Deposit or no deposit??

[Rickster123]

Hi guys
Im looking for abit of advice really. Do you take deposits from customers on large installs (ie in excess of £1000)?

I have been taking a deposit for some time now and not had a single query on it until today. Spoke to the customer on tuesday and he was happy to pay a deposit of 50% of job total. Now hes emailed saying this wont happen. Im only a small business and cant really afford to take the risk of a bouncy cheque. (which has happened in the past!)

So whats the norm out there?? Any replies or info would be great.

Thank u!

 

[stevetheplumber]

ive very seldom asked for deposits it depends on the customer realy in thiry odd years self employed i think ive had 5 bad cheques and three of those were paid second time round one i had to go to small claims to collect and one i lost completely generally people are honest but i dont work for super rich who are the worlds worst payersif youve got accounts with merchants this gives you breathing space to collect monies in

 

[REDSAW]

stick to your guns whatever-may, those who wont be happy paying deposit either watch too much t.v. or wont pay without hastle anyway.
if they have not got the money, tell them to book the job when their ready, simples really.

 

[gmac]

It all depends how you wnat to run your business and whats right for you, I prefer to cover myself as much as possible especially now with money and work getting harder to come by,

 

[Steve @ TheHeatingHub]

I always ask for cost of the materials up front, if they are unwilling to pay anything upfront I will just walk away from the job. 99% of my pj's are word of mouth really and find the few customers that do infact get you from the gas safe website tend to be timewasters.

 

[steosman]

stage payments are the best, 20% deposit, 40% on delivery of all materials and 40% on completion. Always sign a contract, theres a few sample ones on the net. If their not willing to sign contract and stage payments walk away. Make your jobs and payments as clear and hassle free as possible. If it's a small job, under 300, send email with estimate and do not start work until you receive confirmation email from them quoting estimate number and amount.