webbie
Seasoned Moderator
RE: Pay after inspected......
Things have certainly changed, however my experience as a retailer was that I HAD to get paid at the completion of work - usually before inspection. Why? We did up to 30 installations a week, and given human nature and normal events I can 100% guarantee that we would have lost vast sums of money if we had not collected $$$ at completion.
Yes, I know this is a different subject.....
Since our shop was in business for 20+ years and a solid part of the community, our buyers had no problems with paying at completion. In fact, many paid in full at the shop when they bought the stove! This is a trust relationship and is definitely the best kind. It may not be normal everywhere...things do vary.
When I bought my first chain saw, I didn't have the money to pay. No credit card either. The shop told me I could pay $10 a month - which I did. I moved from the area before I paid it off, but you can be certain I stopped in and settled the account!
The other end of the spectrum seems to occur here in Western Ma. We have had many contractors do work here and they pretty much insist NOT to be paid at completion. "We'll send you a bill" is very typical, even though I've never done biz with them before and perhaps never will again. In most places, this would be bad business as I am usually offering a check to them on the spot. But I guess it is one of the advantages of smaller towns.
Just to offer some perspective, there were perhaps 20 times in 20 years that our installers DID NOT pick up payment at the job on completion. I probably got screwed on 3 of those. That is WAY too high of a percentage for me.......
The customer wields a pretty good weapon just in word-of-mouth, let alone the County Consumer Affairs office, stove manufacturer, etc.
Things have certainly changed, however my experience as a retailer was that I HAD to get paid at the completion of work - usually before inspection. Why? We did up to 30 installations a week, and given human nature and normal events I can 100% guarantee that we would have lost vast sums of money if we had not collected $$$ at completion.
Yes, I know this is a different subject.....
Since our shop was in business for 20+ years and a solid part of the community, our buyers had no problems with paying at completion. In fact, many paid in full at the shop when they bought the stove! This is a trust relationship and is definitely the best kind. It may not be normal everywhere...things do vary.
When I bought my first chain saw, I didn't have the money to pay. No credit card either. The shop told me I could pay $10 a month - which I did. I moved from the area before I paid it off, but you can be certain I stopped in and settled the account!
The other end of the spectrum seems to occur here in Western Ma. We have had many contractors do work here and they pretty much insist NOT to be paid at completion. "We'll send you a bill" is very typical, even though I've never done biz with them before and perhaps never will again. In most places, this would be bad business as I am usually offering a check to them on the spot. But I guess it is one of the advantages of smaller towns.
Just to offer some perspective, there were perhaps 20 times in 20 years that our installers DID NOT pick up payment at the job on completion. I probably got screwed on 3 of those. That is WAY too high of a percentage for me.......
The customer wields a pretty good weapon just in word-of-mouth, let alone the County Consumer Affairs office, stove manufacturer, etc.
but hey, it's a great song! Then add to that the fact that my middle name is Cecilia and where do you go from there?
