Community Chat

[Shorty2U]

Ok I guess I am living in the old days. But when my family had their businesses, people paid once the service was complete. When did things change? lol

I thought of this today because Friday we had a guy come by (from a reputable door place) to measure for new French doors. (Badly needed and finally getting, should have had them 5 years ago even though this house was built in 1995, things dont last like they used to). Example; my home in the city, the doors lasted 100 years! lol.

They called today and gave the exact quote. Our French doors need to be specially ordered because they're an odd size. (DH and I believe this).

So we got the exact price for the French doors and installation (as in the ENTIRE BILL) and DH had to make the payment over the phone. They then emailed him 15 pages of the entire contract with everything itemized and that they received payment. PS we also need vinyl trim and the bottom piece under the doors.

Well I don't get why we had to pay when the French doors aren't even installed yet. lol. (I could see making a down payment to order them as in JUST for the door purchase and then pay the rest when they're installed?).

DH says well maybe they don't want to get hung by us if they order it and we don't pay. True but what if they mess up installing it? They have our money! DH says well everything will be fine, but if it isn't done right they will fix it OR we will see them in small claims court. Alrighty then.

Anyway it made me think, lots of "services" need to be paid for first now days. One other example, even Doctors charge us upon arrival not after we are seen. lol. Why?

So what happened to paying after the service is complete? Am I living in the past?

[sunshine45]

for something like you are describing, i am used to paying in thirds. one third when signing the contract, one third about halfway through completion, and then one third at the time it is all finished. i have no problem paying it this way. i would never pay all of the money up front and if a company did that then i would find another company to deal with.

[Kachina624]

I just signed a contract for a new roof.  I paid half at signing and will pay the other half when the job is finished. 

[Janey2]

I have never paid in full for any work done in my house. If it is something that needs to be ordered I give a deposit and when the job is completed I pay the remaining amount. What if the company goes out of business before you receive the doors, you are left with nothing. 

[qualitygal]

1. people cut out and don't pay

2. work ethic has changed

[NickNack]

I'm having new siding put on my house.  I paid a down payment when I signed the contract and will pay the balance when completed.  I wonder if your husband had said he didn't want to pay in full if they would have agreed to a down payment.

[ID2]

Maybe its because they were custom. What on earth do they do with the doors if you backed out of the deal? Safeguard for them I guess.

[Cats3000]

We had the same thing happen with a company that we called to measure and install new window shades.  They wanted 75% of the total bill up front.  We voted with our feet.

The most we'd ever pay is 50% with the order and the other half when the job is done.  On a large scale job, we'd only pay maybe a 1/3rd at regular intervals as the work is completed.  Otherwise, there's no incentive for the job to be completed and you're left holding the bag.  In your case, I would also have voted with my feet.

I can't answer for doctors, because we're on Medicare and charges are done a whole different way.  I can say that our dentists give us the bill only after the visit is complete.

[Montana]

I would never pay in full for services up front.  There is no leverage in case there is a problem.  I feel partial payment is adequate protection for both sides.

[drizzellla]

When we had our kitchen done - we paid 1/3 deposit, 1/3 middle of job, 1/3 end of job. We did not have custom cabinets and the rest was pretty much standard.

But we did happen to go to a sale at a local home improvement company last week. The company had replaced numerous windows at our house. The sale was in a huge warehouse. The place was filled with doors, windows, flooring, carpeting etc. And much of the stuff were custom made. I am sure they got "stuck" with alot of the stuff. There were even decorative glass that had to be hand made design. 

It is tough - you want to make sure they do a good job and they don't want to have to deal with a custom made door, if you change your mind.

We also deal with that where I work. We do the services and expect payment and suddenly the homeowner only wants to pay half the argeed upon money.