Guess I will be crossing off a construction company I will do overspray removal for

S

Scottwax

New member
I get a call from a construction company that a customer of mine referred to me. They painted an apartment complex and got overspray on a black Corvette (the one I posted last week), which I worked in as quickly as possible. My policy is that payment is due upon completion of work but the person who called me while I was working on the Corvette said checks come out of their home office in Houston and that I can e-mail the receipt to him. Okay, well here is a receipt, have them cut me a check. He initially said he would have them overnight the check but then when he called on Thursday (the day after I did the work), he said the check was being mailed and I should have it by Saturday, Monday at the absolute latest. Shouldn't take more than two days tops from Houston so I was pretty surprised it wasn't there Saturday, and a bit upset when it wasn't here today. I did the work and the person whose car had overspray on it was very happy with the job I did so I am pretty hacked off they can't return the favor and pay me in a timely manner. I don't know why some companies think that they can have work done and not expect to pay upon completion of the job especially if we don't already have a business relationship established. You would think they would at least ask about my payment policy, I don't think it is something I should have to point out, should be obvious that payment is expected when services are rendered. It isn't like I *need* the money this very instant, it is the principle of it.



Mail runs really late here so I didn't want to call the guy at dinner so I e-mailed him. He e-mails me back saying there wasn't an address on the receipt and the check probably went to their Dallas office. Replied the address was in the e-mail I sent him and if there was any question about where to send the check on Thursday, that was the time to ask. It feels like I am getting the runaround here. I really don't want to damage my relationship with the person who gave me the referral, he has been a customer a good 14-15 years now. He doesn't get a lot of work done, maybe once or twice a year but he's a nice guy and I really don't want to get him involved at this point. However, I won't be doing business with this company in the future.



Anyone else deal with this?
 
I feel for you Scott. I do run into this more often than I'd like to but I think they are just lazy? Just 1 company i do cars for. Shying away from them slowly.



I hope you get the check asap.
 
I had similar situation with an assisted living community a few years back. The person I was dealing with was very nice so I felt a little bad about having to harass her a bit. At least I did know up front that a check would be mailed from the home office in another state. I ended up doing a little research and contacting the home office directly. I was a little less than nice when I told them I would be holding a check in my hand by the end of the week. Kind of amazing how fast things can be taken care of with the proper motivation.
 
Having worked for medium to large sized companies I know this problem all too well. I would deal with vendors who wanted to be paid right away and it was fine with me, but I had to go through all sorts of hoops to try to speed up the check writing red tape. It always made me feel guilty. What a pain. Many times I was unable to help. The bigger the company the longer the "process". And the bigger the company the more checks they had in the pipeline waiting.



Good luck.
 
I'm surprised you're generally able to get paid so quickly in the first place. ANY business that we do work for is at least a week to two wait for payment (NET 30 days is the universal general payment terms here). Some businesses we have to wait 2 to 3 months for payment, even if they're regular customers that come in monthly. I don't believe there's been a single instance where we ultimately haven't gotten paid though.
 
Brad B. said:
Having worked for medium to large sized companies I know this problem all too well. I would deal with vendors who wanted to be paid right away and it was fine with me, but I had to go through all sorts of hoops to try to speed up the check writing red tape. It always made me feel guilty. What a pain. Many times I was unable to help. The bigger the company the longer the "process". And the bigger the company the more checks they had in the pipeline waiting.



Good luck.
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I believe it is referred to as "float" and common in firms that have large cash flows.

Grumpy
 
WAS said:
I'm surprised you're generally able to get paid so quickly in the first place. ANY business that we do work for is at least a week to two wait for payment (NET 30 days is the universal general payment terms here). Some businesses we have to wait 2 to 3 months for payment, even if they're regular customers that come in monthly. I don't believe there's been a single instance where we ultimately haven't gotten paid though.
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I'm not a giant business with accounts receivable and payable coming and going all the time that are handled by an accounting department. I don't operate like that and another business shouldn't assume I do. I've done work for a lot of businesses and without hesitation, they pay me when the work is done. The only one that was different was when I did an overspray removal job for Moritz BMW and they said prior to me starting the work it would take about 2-3 days to cut me a check and asked if that was okay. Now I'm not doing wholesale work for car dealerships or auction houses, maybe they pay differently.



What pisses me off is that everything I've been told about getting paid has been a lie, latest one was that the payment was sent from their main Houston office to their Dallas office on Friday so it was supposed to be there yesterday (Tuesday). Sorry but mail from Dallas to Houston takes 1 day, maybe 2 tops if there are adverse weather conditions. Now the contact I have there won't even reply to my call about whether or not the check showed up.



They sure were good about keeping in contact setting up the appointment and making sure I did the work as expected.
 
I think the issue, that I often see in my work, is that the person(s) you spoke to are making assumptions. They are assuming a check will be written, when in fact they don't know how the system works. If they have a head office in another city, that means it's a large company. Which as mentioned, this means there is a process that things go through (necessary or not) that can take time. I think our company actually does checks monthly to our vendors. Not to say they don't cut checks to smaller suppliers when requested. I'm guessing that may be the main reason for the hold up. Who knows.
 
I think considering that you've been told several times "You'll have the check in a couple days" and it keeps not happening, I'd suggest they locate their petty cash fund and level up with you immediately. Surely SOMEONE there has the clout to get the job done.
 
Scottwax said:
I get a call from a construction company that a customer of mine referred to me. They painted an apartment complex and got overspray on a black Corvette (the one I posted last week), which I worked in as quickly as possible. My policy is that payment is due upon completion of work but the person who called me while I was working on the Corvette said checks come out of their home office in Houston and that I can e-mail the receipt to him. Okay, well here is a receipt, have them cut me a check. He initially said he would have them overnight the check but then when he called on Thursday (the day after I did the work), he said the check was being mailed and I should have it by Saturday, Monday at the absolute latest. Shouldn't take more than two days tops from Houston so I was pretty surprised it wasn't there Saturday, and a bit upset when it wasn't here today. I did the work and the person whose car had overspray on it was very happy with the job I did so I am pretty hacked off they can't return the favor and pay me in a timely manner. I don't know why some companies think that they can have work done and not expect to pay upon completion of the job especially if we don't already have a business relationship established. You would think they would at least ask about my payment policy, I don't think it is something I should have to point out, should be obvious that payment is expected when services are rendered. It isn't like I *need* the money this very instant, it is the principle of it.



Mail runs really late here so I didn't want to call the guy at dinner so I e-mailed him. He e-mails me back saying there wasn't an address on the receipt and the check probably went to their Dallas office. Replied the address was in the e-mail I sent him and if there was any question about where to send the check on Thursday, that was the time to ask. It feels like I am getting the runaround here. I really don't want to damage my relationship with the person who gave me the referral, he has been a customer a good 14-15 years now. He doesn't get a lot of work done, maybe once or twice a year but he's a nice guy and I really don't want to get him involved at this point. However, I won't be doing business with this company in the future.



Anyone else deal with this?
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I hate dealing with stuff like this. Got burned once about 15 years ago by a roofing company that sent me a truck they screwed up. Gave me the run around after doing the job and eventually stopped responding to calls so we sent it out for collection and couldn't collect - guy had money owing all over town and intentionally screwed us. We NEVER get in the middle of deals like this anymore. Company wants a car done we quote it out and are paid by CC or check the day of unless I have a relationship with the vendor or I won't do it.
 
Scottwax said:
I'm not a giant business with accounts receivable and payable coming and going all the time that are handled by an accounting department. I don't operate like that and another business shouldn't assume I do. I've done work for a lot of businesses and without hesitation, they pay me when the work is done. The only one that was different was when I did an overspray removal job for Moritz BMW and they said prior to me starting the work it would take about 2-3 days to cut me a check and asked if that was okay. Now I'm not doing wholesale work for car dealerships or auction houses, maybe they pay differently.



What pisses me off is that everything I've been told about getting paid has been a lie, latest one was that the payment was sent from their main Houston office to their Dallas office on Friday so it was supposed to be there yesterday (Tuesday). Sorry but mail from Dallas to Houston takes 1 day, maybe 2 tops if there are adverse weather conditions. Now the contact I have there won't even reply to my call about whether or not the check showed up.



They sure were good about keeping in contact setting up the appointment and making sure I did the work as expected.
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Don't get me wrong, we don't have an A/R department either, nor are we that big. None the less, there are reputable companies here that would never, ever, pay any way other than NET 30. I find it impressive that you can get payment so quickly. And I agree, I'd be mad as well if I was told lies.
 
I'd ask for the contact name and # in their accounts payable area. Surprised they did not ask you for a 1099 form. Corporations are going to do things their way. They might cut checks only once a week and only after some mucky muck okays the invoice. Next time tell them you can't release the car until check is received or they pay a sizable down payment.



Good luck
 
WAS said:
Don't get me wrong, we don't have an A/R department either, nor are we that big. None the less, there are reputable companies here that would never, ever, pay any way other than NET 30. I find it impressive that you can get payment so quickly. And I agree, I'd be mad as well if I was told lies.
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They should be upfront about their payment policy prior to setting an appointment for the work.



Still haven't been paid either. Supposedly the check has been at their Dallas area office since Tuesday of last week. When I contacted their rep last week, he said he was sure the check was in, so I said if they haven't mailed it out, I will pick it up. Heard nothing back for two days, then he wanted to know if I wanted it mailed or to come pick it up, saying he had told them to hang on to the check. Replied I had said two days earlier and followed up with the e-mail I'd sent him. He said since Friday was Veterans Day it would go out with Saturday's mail. He still maintains that story even though it is now Tuesday. It has been one lie after another and if the check actually shows up, the postmark will tell me when it actually got sent out. I'll be calling their accounts payable department in the morning to find out what the hell is going on. This is exactly why I want payment when the work is completed.
 
ShineShop said:
Company wants a car done we quote it out and are paid by CC or check the day of unless I have a relationship with the vendor or I won't do it.
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I'm fixing to send a bill to the owner of the car, maybe she will be jumping down their throat when she finds out as the owner of the car, she is ultimately on the hook for the work I did. That's what I usually do anyway, get the owner to pay me, then they can get reimbursed by the responsible party.
 
Scottwax said:
I'm fixing to send a bill to the owner of the car, maybe she will be jumping down their throat when she finds out as the owner of the car, she is ultimately on the hook for the work I did. That's what I usually do anyway, get the owner to pay me, then they can get reimbursed by the responsible party.
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Doubt that would get anywhere. Since the agreement for work and payment was with the company the owner of the car has no responsibility. Try asking the Sheriff to go into the office to request payment. Might cost you $25 or so, but if the sheriff will do it, it would certainly send a message.



I personally would go a step further and find out where one of their current jobs is, find the owner of the property and ask them to "mail" payment in the same manner. Or confront the contractor about missing payment in front of a potential customer. I would almost guarantee you have payment in less than 1 hour.
 
Latest response from Clay Lunsford of Camp Construction (so my fellow Dallas area detailers know who to avoid) when I questioned whether the check was sent out as promised "Lol. We are all a bunch of liars in this business. You know that."



Well, no, I didn't know that. Every other company I've dealt with has been very professional and taken care of payment promptly.
 
Scottwax said:
Latest response from Clay Lunsford of Camp Construction (so my fellow Dallas area detailers know who to avoid) when I questioned whether the check was sent out as promised "Lol. We are all a bunch of liars in this business. You know that."



Well, no, I didn't know that. Every other company I've dealt with has been very professional and taken care of payment promptly.
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WOW. So evidently they don't plan on paying you.... sounds like it's time for lawyers.
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
WOW. So evidently they don't plan on paying you.... sounds like it's time for lawyers.
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I have no idea what to think at this point. I hate to involve my long time customer who referred this guy to me but seems like I have no choice. I did contact the owner of the car to let her know what was going on. The manager of her apartment complex is now involved and pretty pissed off that the company (who is still out doing work at the complex) not only got overspray on a resident's car, but isn't paying me. Hopefully they can put some pressure on them to get me my money.
 
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