Contractor full advance before materials

Albermarle

waitpatiently said:

Big company, but had a call from MD. Had to stew on it all weekend as I hate this kind of conversation! But pleased I did. I avoided being confrontational and it was an amicable conversation.

Pleasant and tried to be reassuring of workmanship and customer satisfaction. After I pushed away a lot of sales chatter and performance data, I only managed a 5% payment to be kept until completion, but seems they’ve changed payment terms in recent years due to people not paying. Apparently they don’t get asked this question a lot despite doing 300+ private projects last year(!). I understand Magnet and Wren do it this way too, and it’s not ideal, but feel safe enough to go with these guys. 

Poor that the deposit terms weren’t clear and equally not accurate to have been given an outdated leaflet we received about the installation process which indicates there is a payment phase at completion. I’ll try to remember to provide an update during and after the build.

Another factor of wanting money upfront, is that big companies will have a Financial Director pushing for maximum cash flow. If they can get money out of you in advance, and pay their suppliers after 90 days, then it all helps.