[derek west]

got a call off a guy who has his own domestic cleaning company. how much to clean a 4 bed empty, i said my price and he said we've had one other quote but your is a tenner cheaper blah blah blah. okay he said, youve got the job, the guy that is paying is in new zealand so you'll have to email him your invoice. i then said "i'm not happy with doing that, you are the one contacting me so you should be the one to pay and then you can invoice the guy in newzealand" quite abruptly he said "okay we'll use the other company"  i replied calmly,  "no problem, thanks for your call" and hung up. i like to be paid by the person contacting me, was i being paranoid? must admit i felt justified in my actions and work is coming in nicely so didn't need the job but at the same time i'm questioning my actions slightly.

[*Hector*]

And if in 3 months time you still had not been paid, and all comms were being ignored by someone in New Zealand........ how would you be feeling then?? 

You most certainly did the right thing IMHO for what it is worth. 

[garyhumphreys]

Have done many like this and always get paid promptly. It wouldn't bother me at all to take a job on these terms.

[creighton foyle]

i would have said and done the same as derek.

 first question i ask when talking to a third party is who's paying me ?, how ?, and when ?. if i do not like the answer or payment is not agreed on my terms i walk.

[Paul Clapham]

I would have e-mailed / spoken to the guy in NZ , made sure HE was happy with the price, and then made a decision.

[John Kelly]

You are subcontracting to the cleaning guy so he should pay you. Or got paid before carrying out the work. Pro forma invoice.

[Russ Chadd]

Email a pro forma to the guy in NZ, payment in full transferred to the bank account before work carried out...
If the guy calling you wasnt happy with this then you have every right to decline the job.

So many people out there looking for a free ride... cant blame you for being  careful!

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Still waiting from October for £80 from an Aussie who is selling her uk home when I cleaner the carpet.

Shaun

[Nick Attwood]

I would of done the same, cant be bothered wasting time with complexities like this unless its a large pay check.

[Craigp]

I did a job for a guy that was in Oz, to clean the flat he had just left, I explained that i was sorry but I would need the money transfered to my account first as it would be so easy for him to not pay me, he replied he completely understood, and so thats what he did.

I would not have done it otherwise.

[bennymon]

You done the right thing if the guy who contacted you isn't paying don't touch it with a barge pole

[Len Gribble]

By the attitude RED FLAG

However I have several clients who are overseas and who don’t have a bank account in the UK so I give them my IBAN nbr but it dose confuse my UK customers they phone me about it I say it’s a SWIFT payment system ok they say I pay by BAC’s

How do you right of a foreign debit with the tax man?

[Mark_Jubb]

you did the right thing Derek. The guy who contracted you should be paying, no money, no job, he seemed pretty quick to happily get the job done for more money by someone else. Like was mentioned on another thread, sometimes you've just got to go on gut instincts.

[Shaun_Ashmore]

As I see it he only wanted you because you was the cheapest (nothing wrong with that) but people like that have no connection personally with you so they don't want to know when you don't get paid but they do want to know you when the jobs no right or they get hassle from their customer.

Shaun

[Neil Williams]

Not a cat in hells chance I would do a job under those circumstances.
I only deal with the person directly paying the bill, that way there's little confusion.

[Jim_77]

Well walked Del boy, definitely stinks of something!

Plenty more uncomplicated transactions to come by, none of us need work that badly that we need to clean for free

[Mr Dvae]

I got stung a couple of times in the past including an estate agent whom instructed me to clean a property and send the invoice to the owner.
Now if the person requesting the work isn't going to be there to pay me i always request pre-payment as i can't be bothered to chase them afterwards. That's it NO DISCUSSION.

Dave

[james roffey]

I think i would have done the same, i had a job recently where i went to clean a flat that this guy had moved into, he left me in the flat saying let yourself out when you are done, fine i though, lots of customers do this.
I left the invoice for him, after three weeks i phoned him and he said the letting agents were going to pay it. It went back and forth for three months i told him he was responsible as he had contracted me to clean his carpets and he made no mention of a letting agent. some people just take the proverbial.
This one sound even worse, i think if you were going to do it then money up front, but what a lot of hassle, why should you have to be arranging all this. he should do it.

[fenman]

I had a phone call today from someone who wanted the carpets cleaning in a 4 bed rented property tomorrow at 4pm.
I agreed to do it and he asked if he could put a cheque in the post. ( his father is letting me into the house )
I said I would accept cash only as he has moved away, to which he replied " can I transfer the money into your bank ".
30 minutes later it was in my bank.
All I have to decide now is whether to do the job or just keep the money.

[Carpet Dawg]

Yeah, I would have walked too.

I have done a few like this in the past but I have always been paid in advance via bac's or cheque.

There are plently more jobs out there, alot of people think we are sitting at home all day waiting for the phone to ring, living hand to mouth