor payment performance.
Upvote
0
Latest Articles
-
When the Algorithm Gets It Wrong: What eBay's AI Moderation Problem Tells Us About Platform RiskA thread appeared on UKBF this week that, on the surface, looks like a...- Ozzy
- Updated:
-
Should you crowdfund? A framework for UK founders in 2026Three articles into a series on what crowdfunding actually costs, the...
- Ozzy
- Updated:
-
The polls, the reframing, and the billion dollarsHow three letters from the early years of Star Citizen's development...
- Ozzy
- Updated:
-
The values trap: what the Punks actually ownedWhy BrewDog's Equity for Punks investors were structurally locked out...
- Ozzy
- Updated:
-
When belief is the business modelWhat BrewDog's collapse and Star Citizen's billion-dollar climb are...
- Ozzy
- Updated:
