Tradesman looking for deposit?

E

elainem

Registered User
Messages
611
Hi!

I have a tradesman putting in new glass in Velux roof. The cost is 850 to do 2 large windows. He has asked for 300 deposit - is this normal nowadays? He gave me his account details to transfer the money, but I am wary of doing this - though I know that so many people cant get paid after a job. Just concerned that he may not come back to finish the job and I will be down e300
 
You are right to be concerned but it may be necessary to meet him half way.

Is he ordering and paying for the glass for you, In which case, he may have a cash flow problem and cans get credit and need to pay for the glass up front.

I did this for a tradesman who was doing a big job for me. On day one, a load of materials were delivered to my house and then I paid him the deposit, so if he dissappeared, at least I had the materials,

Ask him if this is the issue and maybe agree to pay him for the glass as soon as it arrives, or at least get some confirmation that he is using the money to pay for the glass and see the invoice. For VAT reasons, it isn'tr a great idea for you to buy the glass directly, he will get a cheaper VAT rate.
 
In the current climate it is generally a bigger problem getting paid by clients than for a tradesman to run off with the deposit or not complete the works.
 
Look at it from the tradesmans point of view.
The windows you want are not a fiver each and he might not have the cash to fund the job.
He may have gotten burnt in the past and is the cautious type.
It has always been practice to get a deposit of some sort for any work.
Where the person doing the job is solvent or trusting enough is always
the swinging part of the deal.
The fact he has given you a bank account number to lodge into is as good as it gets!
If he asked you for cash and didn't give you a deposit receipt, then you can worry.

BTW, €300 does not even cover the cost of the windows.
I know.
 
I would give him a posted dated check, then again if a check he may not want to do for other reasons
 
I would advise strongly to never hand over any money to a tradesperson in advance of work completed. In my view, tradespeople should be paid only on evidence of good work completed, which could be phased. If there is any outlay required for the purchase of materials, they could either be bought by you directly or else bought by the tradesperson on a sale/return basis.

So your options are to either pay at the end or use an escrow service.

Tradesmen.ie recommends the following service:

 
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