Bathroom fitters require 100% payment at start of job!!!

funkymonk23

A company has just started work installing two new bathrooms at my property and require 95% payment on 'delivery of goods' (fittings, tiles etc).

This gives me an unpleasant feeling as they are effectively a project mgmt/bathroom showroom and would most likely buy fittings on credit. Alarm bells are ringing and although they have a great reputation and are nice people, I've NEVER entered into an agreement like this before!

After a heated discussion with the owner, I was told this was common practice in her industry. Well...it's certainly not common in mine!

My question, is this common practice in the bathroom fitting industry?

katejo

funkymonk23 wrote: »

A company has just started work installing two new bathrooms at my property and require 95% payment on 'delivery of goods' (fittings, tiles etc).

This gives me an unpleasant feeling as they are effectively a project mgmt/bathroom showroom and would most likely buy fittings on credit. Alarm bells are ringing and although they have a great reputation and are nice people, I've NEVER entered into an agreement like this before!

After a heated discussion with the owner, I was told this was common practice in her industry. Well...it's certainly not common in mine!

My question, is this common practice in the bathroom fitting industry?

Did they make this clear before starting the work? I would have got quotes elsewhere.

keystone

funkymonk23 wrote: »

My question, is this common practice in the bathroom fitting industry?

Not where I come from. I presume they are supplying everything? Even so if they have cashflow problems they shouldn't be making it your problem.

However, what does the contract say about payment terms? You have got a contract I suppose? Payment terms should also have been indicated on their written Quotation.

Bit late to be discovering this the day they start work. I'd be instructing them to stop all work until it was resolved to your mutual satisfaction. I stress the word mutual because a contract is a two way thing - its for your protection and theirs.

Cheers

squeekswhenwalking

It's not at all common. They may ask for payment of materials up front but usually labour is paid in instalments on a big job or on completion

southcoastrgi

payment for materials could be made when they are delievered to site but labour should either be on an agreed stage payment basis or at the end of the job

plumb1_2

Tell them to go fishing, get them to submit a price for the cost of materials and pay that nothing more.

I only ever ask for the cost of materials, and thats only for new customers. Most good tradesmen have credit accounts so no need to pay upfront.

phill99

plumb1 wrote: »

Tell them to go fishing, get them to submit a price for the cost of materials and pay that nothing more.

I only ever ask for the cost of materials, and thats only for new customers. Most good tradesmen have credit accounts so no need to pay upfront.

Many tradesmen have accounts but it still doesn't mean that the customer will pay you. So customers can pay upfront for materials and you know you're not going to be shafted.

But there is no way I would ask for labour costs up front. Certainly not industry standard practice.

nickj_2

if you pay for everything before the work is started , you have nothing to hold back if you're not happy with the work , i never ask for money up front , although if it's a long job i do ask for part payment

DaftyDuck

I've never met a bathroom fitter/plumber/central heating installer who requested more than the cost of materials, maybe plus a bit, before starting a job. On larger or longer jobs I've done phased payments (particularly when the worker is a "small" small business, otherwise it's payment on completion.

No, it does not sound normal. My alarm bells would be ringing, and all the more if they are a showroom-based company rather than a small business - that may have genuine cash-flow problems.

macman

How long is this job expected to take?
Isn't it normal to agree payment terms before they are on site?

Dukesy

OH is a carpenter and joiner and he always takes a deposit to cover materials (materials are bought on account at timber merchants, but OH still takes the money to cover this before ordering them - we find this works better for us, as issues have arisen in the past, most notably a station building for one of the preserved railways, which OH built in sections and which then sat in his shelter for FIVE years as the railway had big trouble with planning permission), but that's all.

If customers want to pay in installments or in full, that's fine, but normally the balance is taken upon completion. I would be very wary of any tradespeople asking for full payment up front.