Ltd Company asking for payment in cash

johnparkyn

Hi there
We are having a large job done for my 86yr old Mum - the front garden and drive is being tarmac'd and a resin driveway laid.
We were happy with the price and the company we chose had pretty good reviews on their website - there were no report of problems with payments mentioned.
The price we agreed was just over £6000 and they have done half the job - just the resin drive to lay tomorrow.
My problem is that the owner of the company has just told me that he doesn't take card payments at all, not debit card or credit card. He has asked if I can pay him £2000 cash today and the rest by Bank Transfer.
I'm really not happy about this because this was never discussed when we had our quote and he surely didn't expect us to have that kind of money just laying around in the house? Plus, of course, we know that we have some sort of guarantee if we pay by card should there be a problem somewhere down the line.
I would welcome any advice please as a matter of urgency.Thank you.

stragglebod

Have they done a good job so far? If so, pay by cheque.

You shouldn't assume that a small business like this will take cards, it's a big plus point if they do so you should really have asked before agreeing. But that kind of sum in cash? No chance.

How do you know the reviews on their own website are genuine?

Doozergirl

Builders don't take cards. I'd be surprised if you found one that does.

My accounting system has the capability, but I'm not interested in paying a very chunky fee to get paid and, besides, I have never even been asked if we accept cards.

We talk in big numbers above an awful lot of people's credit limits, but we also don't pocket all of that money, so credit card fees would actually be a very heavy percentage of actual profit.

I don't take cash either, so just bank transfer it.

kazwookie

1. Cheque
2. Do a bank transfer


All traceable, do not pay this much cash.

[Deleted User]

I'd pay, and have paid, by bank transfer when I've had to, but no way would I hand over £2000.00 in cash.
I'd be a lot happier with a card payment though, as there's more protection for me, and surely the card fees are just another business expense for the company.
Also it amazes me how many small businesses and sole traders are happy to hand out their bank details to everyone, not much security there for them either.

Doozergirl

Rabbit24 wrote: »

I'd pay, and have paid, by bank transfer when I've had to, but no way would I hand over £2000.00 in cash.
I'd be a lot happier with a card payment though, as there's more protection for me, and surely the card fees are just another business expense for the company.
Also it amazes me how many small businesses and sole traders are happy to hand out their bank details to everyone, not much security there for them either.

There's not great deal of security in working for people you don't know for a number of weeks, spending actual money up front and racking up debts of thousands of pounds with suppliers either. Paying for them to borrow money and protect themselves isn't on my list of priorities.

a) it doesn't exactly display much trust from them when I'm having to trust them implicitly to pay
b) it doesn't give me huge confidence of their ability to pay

People can't do a great deal with bank details without going to lengths of actual ID Fraud. We have an app-based bank account and both me and the husband are notified on our phone as soon as someone farts near the bank account, so they'd struggle anyway. My phone was dinging at 5am this morning because someone spent £4 at MacDonalds.

"Just another business expense" clearly comes from someone who doesn't run their own business. Everything is a business expense. What ends up left over is my wage! Why should I give it to a corporation that adds nothing to my business to help someone that doesn't trust me? About 10% of what we turnover is profit. If a credit card company charges 2% of a total, that's 20% of remaining profit. Our overheads have already gone up massively over the last couple of years.

Oh, and I'm not waiting for cheques to clear either. It's the 21st century!

Dan-Dan

I dont see the issue, just make sure anything you hand over wether electronically or by hand has an associated invoice/receipt to match

Clive_Woody

I can see why people would want to pay by credit card as Section 75 protection is very useful, but as Martin Lewis has pointed out many a time, you only need to pay a penny (1p) by credit card, and the value to be over £100 to get the protection.

It's a shame in a way that trade folk do not allow you to pay a penny off the bill the by CC to get the protection, but I fully appreciate that accepting card payments entails a certain degree of hassle and cost that most trades would rather do without.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases/

phill99

Clive_Woody wrote: »

I can see why people would want to pay by credit card as Section 75 protection is very useful, but as Martin Lewis has pointed out many a time, you only need to pay a penny (1p) by credit card, and the value to be over £100 to get the protection.

It's a shame in a way that trade folk do not allow you to pay a penny off the bill the by CC to get the protection, but I fully appreciate that accepting card payments entails a certain degree of hassle and cost that most trades would rather do without.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases/

I'm a builder and I take cards. But TBH it is a pain and I'm thinking of stopping it. Mainly because it costs me a percentage every time I take payment, which eats into overheads.


I can't even charge the fee to the customer as that has been outlawed.


But as a younger generation become tradesmen who are more tech-savvy, I think more tradesmen will take cards.


OP, I would do a transfer of all the £6k into his bank. He has ne right to ask for cash payment. Tell he can have it all by transfer and cash isn't an option.

Risteard

phill99 wrote: »

I'm a builder and I take cards. But TBH it is a pain and I'm thinking of stopping it. Mainly because it costs me a percentage every time I take payment, which eats into overheads.


I can't even charge the fee to the customer as that has been outlawed.


But as a younger generation become tradesmen who are more tech-savvy, I think more tradesmen will take cards.


OP, I would do a transfer of all the £6k into his bank. He has ne right to ask for cash payment. Tell he can have it all by transfer and cash isn't an option.

I only started taking card payments earlier this year, and there is a cost to me of 1.69% on these which obviously adds up. As you correctly state it is unlawful to charge this to the customer.

robatwork

phill99 wrote: »

I'm a builder and I take cards. But TBH it is a pain and I'm thinking of stopping it. Mainly because it costs me a percentage every time I take payment, which eats into overheads.


I can't even charge the fee to the customer as that has been outlawed.

Out of interest (intended), what's the minimum payment the card will accept? For instance if it's £10 then a customer could pay that on credit card, still get full s75, and pay the rest by faster payments. And you'd only be 17p down.