Getting paid?

[watglen]

I had an interesting thing happen the other day.

I owed a guy money for some work he had done (crop spraying) and i couldn't pay. So harvest rolled around and i still was short on cash, so i offered to work it off with my combine. He had more acres than he could handle and accepted my offer enthusiastically. That was my first big go at custom work.

Funny thing was, when it came time to pay me(less what i owed of course) he practically kissed me. In his words, "I am so impressed that you wanted to work the bill off" " Most guys would have told me to go **** myself"

My reaction was huh? I cant understand it but apparently it is hard to get paid sometimes.

What has your experience been? What percentage of people don't like to pay for work done?

 

[Red Bank]

He was probably impressed that you remembered and that you honestly cared about your debt to him. The problem nowadays is that no one cares about their debts. Luckily I haven't had this problem yet. But it says a lot about someone that will stand up and try to do something to make it right, especially when you could help him with something he really needed done.

 

[Aliate]

people seem to have become too comfortable being in debt

 

[DPete]

I don't hire anyone I can't pay and I expect my customers to do the same. Not getting paid is no joke when you're into a job $30-40K or more of your own money. If we are not responsible for out debts there is no economy

 

[JointVenture]

It's a sick world we live in these daze! Seems an awful lot of people out there are just down right irresponsible ... they don't care about taking care of their dept. I don't understand it that's for sure!
If any of you listen to the radio on a regular basis, you must have heard a few "dept consolidation" commercials ... those scumbag companies that help scumbags that can't keep their spending under control ... some people just figure it's ok not to pay back dept. Basically they're thieves! Again, I don't understand it!

A couple things that I found helpful when I was self-employed back in the 80's. First, when a buyer has agreed to hire you, and the value of that project is clearly defined (as well as the details of the project!), sit down face to face and discuss the terms. When you come to an agreement, shake hands AND have them sign a contract. Invoice them in a timely manner.
Second, join Dun & Bradstreet (www.dnb.com), and before you sign a contract with a potential customer, get a credit report on them. This way you can find out if they've screwed people in the past! If they have, walk away ... unless you like working for nothin'!!

In our 6 year JointVenture in the demolition business, we got screwed exactly once ... but that was because we (unintentionally) practically burned down his building. We were hired to gut the building, not burn it down!

That's my 2¢

:usa

JV

 

[bluntman410g]

happens all the time down here thats why so few people have work, then dont get paid for it. it sucks!!!!