Why do customers think they are entitled to credit?

[DaveHerns]

I'd be happy to pay for materials once they are delivered inside my front door, ie on day one of a long job , but not weeks in advance if I didn't know the installer well. One RGI we dealt with may have had cash flow problems but he suggested we could phone his supplier with our card details and get the bits ordered . He was even happy to let us have any discount ,

 

[hazetimesfive]

what gets me is the customers who expect to be given terms upon finishing a small job, or instruct me to send a bill and then not pay it for several weeks, those customers are not prioritised in future.

 

[Aquaheat]

If it was a smallish job to replace a common component, say a heating pump or a divertor valve,

Neither of those are a common component to any one boiler. How many different boilers and pumps and divertor valves are there?

 

[ub7rm]

N

If it was a smallish job to replace a common component, say a heating pump or a divertor valve,

Neither of those are a common component to any one boiler. How many different boilers and pumps and divertor valves are there?

No idea, but if you turned up at my house, said I needed a new central heating pump, phoned up the merchants to get the price, asked me for the cash to pay for it, went to get it and then came back to fit it I'd think you were something of an amateur with a poor credit history. You're also asking me to take the risk if you didn't diagnose the problem correctly first time and the part wasn't actually faulty.

 

[FiremanT]

I cant be bothered reading past the first page, but I have never had a problem getting a deposit from customers.
When I first started, I DID get a few cancellations, as there is ALWAYS someone cheaper. There is always a mate, neighbour, guy in the pub who knows someone who will do it "better", "cheaper" or "quick.
Getting a deposit stops the client continuing to look around for a better price.

 

[ServiceNumpty]

Only ask a for a deposit on jobs over 5k or if I get the tingles with particular clients. All my customers know payment is due immediately after completion not 7/10 days later. Last year I got took for around £300. Its the smaller jobs that people take the ****.